Practical team sports analysis - Football and Basketball

by mikeyp135 (student)

AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Football

There are various individual skills and team tactics needed to play football.

Formations

Formations in football are a method of positioning players on the pitch to allow a team to play according to their pre-set tactics. Different formations can be used depending on whether a team wishes to play more attacking or defensive football. Usually if the team has the ball more in a game and they have already scored more than once they just keep the ball and not risk taking passes that will give the ball away. Formations can be altered during a game, but this requires adaptation by the players to fit in to the new system.

Formations count the number of players in each area, beginning with the defensive line (not including the goalkeeper). It is by convention counted when the team is defending and being properly organised. The most common formations are variations of 4-4-2, 4-3-3.

Substitutions

In competitive 11-a-side matches, teams are allowed to bring on up to three substitutes. The rules of the competition must state the maximum number of players allowed to be named as a substitute, which may be anywhere between three and seven. In non-competitive matches, the use of substitutes must be determined before the match begins, except in friendly international matches, where no more than six substitutes may be brought on.

The most tired players are generally substituted, but only if their substitutes are well trained to fill in the same role, or if the formation is transformed at the same time to accommodate for the substitution.

Coaches often refrain from substituting defensive players in order not to disrupt the defensive posture of the team. Instead, they often replace ineffective attackers or unimaginative midfielders in order to freshen up the attacking posture and increase their chances of scoring.

For a team that is losing a game, a fresh striker can bring more benefit in penetrating the opposition’s defensive line which is composed of relatively tired players. For a team that is winning a game, a fresh midfielder or a defender can bring more benefit in strengthening the defence against the opposition's attackers (who may be fresh substitutes themselves). In this situation, it is usually imaginative attacking flair players who are replaced by tough-tackling defensive midfielders or defenders.

Injured players may also need to be substituted. For each injured player who must be substituted, the team loses one more opportunity to influence things later in the game in their favour.

Substitutions can also be used as a time consuming tactic to hold a one goal lead in the last minutes.

Fouls and Poor Conduct

The following are fouls or poor conduct practices in football:

Pretending injury in order to delay play or to get an opponent booked or sent off
Teasing opponents to get them out of balance
Attempting to influence the referees
Touching the ball with the hands
Holding the shirts of opponents players
Illegally stopping players in a counter-attack
Recklessly duelling with the opponent's goalkeeper
Professional fouls

Although some fans and players see foul play as a good part of the game (as long as it helps them win), FIFA constantly change rules and issue campaigns for promoting "Fair Play".

Individual Skills

The importance of a skill depends to an extent on the player's position on the field. Overall, football skills can be divided into four main areas, namely outfield technical, physical, mental and goalkeeping technical abilities.

Technical skills

Handling
Pace
Sprinting
Stamina
Strength
Throw-ins
Shooting
Headers
Endurance

Physical skills

Pace
Agility
Sprinting
Stamina
Headers
Power
Endurance
Jumping
Balance
One on ones

Mental Skills

Intelligence (game understanding)
Vision (ability to see build-up play ahead to others or ability to see a pass or awareness of players around you)
Composure (ability to control the game at any critical situation in the match)
Leadership (able to guide the youngsters in the field and be able to motivate and inspire others)
Communication (can be considered a mental ability)
Decision-making (determine in advance what to do)

Goalkeeping skills

Jumping (can be considered a physical ability)
Agility (can be considered a physical ability)
Balance (can be considered a physical ability)
Communication (can be considered a mental ability)
Goal kicker (can be considered a physical ability)
Handling (can be considered a technical ability)
One on ones
Positioning
Reflexes (can be considered a mental ability)
Decision-making
Throwing (can be considered a physical ability)

Tactics during a game situation

General principles of attack and defence

Width and depth are both principles of offense and defence as follows:

Width in attack- the attacker tries to divide the defence by spreading the play wide, rather than attempting to force through narrow channels. This may involve play from the wings, or rapidly shifting into open space when approaching the goal. Mainly using wingers, often gaps are made between defenders using the width. These gaps can be used to feed the ball to strikers.
Width in defence- the defender counters, trying to contract and deny width. Attackers ...

