Preparation/Training

Prepared by: Abera

Dessalegn
 What is Tactics?
 Tactics are the specific actions, sequences of actions,

and schedules you use to fulfil your strategy

 Tactics are methods by which performers try to outwit
(get the better of, beat) an opponent.
 Tactics are the skills required in any game that allows a

player or team to effectively use their skills and talent to

the best possible advantage
 Consists of tactical actions as well as other measures

which are adopted before or during the competition for

successful participation.
 Tactical preparation relates to measures (specially
organized physical exercises, trials, mental drills,
modelling etc.) whose aim is to instil/inspire/encourage
cognitive competitive tactics.
 Tactical preparation enables athletes to make the most

effective utilization of their motor and technical abilities

in competitions.
 Strategy and tactics should not used interchangeably.
 Strategy is the overall plan for successful participation in

competition where as tactics is the actual realisation of

strategy in practice
 aims at hindering or negatively affecting the
 Tactics

opponents through motor actions or other means.

 Use of certain type of behaviour or actions before or

during the competition with the aim of achieving
negative psychological effect on the opponent
(language, gesture, warm up before competition starts)
 Many times in sports tactics aim at influencing the

judgement or decision of the judges

 The means of tactics may be motor actions, gestures,

behaviour or even language and it may be used before

the competition or during the competition

 Tactical action is a motor action done with some
tactical purpose.
 Tactical action is an activity which aims at optimum
success and is done in consideration of total
competition conditions, self strengths and weaknesses
of the opponent
 Tactical action can be divided in to three phases
A tactical action is of complex psycho-physical nature
and its three phases are interlinked and
These phases are:

1. Perception and analysis of competition situation

2. Mental solution of the tactical task

3. Motor solution of the tactical task

 Perception and analysis of the competition situation is the
first phase of a tactical action.
 The speed and accuracy of this phase is decisive.
 Memory plays a vital role in perception and analysis of the
situation
 In addition to the stored experiences in the memory
perception depends on several factors:
Anticipation(eagerness), orientation(direction), interest,
motivation etc.
 On the basis of the perceived situation the sports man
has to analyse the situation and recognise the task to be
tackled.

 Analysis is a complex cognitive process and depends

much on the memory and the ability of the sportsman to
think logically.

 Can be improved by training and should be adequately

stressed in tactical training through appropriate means.
 Finding mental solution for the perceived tactical task
 Depends on the stored experiences in the memory
 Important factors which influence or determine the

speed and quality of mental solution are:

 Knowledge about one’s own abilities
 Knowledge about the abilities of the opponent
 The awareness of competition situation
 Experience
 Tactical knowledge
 Problem solving ability(tactical thinking)
 Mental solution of a tactical task is basically a decision
making process on the basis available knowledge and
alternatives.

 In sport, this decision making process runs faster if the

situation is not new and the sportsman has experienced
in the past.

 This ability can be significantly improved through

training.
 The mental solution realised through motor action ( i.e.
motor solution).
 Motor solution is a motor action and, therefore, depends
on motor coordination.
 It has both the psychic and physical elements; It
depends on motor abilities and skills as well as on
certain other physical qualities.
 Aims at enabling the sportsman to effectively organise
for the competition, and to compete successfully.
 it can be further divide in to following aims:

 Sports men should learn to perceive and analyse the

competition situation quickly and effectively and should

be able to quickly find a mental solution
 He should be able to quickly select and apply the skills,

which he has learnt, for the best tactical results

 He should be able to compete in such a manner that he

is able to outsmart his opponent

 He should be able to implement his competition plan

effectively even under most difficult conditions

 He should be able to assess and analyse his own

tactical behaviour as well as of his opponents.

 The above mentioned aims can be achieved by
accomplishing the following three things:

 Tactical knowledge

 Tactical skills

 Tactical abilities
 In order to accomplish the aims of tactics the sportsman
must have the knowledge about:
 Rules and regulation of the game
 Should know when and where particular technique should
be used to get the best tactical advantage
 Know means and possibilities of disturbing his opponent
psychologically
 Should know in which way and up to what extent the
judges, spectators etc, can influence his performance
 Must learn to observe and analyze his own tactical

behaviour as well as the behaviour of the other

sportsmen

 Must know how to organize for the competition

effectively
 It is an automatised motor action
 Accusation of tactical skill is important to enable the
sports men to enable the sportsman to do the required
motor actions during competition without concentrating
on the movement execution
 It needs: variations of tactical skills, creative tactical
actions and mastered under competition conditions
 It is the capacity of the sportsmen to apply his physical

and psychic abilities:

 The competition situation, differentiation of sensory input

and perception of the situation

 1. Unity of theory and practice

 Theoretical preparation (lecture, discussions,

explanations etc) should be meaningfully and effectively

combined with the physical exercises for tactical

preparation.
 Correct and quick observation and perception of tactical

situations and tasks is of important for high level of

tactical mastery (developed through proper and

systematic use of theoretical and practical and practical

problem solving)
 Tactical preparation must aim at developing the:
 abilities
 Skills and
 knowledge

 of the sportsman to organize for the competition.

 The sportsman must learn to formulate the

competition plan himself on the basis of his

tactical knowledge and tactical organization

 It gives a sense of confidence

 A sportsman must possesses certain cognitive

and emotional qualities to realise the competition

plan under the competition condition

 Each sportsman must know the means and

possibilities of correctly assessing the tactical

behaviour of himself and others

 Frequent lecture discussion about the matches

and competition
 Tactical actions and behaviours are a conscious
and creative activities and developed by exposing
to new and unaccustomed situations
 The degree of difficulty should be progressively

increased
 In each session new elements have to be

introduced
 Tactics is the product of creative self effort

 Sportsman must always try to find new solutions

to old situations

 He must learn to think creatively and tactically

 Tactics are used both in team and individual
activities.
 The tactics you use in an activity can depend on a

number of different factors:

 1) the strength of your team or your opponents.

 2) The weaknesses of your team or your opponents.
 3) The Physical Qualities of your team and your

opponents.
 4) The performance of your team and your opponents

team.
 Individual activities can employ certain tactics for
success.
 In cycling, cyclists slipstream behind one another to
reduce resistance. This allows them to pedal at the
same rate as the leader but with less effort as they are
not cycling into the wind.
 In racket sports, a players tactic would be to make his

opponent move in order to create space for a winning

shot
 A player could play the tennis ball to the back of the

court and the play the following shot to the front of the

court so that it is difficult for the opponent to reach the

ball.
 Badminton: Opponent’s weakness is backhand
 . A 800m runner will decide a pace to run at and
choose the right time to break from the other
competitors.
 Team activities employ different tactics than individual
activities. The tactics must be planned on a bigger
scale as there are more people involved.
 These can be in the form of a “Game-plan” or
“Structure” which can be adapted to suit changing
situations throughout the duration of the activity if
necessary.

i.e. If your team is losing or you have a player sent off.

 In team activities each member will have a certain
position and role within the structure or strategy. This
role will be determined by their individual strengths and
weaknesses.
 For example, in Baseball, the best catchers would man

the bases and the best throwers would play outfield.

 We must also consider attack and defence tactics in

team games.
 For example: Defence ‘A’ in Basketball could take the

form of ‘man to man’ where each player is responsible

for marking their opposite number.

 Defence ‘B’ could be the use of a Zone defence,

where each defender marks space and not a

particular player.