Serendipity and building gameplans

I’m a huge believer in the power of convergent events. When I hear the same thing from two or more places in quick succession it is the Universe’s way of telling me I need to pay attention. :)

Last night I got asked a common question, ‘How do I figure out what to do in sparring/rolling? I never know what to play for.’

My usual response is to discuss gameplan thinking, which I will get onto, but I want to add to that with some ideas on how, as astudent of the game, most people develop as self-sufficient athletes.

I was listening to one of the excellent coaches podcasts that are now being provided on the STWA Membership site, in which STWA Head Coach, Rodney King, was discussing the four stages of learning in a coached environment.

Coach dependent - Inter-dependent - Codepenent - Independent

The first stage is where most beginners start off, they are learning techniques, drills and strategies from the coach, doing pretty much what they are told to do when they are told to do it.

The Inter-dependent phase is when the athlete has a reasonably solid foundation in what they are doing and are able to give feedback, develop strategies and most importantly ask pertinent questions to explore problems with their coach.

Codependency is when students begin to work more closely with, and learn from, their fellow students. This is the bushfire phase of learning where knowledge spreads very quickly through a group.

Independent learning is where the athlete needs little coaching as they are innovating and driving their own development.

So how does this relate to the earlier question of what to do when rolling? This question marks the point at which you move from the first to the second stage.

In stage one of your development you are effectively working by rote, even when sparring or rolling you are doing little more than a series of drills and will operate in fits and starts with no flow from one technique to another. As soon as you begin to look for the mental map that will help you break out of those drills you are making possibly the biggest step in your training you will make.

It is this drive to move beyond just doing what the coach tells you and look for your own responses that shows the nascence of your game.

So, gameplans. What is a gameplan? It is a map of a fight or roll. You work out what you want to play for, what obstacles an opponent might present, what counters or subsequent techniques you will use off those obstacles and repeat this cycle till you get what you want. Ideally you want to be restircting the options you give to an opponent and at any point have responses to those options when they are taken. This game plan can be written as a series of IF statements.

IF ‘I’m caught underneath side control’

THEN ‘I will work to my side and shrimp to make space to pull guard’

You can make these quite rough or highly detailed depending on the level at which you are playing. Most importantly you need to address your weakest positions and define what you are going to do to work back to your best moves/techniques/positions. Take into account what your opponent may do and develop contigency plans. It tales work but it helps a lot.

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