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Tactics during a game situation

General principles of attack and defence

Width and depth are both principles of offense and defence as follows:

Width in attack- the attacker tries to divide the defence by spreading the play wide, rather than attempting to force through narrow channels. This may involve play from the wings, or rapidly shifting into open space when approaching the goal. Mainly using wingers, often gaps are made between defenders using the width. These gaps can be used to feed the ball to strikers.
Width in defence- the defender counters, trying to contract and deny width. Attackers are "shepherded" or channelled into narrower or more crowded avenues of approach
Depth in attack- the attacker uses depth by moving men up from the rear, but may use a constant "target striker" or front man to always be present deep in the defence.
Depth in defence- the defender also uses depth by marking supporting players in the opposing team, and holding back a man as cover for more advanced players, sometimes in a "sweeper" role. Therefore the player with the ball won't have anyone to pass to, but may abandon depth temporarily to set an offside trap.
Balance in defence. The defence attempts balanced coverage of vulnerable space. Defenders do not simply cluster on the right side for example, just because the ball is there at the moment.

Set Pieces

Free kicks and dead-ball restarts come into play following a foul or some other form of stoppage. Indirect free kicks must be touched by another player before any shot is taken. Direct free kicks can be made directly on goal. Offensive players attempt numerous tricks to beat the defenders, who often form a solid wall of players directly in front of the goal. Attackers may attempt to blast the ball through the defensive wall, or curl it over or around using spin. A less common idea is to hit the ball powerfully and straight along the floor, since the defenders in the wall usually jump to try and prevent a shot being lifted over their heads.

Throw-Ins

How throw-ins are best handled depends on where it is:

In one's own half the aim of a throw-in may be to retain possession in order to build up the next attack. The throw may not go forward, and the most unmarked player may be a full-back who is behind the ball. Such a throw followed by a quickly taken 'switch' pass could be an effective tactic. Under pressure, however, the ball is often thrown up the line to gain as much ground as possible.
If the thrower is unmarked a simple tactic is to take a short throw to the feet or chest of a marked player who immediately returns the ball to the thrower.
In the last third of the pitch a player with a long throw can put pressure onto the defenders by throwing the ball deep into the penalty area, resulting in somewhat similar tactics to a corner kick situation, but with the added advantage of avoiding the offside trap, as an attacking player cannot be offside from a throw in. Players well known for their long throwing skills are Rory Delap and Gamst Pederson.

Goal kicks

A goal kick is an important 'set piece' that will occur many times in a game and yet few teams practice it. If taken quickly the kick may be taken short to a full-back who has run into a wide position. Although this may gain little ground it retains the all-important possession of the ball. A longer kick to the midfield is more common and it is vital that the midfield unit are in a position to receive it.

Corners

A corner is a real goal scoring opportunity and it is essential to know who is best at taking a good corner from both the left and right side of the pitch. A good corner will be aimed high across the goal and may be 'bent' towards or away from the goal. At least one of the forwards should be on or close to the goal line when the kick is taken.

Another tactic on a corner is to let the best shooter stay in the back "trash" position and have the defence worried about those up front. The player taking the corner kick makes a small pass back to the trash shooter who has time and space to take a good shot.

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport with the objective of being to shoot a ball through a basket horizontally positioned to score points while following a set of rules. Usually, two teams of five players play on a marked rectangular court with a basket at each width end.

Playing Regulations

Games are played in four quarters of 10 (FIBA) or 12 minutes (NBA). 15 minutes are allowed for a half-time break. A limited number of time-outs and clock stoppages requested by a coach (or sometimes mandated in the NBA) for a short meeting with the players, are allowed. They generally last no longer than one minute (100 seconds in the NBA) unless, for televised games, a commercial break is needed. The game is controlled by the officials consisting of the referee (referred to as crew chief in the NBA), one or two umpires (referred to as referees in the NBA) and the table officials.

Violations

The ball may be advanced toward the basket by being shot, passed between players, thrown, tapped, rolled or dribbled (bouncing the ball while running).

The ball must stay within the court; the last team to touch the ball before it travels out of bounds forfeits possession. The ball is out of bounds if it touches or crosses over a boundary line, or touches a player who is out of bounds. This is in contrast to other sports such as football, volleyball, and tennis (but not rugby or American football) where the ball (or player) is still considered in if any part of it is touching a boundary line.

