One common tactical problem that occurs in the popular invasion game of Basketball is creating space while on offense.
One game that would help to solve this tactical problem would be playing a modified version of the basketball game. You could divide children up into smaller teams and have them play half court instead of full court. For example, a game of 3 on 3 basketball on a half court setting would allow children to realize that in order to receive possession of the ball they will have to work harder to get open to receive a pass. Children should soon realize that in order to receive the ball, they need to find an adequate space away from others in order to get possession. They may also soon realize that adequate spacing amongst themselves and their team mates is also a key factor in their teams success. If they all group together and just follow the ball around it is harder for them to pass amongst each other because it is easier for the defensive team to defend when all the players are clumped amongst each other.
Another game that could be played that would teach the importance of creating space while on offense is by modifying another important aspect of the game of basketball. For example, a modified game that would help emphasize the importance of creating space in basketball is determining how many a passes a team makes before they can shoot. The rule could be that everyone has to at least touch the ball once, or the team has to successfully complete 5 passes before they are able to shoot and they can only score points if they do these rules. By modifying the game in this way, will allow for children to work even harder when trying to get open. The more important emphasis would not be on trying to score baskets but to try and complete the passing requirements. Children will realize that adequate space amongst everyone on their team will allow them to complete the number of passes required more easily. It will also allow children to see the court more and to get them to try and find those empty spaces in relation to where the ball is on the court. Therefore allowing children to begin cognitively thinking of where they should be positioning themselves on the court to get open to receive a pass in relation to where the ball is on the court.
The idea behind the "Teaching Games for Understanding" model is that it provides a learner centered approach that puts the needs and abilities of the participants first over the importance of the game. Created by David Bunker and Rod Thorpe, who had identified that far to often students were leaving the education system with very little knowledge of how to play games effectively and how to transfer the technical skills back into games. This approach was intended to provide learners with an understanding of the technical and tactical skills necessary to be successful across a wide variety of games and the motivation to continue participation.
The four different categories of games that are discussed within the "Teaching Games for Understanding" model are:
Target
Striking
Net/Wall
Invasion Games
The first game category in this model is "Target Games". The main intention for "Target Games" is to send away an object to make contact with a specific stationary target in fewer attempts than the opponent. The main concept for this category of games is the sending away aspect and the skills that should be emphasized is the drive, release and deliver. Some examples of a target game could be archery, bocce ball, bowling, croquet, curling, darts, golf and pool.
The second game category described in this model is "Striking Games". The main intention for "Striking Games" is to place the ball far away from fielders in order to run all of the bases and score more runs than the opponents. The main concepts for this game are the placement of the ball in the field, decision making, covering bases and base running. Skills that should be emphasized in this game category are striking, body positioning, hand positions on bat, observation, listening, receiving, throwing, sprinting, ready position, moving sideways, and sliding. Some examples of "Striking Games" are baseball, cricket, kickball, and softball.
The third game category described in the model is "Net/Wall Games". The main intention of these type of games is to send the ball back to the opponent so that they are unable to return it back or are forced to make and error. The only time that the ball is held, is when someone is serving. The concepts that should be inferred are spatial awareness, positioning on court, position of body, trajectory, depth and angles. The skills that are emphasized in this type of game are throwing, catching on bounce, volley, serving, receiving serve, running, stopping, changing directions, balance, footwork, hitting the ball, hitting with specific force, lob shot, drop shot, spin shots, drives, digs, control of racquet, angle of racquet, forehand and backhand. Some examples of "Net/Wall Games" are badminton, pickle-ball, tennis, volleyball, racquetball and squash.
The fourth game category described in the model is "Invasion/Territorial Games". The main intention of this game category is to invade the opponents defending area to score a goal while at the same time, trying to protect your own goal. The concepts that should be associated with this type of game is divided up into Defensive and Offensive Concepts. Some offensive concepts are, keeping possession, penetration and invasion. Some defensive concepts are, zoning, defending players in an area, defending a specific player and transition. Skills that should be attained playing these type of games are sending, receiving, travelling, passing, dodging, change of speeds, running in different directions, footwork, peripheral vision and quick change of direction. Some examples of this type of game category are basketball, field/ice hockey, lacrosse, football, rugby, soccer and ultimate Frisbee.
A tactical problem is a game plan or tactic that does not work and will need to be changed in order to meet the specific needs of the moment. A tactical problem that could arise in a target game would be the inability to throw the bowling ball straight. Therefore, the person having difficulty will have to go back and take a look at their release tactic of the ball in order to correct the accuracy of their throw. A tactical problem in net/wall games could be the inability to overhand serve the volleyball. The individual will have to breakdown the specifics of skill and figure out which they are performing incorrectly. A tactical problem that could occur in a striking game would be the inability to hit the ball far out into the field. A person having difficulty in this would have to consider where they are hitting the ball on the bat or how their body is angled and try to figure out how they could change this problem. A tactical problem that could arise with invasion territory games is the inability to maintain ball possession on offense. The player or players having trouble with this will have to each look at individual tactics that could be contributing to this tactical problem.
