I’m back! And my trip to Barcelona was a massive success.
*You can see pictures and videos from my trip on our Instagram account: @3four3
On this episode you’ll hear me talk about waves. To me, this was the biggest take away from the classroom sessions that I attended while I was in Barcelona.
Here is a definition of “waves” from a Spanish study, with a minor adaptation made by me:
Attempting to emphasize and/or correct a specific game moment in a discontinuous way, considering the time of the activity will depend on the team that has ball possession. (Castellano 2005, Sans i Frattarola 1996)
Here at 3four3, we use the terms “choreography” and “attacking patterns”. These are what I would call “American waves”.
Not sure what an American wave looks like?
Well… I suggest signing up for and starting with our free course. In lesson five, you will hear Brian Kleiban discuss attacking patterns and give examples of this type of training.
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I listened to this podcast on my way to work this morning and felt inspired to comment. The wave analogy got the wheels turning. In ocean waves, not every wave is identical, but there is a clear pattern. They flow in a general direction, they swell, they crest, and sometimes they break. Each wave doesn’t do all these things exactly the same way and at exactly the same time, but there is a clear sequence and pattern. In soccer, recognition and mastery of patterns is key, but, like the ocean waves, this does not mean the resulting play is identical every time. The player must recognize when the pattern is on – and apply small variations in technique and movement to adjust his actions to the situation – opponents’ reactions are not always the same, the pass into the player is slightly to the left, to the right, etc. Training with patterns allows the player to be able to recognize the pattern happening in game and also will naturally incorporate all the little variations that he will encounter when applying it in a game. I don’t know if I’m taking the analogy in a direction you would agree with or not, would be curious to hear your thoughts. Oh, and it made me think of this too: http://theinvisiblegorilla.com/blog/2012/02/15/how-experts-recall-chess-positions/