The ball-handler may not step with both feet without dribbling, an infraction known as traveling, nor dribble with both hands or hold the ball and resume dribbling, a violation called double dribbling. Any part of the player's hand cannot be directly under the ball while dribbling; doing so is known as carrying the ball. A team, once having established ball control in the front half of their court, may not return the ball to the backcourt and be the first to touch it. The ball may not be kicked, nor be struck with the fist. A violation of these rules results in loss of possession, or, if committed by the defence, a reset of the shot clock (with some exceptions in the NBA).

There are limits imposed on the time taken before progressing the ball past halfway (8 seconds in FIBA and the NBA), before attempting a shot (24 seconds in FIBA and the NBA), holding the ball while closely guarded (5 seconds), and remaining in the restricted area known as the free-throw lane, (or the "key") (3 seconds). These rules are designed to promote more offense.

No player may touch the ball on its downward trajectory to the basket, unless it is obvious that the ball has no chance of entering the basket (goaltending). In addition, no player may touch the ball while it is on or in the basket; when any part of the ball is in the spacious cylinder above the basket (the area extended upwards from the basket); or when the ball is outside the cylinder, if the player reaches through the basket and touches it. This violation is known as "basket interference". If a defensive player goaltends or commits basket interference, the basket is awarded and the offending team gets the ball. If a teammate of the player shooting goaltends or commits interference, the basket is cancelled and play continues with the defensive team being given possession.

Fouls

An attempt to unfairly disadvantage an opponent through physical contact is illegal and is called a foul. These are most commonly committed by defensive players; however, they can be committed by offensive players as well. Players who are fouled either receive the ball to pass inbounds again, or receive one or more free throws if they are fouled in the act of shooting, depending on whether the shot was successful. One point is awarded for making a free throw, which is attempted from a line 15 feet (4.6 m) from the basket.

The referee may use discretion in calling fouls (for example, by considering whether an unfair advantage was gained), sometimes making fouls controversial calls or no-calls. The calling of fouls can vary between games, leagues and even among referees.

A player or coach who shows poor sportsmanship, such as by arguing with a referee or by fighting with another player, can be charged with a more serious foul called a technical foul. The penalty involves free throws (where, unlike a personal foul, the other team can choose any player to shoot) and varies among leagues. Repeated incidents can result in disqualification. A blatant foul involving physical contact that is either excessive or unnecessary is called an intentional foul (flagrant foul in the NBA).

When a team shoots foul shots, the opponents may not interfere with the shooter, nor may they try to regain possession until the last or potentially last free throw is in the air.

After a team has committed a specified number of fouls, it is said to be "in the penalty". On scoreboards, this is usually signified with an indicator light reading "Bonus" or "Penalty" with an illuminated directional arrow indicating that team is to receive free throws when fouled by the opposing team. (Some scoreboards also indicate the number of fouls committed.)

If a team misses the first shot of a two-shot situation, the opposing team must wait for the completion of the second shot before attempting to reclaim possession of the ball and continuing play.

If a player is fouled while attempting a shot and the shot is unsuccessful, the player is awarded a number of free throws equal to the value of the attempted shot. A player fouled while attempting a regular two-point shot, then, receives two shots. A player fouled while attempting a three-point shot, on the other hand, receives three shots.

If a player is fouled while attempting a shot and the shot is successful, typically the player will be awarded one additional free throw for one point. In combination with a regular shot, this is called a "three-point play" or "four-point play" because of the basket made at the time of the foul (2 or 3 points) and the additional free throw (1 point).

Positions

Point guard: usually the fastest player on the team organizes the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right player at the right time.
Shooting guard: creates a high volume of shots on offense, mainly long-ranged; and guards the opponent's best perimeter player on defence.
Small forward: often primarily responsible for scoring points via cuts to the basket and dribble penetration; on defence seeks rebounds and steals, but sometimes plays more actively.
Power forward: plays offensively often with their back to the basket; on defence, plays under the basket (in a zone defense) or against the opposing power forward (in man-to-man defence).
Center: uses height and size to score (on offense), to protect the basket closely (on defence), or to rebound.

Shooting

Shooting is the act of attempting to score points by throwing the ball through the basket, methods varying with players and situations.

