1.4 DECISION MAKING
Apart from his great skills, David Wansbrough's success is currently being attributed to his decision making ability.
Decision Making is an important component of this game of ours. So if we improve our Decision Making ability we will improve our game.
Decision Making in Hockey consists of 3 stages:-
We must all the time position ourselves so that we can see our closest opponent, our team-mate and the ball. We must not only focus our attention on the ball and in doing so ignore everything else that is happening around us on the field.
The moment just prior to an opponent hitting the ball is a great time for gathering information (for interception or zoning) yet this is the time when the action of the moment, zaps out attention causing us to "ball watch".
We need to gather information in advance by :- (a) having pre-arranged plays worked out with our team-mates. (b) by constantly thinking what the opposition might do next. (c) remembering what your opponent did last time in a similar situation (she will probably be programmed to repeat the same reaction). (d) watching opponents for clues like where eyes were last focused prior to starting a hit, angle of backswing, position of "holes" and opponents. (e) style of play (typical path opposition team is taking towards goal). (f) Knowing what moves to expect by both team-mates and opposition.
From the information we gather (refer section 1.0 above) we need to make enough decisions as well as a high percentage of decisions that lead to successes. If you go onto the field and just wait and accept what happens then success will pass you by.
While "off-the-ball" a Winger can be making decisions in relation to moving opposition Wing Half out of position and working self into a good position to receive a future ball.
Playing Hockey to it's fullest involves a constant energetic mental effort for the full period of the game. The purpose of this mental exercise is to out whit your opponent so as to gain or maintain possession of the ball.
The aim of processing information is to result in the selection of the most successful option available.
An appropriate skill, depending on the players ability, must be selected and executed correctly before the Decision Making Process can be realized. This is the final test.