COMPETE with Dan Abrahams (2 of 2)

I had a question, uh, going back to attention.

Hmm.

This is a more s- selfish one for Billy and I. We're, we're in university system.

We, we recruit players, right? We have to watch, and a lot of times there's rules around us being able to have communication with the players, but we can go watch them.

And I think what coaches are really good at, we're good at watching, oh, they jump high, they hit hard, they move well.

Uh, but how can we get better at watching, like, okay, how do I know where their focus flashlight is? How do I know, you know, how are, how good are they at keeping their attention and what's relevant? Like, how do we improve in, in that area?

And I, I... my immediate response to that is I don't think you can know, but I think there's a continuum there.

And when you've said, uh, we're the experts, like, you're the experts at watching volleyball.

And you know, I think back, I haven't coached golf for 20 years, but I can still hear the sound of, uh, a, a golf, uh, shot, and kind of get an inclination of whether it was a good shot or not.

I can see from a distance whether somebody's prob- probably, by and large, as a broad brush statement, where the ball is going to go, okay? Not all the time, but some of the times.

A- and, uh, y- you know, without sounding a bit Moneyball, old school scouts versus, uh, you know, Billy Beane type thing, I still think there's space for the intuitive, what am I seeing here? Uh, and I think if you put the framework in place and say to yourself, "Okay, I might be the expert in looking at the f- the, the, the physic- technical, tactical, physical actions.

The technical and the physical actions, right? To make up skill." I can look at those.

Um, now I want to think about, um, the, uh, attention of this player.

What is influencing the way that they are executing their actions? Is this player a- a...

you know, a- is this player not jumping as high a- a- anymore? Is this player less aggressive? Is this player less assertive? Do they little, look a little bit flat, a little bit flat-footed now? A little bit more lethargic? Um, they've reacted angry there.

What happened on the next point? Did it look like they could put it behind them, or was, were their technical, tactical, physical actions impacted? Did it look like technically they looked a little bit, uh, sorry, tactically they looked a little bit at C there? So I, I think ultimately as a coach visually, you're going to be looking technically, tactically, physically.

You're going to be pondering the internal that's driving that external.

Attention, intensity, intent can be a framework you use to sense-make what you're seeing.

And if you're seeing subtle changes, and you would have the best eye on this, if you're seeing subtle changes around the technical, tactical, physical, it's about saying, "Yeah, has, is this person actually distracted and disconnected now? Are they distracted, and are they focused on the feeling of, of anger or anxiety or despondency that demonstrates to me, yeah, they look a little less lively, a little less sharp.

Uh, they look a bit sticky there.

They're not quite as dynamic as they were." It's not because they're not capable b- capable of being that way.

It's that they are succumbing to a drop in attention, a, a change of intensity, and a drop of intent.

So I think the framework attention, intensity, intent can be used as a great model to sense-make, 'cause all you can do is sense-make.

You can't know.

You can just sense-make around what you're seeing, the technical, tactical, physical.