I came across this on Instagram one day.
A strong part of me reacts to this by suggesting it comes from someone who pushes 1-on-1 training sessions. I have no idea if that’s the case here or not. My mind immediate goes there, though.
Yes, I can be quite cynical at times. 🙂
Putting that aside, however, my reaction to this meme comes down to what the speaker really means. Is it that players must train individually on their own outside what they do with their team to really develop?
If that’s the correct interpretation, then it poses a couple problems.
First, it minimizes the role team training plays in skill development. Yes, a given individual is almost certain to get fewer reps in a team setting than in an individual one. Probably less feedback as well (though I address this in The Perfect Drill). The context of those reps matter, however. If properly structured (big caveat), the team-setting reps will be of higher quality. That’s because they are much more representative than would be individual reps.
More representative = better transfer to use in game context = fewer reps required for the same gains.
In other words more reps does not necessarily mean more development.
Second, it assumes that the player knows what they need to work on (a major issue for inexperienced players). Also that they can get quality support in those individual reps. A player who doesn’t know what they really need to work on, or how to do that in an effective way, isn’t likely to get very far. Similarly, a player working with someone who doesn’t really know what the player needs to improve on, or lacks the coaching ability to do the job well, won’t see the kind of gains they need.
There’s also the question of training load. Big difference in this context between someone whose team practices once a week and one that has five sessions each week. A player who triples their rep count by adding an individual session is very likely to see benefits from doing so, even if they aren’t the best quality.
I wholeheartedly agree that someone looking to maximize their potential must put in the work individually. I’d just challenge where that work needs to be done in a lot of cases. For many, the bigger gains from individual work come from doing S&C, studying video, taking with their coaches, and things like that.
That all said, we should expect players to have maximum focus on skill development when those practice opportunities are put in front of them.
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2 Responses
John,
Being a person who does private lessons, I must agree with what you stated in your article.
There is always a flip side to every argument. I’ve seen on both sides of the training spectum where trainers and team coaches lack the experience to develop appropriately. I have a current athlete & parent that are very disappointed with team coaches. Both in club and school. The athlete’s school coach was a DS in college and lacks experience in training her position that the athlete has been told she most likely will fill next school season. She doesn’t play the same position in club. Mom comes to me to train the athlete in the specific school position and serving. The athlete’s club coach has just commented on the athlete’s serving at open gym in preparation for tryouts in a couple of weeks. From what I was told, the club coaches are amazed at how much the athlete has developed in the five weeks since club season ended. The athlete has told me club team just run drills instead of focusing on specific serving skill techniques, as I do in her training sessions.
I was thinking…The meme, could it be inferred that once team is done, individual development should be considered? If so, how would you address the meme in that context? I guess the meme is all in perspective.
Keep the info coming. I learn something in almost every post!
Hi Kelly,
If by “individual development” you’re being expansive to include things like weight training, mental skills work, developing performance behaviors, etc. then I’d absolutely agree. If you instead mean doing months of individual skill training, I’d hesitate because you’re potentially spending a lot of time doing things outside of any game context. That’s very likely to lead to diminishing returns over time.
That said, since serving is a closed loop skill, that’s definitely one area where a player can make good gains training solo.
John