Perception + Intention + Action = Outcome

 What is the perceived obstacle between the athlete and his objective? What does she intend to do in order to get around or go through this obstacle? What action is taken based off the intention? What is the outcome?

These questions are asked and answered every second of game action.

Perception is dictated by what is going on in that second of the game. Is the athlete on offense or defense? Does she have the ball or is she trying to get open to potentially receive a pass? He is in single coverage right now but if he makes a move to the right, will that other defender slide over a double team him? Does she have a high probability passing option or should she put her head down and charge to the goal on her own? How much time is left on the clock?

 Perhaps more importantly, how is the athlete perceiving what is happening? Does she perceive the unique challenges and opportunities that each play offers or is her intention-action based off of some default solution? Does he have a clear mind to seek out the action that is most likely to produce a positive outcome, or, is he afraid that one-more-bad-pass will have him benched and will that lead to him taking action with a low probability of success?

I was never going to be a great athlete on the field. I was always in good shape, I could always move well, but my perception sucked.

When I wrestled in high school I would completely psych myself out before a big match. Sometimes I could get a win relying on my default intention-actions but mostly, I would lose by a point or two. I would get on the mat and regardless of what problems my opponent presented, I would default to my comfort actions. I never accurately perceived what options I had, which take-down attempts had a high probability for success. I just went in and attempted the same moves over and over again. This strategy worked well against lesser opponents, but once the state tournaments began and I was up against better or equal opponents, it didn’t work out very well.

I think all athletes have that one go-to move that they default to when their perception ability shuts down. That one move that everyone can see isn’t going to work, yet the athlete tries to force it anyway. We need to improve perception.

The best athletes, the ones who control the game, are the ones who are able to clearly perceive what is happening around them and can couple that perception with intention and action unique to the situation.

The only way to help develop these abilities is time under tension. Athletes need to spend more time in unique situations that call for unique actions. That is the only way to make perception the athletes default.

This would be the part of the article where I list a handful of drills that I use with my athletes………………………..

That list does not exist. There are no “drills”. If it is a drill, that means the athlete already knows what to do. The “perception” quality we are looking to improve is missing when the athlete already knows where to go.

Once again, I have to thank Shawn Myszka and Micael Zweifel for their work on this subject. These guys are at the forefront of this movement. I am simply trying to digest it and bring it to the athletes of southern New Jersey.