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COACHING WITH GAMES

Part three of our COACHING WITH GAMES series explores how we can embrace the dynamic nature of coaching, and respond to athlete’s needs while playing games at practice.

READ PART 1 & PART 2

Photo by Deb Hage, North Carolina Interscholastic Cycling League

PART 3: ADAPTING GAMES

HOW TO ADAPT GAMES AT PRACTICE

Games increase fun, joy, and skill development. Allowing our athletes to play supports connection to their teammates and the sport of mountain biking. 

Coaches work in a dynamic environment, and your games will often need to be revised or adapted. Making a change doesn’t mean that you did something wrong, or that it was a bad game.  It is essential to adapt activities to ensure that athletes are having fun and experiencing the right level of challenge. 

As a coach, there are three areas of game play that you can adapt: the task, the athlete, and the environment. Asking yourself a series of questions can help drill down into what can be adapted, changed, or revised to help enhance the desired outcome of any game.  

Adapting the TASK – How can I change the game?

Games have structure and rules, however, many of the games we use as NICA coaches are easy to adapt/can flex to the needs of the moment.

Examples of adapting the task: 

  • Modify the equipment used, i.e. decrease the size of the ball in bike soccer 
  • Change the boundary size or shape
  • Increase or decrease the number of student-athletes 
  • Change how you divide the groups or select teams
  • Alter the time limit 
  • If the activity just isn’t fun that day, just play a different game!
Adapting to the ATHLETE – What do my athletes need to make this game more fun? 

You do not have control over the way your athletes come to practice, but you do have control over the way you respond and adapt.  

Examples of adapting to your athlete: 

  • Adapt an activity based on the athlete’s height or size, i.e. raise/lower the height of a pool noodle for the game bike limbo 
  • Change the time, duration or intensity of an activity based on your athlete’s fitness level
  • Change the way you communicate to your athlete based on their individual motivation 
  • Adapt your communication style based on the physical, emotional, and social needs of your rider
Making a change doesn’t mean that you did something wrong, or that it was a bad game.  It is essential to adapt activities to ensure that athletes are having fun and experiencing the right level of challenge. 
Melissa Davies
Adapting the ENVIRONMENT (practice space) – How can I adapt the surroundings to achieve the desired outcome? 

Where your athletes play and with whom they play are key variables in adapting the design of an activity. Ensure that you are best utilizing your practice space to effectively play games to meet the desired outcomes. Be ready to respond to social factors that influence the efficacy of the activity and make adjustments.

Examples of adapting the environment:

Physical adaptations 

  • Change where you are playing; move to a sloping area of open space vs something that’s flat 
  • Consider surface implications on the activity: Grass, gravel, sand…etc 
  • Recognize trail conditions and technicality and how they impact the activity 
  • Make changes based on the safety and functionality of your athletes’ and fellow coaches’ bikes

Social adaptations 

  • Add or remove spectators 
  • Change the group size 
  • Change the group members 
Great teams play games. Great coaches integrate games into every practice, and excellent coaches know when and how to adapt games in response to the dynamic nature of coaching. 
Read PART 1 and PART 2 of our Coaching with Games series, and find instructions on how to play on and off the bike games in the NICA coach education center and on The Trailhead.

This content was authored by NICA’s coach education team. NICA’s comprehensive coach education program provides new and existing coaches with the high-quality training and resources they need to be confident, competent, and empowered leaders on their youth mountain bike teams. NICA coaches not only create amazing experiences for student-athletes, they create a foundation for building healthy mountain bike communities. NICA coaches change lives! 

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