Developing players tactical thinking using small sided games as SMART Challenges
In the mid-2000s I came across Tom Bell's idea - SMART Challenges . One of the highlights of my university teaching is in the late 2000’s, I used Skype to video link Tom into one of my classes and he co-taught through Smart Challenges his class at Manchester Metropolitan University and my class at Flinders University. What are SMART Challenges? Smart Challenges aim to teach first when and why to use a movement (skill) instead of beginning with how to perform a skill by treating sports as a series of dynamic puzzles. Through Smart Challenges, the teaching aim is to develop "thinking players" who can: Analyse a game situation in real-time. Adapt their movement ability to solve a specific tactical problem identified from the analysis. Explain the principles behind their decisions. An assumption of Tom’s approach to game design is that this ability to analyse-adapt-explain is understanding the Moment of Advantage. Metaphorically, t...
