Mental model
Mental model created specific for hockey.
This Mental Model was created specific for a university hockey team I was coaching. The game model was developed utilising peer feedback and a review of the literature to make it more applicable to hockey and the age stage of development for players on a university hockey team. Understanding the different moments of a game was key in planning my sessions.
What is a Mental Model
A Mental Model depicts the main moments of a game in a visual way. In this case, the mental model has been specifically created for the age and stage of development for the university hockey teams. This model breaks down the six main stages between attack and defence and the transitions into both of these phases. The sub-phases outline the main processes the team executes within the main phases, for example, in defensive phase of the game, the main goal for the team is protecting the goal from the opposition or closing down opposition and applying pressure.
How can you utilise this model as a coach in your practice?
While planning, a coach can illustrate the various phases and subphases to concentrate on throughout sessions. Understanding the essential phases of a hockey game allows you to concentrate on all areas of the game to help the team progress without neglecting any one part of the game.
Play model
Play model created specific for hockey.
The play model was developed by expanding the game model adding the performance problems for each phase. I used my prior experience of coaching a university hockey team in understanding the performance problems that occurred throughout each phase of the hockey game. I developed it specific for coaches coaching in a university hockey team.
What is a Play Model?
A play model is an expansion of the mental model, which shows the performance problems that are aligned with the sub-phases and main phases of the hockey game. Performance problems are elements of a game that require the use of specialised tactics or skills to overcome the issue. This model acts as a visual aid for coaches to use to understand the different performance problems a coach may come across in coaching hockey playing in a university hockey league.
How to use the Play Model when aiding our coaching
This illustrates how the phases, sub-phases and performance problems evolve when designing the session objective/goal for our training sessions when using this Play model.
The bottom arrows are examples on how we can develop a session objective (main focus) for our training sessions by using these two arrows.