The first game that I found for elementary aged children is a game called:
Not in my Backyard!
The equipment that you would need for this game is:
A LOT of Foam Balls (make sure they are soft and not too hard)
The first thing that you would need to do is divide the students up into two teams. Have one team at one end of the gym, and the other team on the other side of the gym. Line up the foam balls on a middle line in the gym. Once each team is ready, yell GO! Each team will than run to the middle line to grab the balls. The goal of this game is not to hit the other players on the other team but try to get all the balls off of their side of the gym and onto the other teams side of the gym. When the instructor yells STOP! Everyone must stop throwing the balls and count how many balls are on their side of the court (in their backyard). The team with the least amount of balls (or junk) in their "back yard" wins!
The second game that I had found for elementary aged children was called:
Moon Monster!
There is no equipment needed for this game. The teacher will secretly pick out the student who will be the "moon monster". The student will not know that they are the moon monster.The teacher keeps this a secret so that the other students do not know who
the moon monster is. The teacher will than gather the class and start giving hints to the class of who the "moon monster" is. The teacher could say hints like "The moon monster is a girl!" or "The moon monster is wearing a red shirt!" The class will than try to guess who the "moon monster" is. Each time the students guess incorrectly who the "moon monster" is, the teacher adds to the "moon monster" description. When the students guess correctly, the teacher will than say, "The Moon Monster IS Melissa!" Then Melissa will have to try to tag everybody in the class. When the students get tagged by the moon monster they freeze. After a while of playing with one moon monster the teacher can call everyone back into the centre circle and repeat the process of picking a moon monster.
A game for high school students that I found that I thought would be interesting is called:
Body Part Freeze Tag!
This game does not need any equipment. This game is a variation of the popular tag game freeze tag. In this variation of the freeze tag game, the teacher must designate two players who will be "it." The players who are "it" must go and tag the other players and freeze whatever parts of their bodies they have touched. If they tag someones leg, that person must hop on one leg. If they tag the person's arm, the person cannot use their arm again.
A second game for high school students that I had found was the popular game called:
Ultimate Frisbee!
This game would need:
a Frisbee
2 goals (like hockey nets)
2 sets of different coloured pinnies for each of the teams
The instructor will than divide the class up into 2 teams. One team will be one colour of pinnie, and the other team will be the other colour of pinnie. The two goals will be set up on each end of the gym. The object of the game is to try and get the Frisbee into the opposing teams goal. However, you are only allowed to take 2 steps with the Frisbee than you must pass the Frisbee. You can do long passes or short passes. If you drop the Frisbee it is than given to the opposing team. This game encourages students to run a great deal and gives nearly every student an opportunity to throw or catch the Frisbee. To make the game less challenging, you could eliminate the use of a goal and just make a goal line. So once the Frisbee is caught across the goal line, the team receives a point.
I do agree that cooperation should be emphasized more than
competition but I do not agree that it is better than competition. To me,
better means that something is more superior to others. Like if something is
better than something else it should be emphasized more than things that are
considered not as good.I definitely do
agree that children at a young age should learn how to work together with one
another in order to achieve a common goal, and be rewarded once they have
achieved that goal by working with others. However, I think some degree of
competition is acceptable while working with children as long as it is
integrated at the right time and monitored closely by the educator. The
educator needs to make sure that the major emphasis is not only on the
competition aspect itself of who comes in first, second, third or last, but the
aspect of working together with others in order to succeed is the real goal.
So, yes I think there can be a healthy balance between
cooperation and competition as long as it is monitored right by an educator who
knows which should be emphasized more and when competition should be introduced.
The educator needs to be able to identify, that it can be great when someone
comes in first, but it can be even more of an achievement when someone helps
another person succeed in activity, even if they do come in last.
In some ways, competition can increase self esteem but I can
also agree that it can decrease self esteem as well. That is why there needs to
be an incorporation of more friendly competitions. More competitions are
needed, where the main goal is to not come in first, but to have the enjoyment
of playing against others in a friendly atmosphere; where the main goal is fun
and being with others, not who comes in first or last.
Like most things in life, I do agree there is a time and a
place for competition. Take an elementary track meet for example, or a high
school basketball tournament. Having competitions like these allows for
children to set goals of their own and work towards trying achieving those
goals later on in their lives. If children have had healthy competitions in the
past where the major emphasis is not only winning, competitions throughout
the rest of their childhood and teen years can actually be a positive experience for them
rather than a negative one.
