Ballwatchingitis

The following is adapted from a handout I received from Graham Ramsay years ago.  If you do not know who Graham is, google search his name.  In short, he is an internationally known coach / clinician. Not to mention a good friend.

BALLWATCHINGITIS

“Ball Watching” is another phrase for losing. The more you “Ball Watch” the more likely you are to lose the game. When you watch the ball, the BALL gets bigger and the GAME becomes smaller.

 

On the other hand, “Game Watching” is very much about winning and thinking faster than your opponents. The faster we think the game the faster we can play the game.

 

“Game Watchers” use their eyes and their minds to take “mental pictures” of everything around them. The more mental pictures of the game we can take the better equipped we are to make good decisions about how we play the game. It is a bit like doing homework or studying for a test in school – the more you study, the more likely you are to do well in school.

 

Every good soccer player learns to anticipate what will happen next in the course of a game by being a good “Game Watcher.” A great soccer player is constantly thinking to himself “What’s next?” and “If the ball comes to me now, what’s on?” 

 

The idea is to identify any weakness of an opponent that can be taken advantage of and to always know where your teammates are and where open space is on the field. We need to see the BIG picture before we can really understand the smaller picture that is the ball.

“Game Watchers”  anticipate the play before it happens and plan ahead.

"Ball Watchers” react to play, miss opportunities and slow play down. 

 
Which are you going to be? A ball watcher or a Game Watcher?