Typically, a player faces the basket with both feet facing the basket. A player will rest the ball on the fingertips of the dominant hand (the shooting arm) slightly above the head, with the other hand supporting the side of the ball. The ball is usually shot by jumping (though not always) and extending the shooting arm. The shooting arm, fully extended with the wrist fully bent is held stationary for a moment following the release of the ball, known as a follow-through. Players often try to put a steady backspin on the ball to absorb its impact with the rim.

The two most common shots that use the above described setup are the set-shot and the jump-shot. The set-shot is taken from a standing position, with neither foot leaving the floor, typically used for free throws, and in other circumstances whilst the jump-shot is taken in mid-air, the ball released near the top of the jump. This provides much greater power and range, and it also allows the player to elevate over the defender. Failure to release the ball before the feet return to the ground is considered a traveling violation.

Another common shot is called the lay-up. This shot requires the player to be in motion toward the basket, and to "lay" the ball "up" and into the basket, typically off the backboard. The typically highest-percentage accuracy shot is the slam dunk, in which the player jumps very high and throws the ball downward, through the basket whilst touching it.

Rebounding

The objective of rebounding is to successfully gain possession of the basketball after a missed field goal or free throw, as it rebounds from the hoop or backboard. This plays a major role in the game, as most possessions end when a team misses a shot. There are two categories of rebounds: offensive rebounds, in which the ball is recovered by the offensive side and does not change possession, and defensive rebounds, in which the defending team gains possession of the loose ball. The majority of rebounds are defensive, as the team on defence tends to be in better position to recover missed shots.

Passing

A pass is a method of moving the ball between players. A staple pass is the chest pass. The ball is passed directly from the passer's chest to the receiver's chest.

Another type of pass is the bounce pass. The ball strikes the court and bounces up toward the receiver. The bounce pass takes longer to complete than the chest pass, but it is also harder for the opposing team to intercept. Thus, players often use the bounce pass in crowded moments, or to pass around a defender.

The overhead pass is used to pass the ball over a defender. The ball is released while over the passer's head.

The crucial aspect of any good pass is it being difficult to intercept. Good passers can pass the ball with great accuracy and they know exactly where each of their other teammates prefers to receive the ball. A special way of doing this is passing the ball without looking at the receiving teammate. This is called a no-look pass.

Another advanced style of passing is the behind-the-back pass which, as the description implies, involves throwing the ball behind the passer's back to a teammate. Although some players can perform such a pass effectively, many coaches discourage no-look or behind-the-back passes, believing them to be difficult to control and more likely to result in turnovers or violations.

Dribbling

Dribbling is the act of bouncing the ball continuously with one hand, and is a requirement for a player to take steps with the ball. To dribble, a player pushes the ball down towards the ground with the fingertips rather than patting it; this ensures greater control.

When dribbling past an opponent, the dribbler should dribble with the hand farthest from the opponent, making it more difficult for the defensive player to get to the ball. It is therefore important for a player to be able to dribble competently with both hands.

Good dribblers (or "ball handlers") tend to bounce the ball low to the ground, reducing the distance of travel of the ball from the floor to the hand, making it more difficult for the defender to "steal" the ball. Good ball handlers frequently dribble behind their backs, between their legs, and switch directions suddenly, making a less predictable dribbling pattern that is more difficult to defend against. This is called a crossover, which is the most effective way to move past defenders while dribbling.

A skilled player can dribble without watching the ball, using the dribbling motion or peripheral vision to keep track of the ball's location. By not having to focus on the ball, a player can look for teammates or scoring opportunities, as well as avoid the danger of having someone steal the ball away from him/her.

Blocking

A block is performed when, after a shot is attempted, a defender succeeds in altering the shot by touching the ball. In almost all variants of play, it is illegal to touch the ball after it is in the downward path of its arc; this is known as goaltending. It is also illegal to block a shot after it has touched the backboard, or when any part of the ball is directly above the rim. Under international rules it is illegal to block a shot that is in the downward path of its arc or one that has touched the backboard until the ball has hit the rim. After the ball hits the rim, it is again legal to touch it even though it is no longer considered as a block performed.

To block a shot, a player has to be able to reach a point higher than where the shot is released. Thus, height can be an advantage in blocking. Players who are taller and playing the power forward or center positions generally record more blocks than players who are shorter and playing the guard positions. However, with good timing and a sufficiently high vertical leap, even shorter players can be effective shot blockers.