Author(s): DONG, L., BOURREL, N., PARADELO, D., CHRISTIE, S., BERRYMAN, N., ROMEAS, T., Institution: INSTITUT NATIONAL DU SPORT DU QUÉBEC, Country: CANADA, Abstract-ID: 1570

INTRODUCTION:
Bridging the gap between evidence and practice is an important endeavour for sports scientists, but is complexified by the unique characteristics, needs, and people of the applied environment. In the context of developing athletes’ match-play decision making, there is strong theoretical support for the design of representative training that recognizes the physical, cognitive, and emotional demands of performance. However, for many sports, including water polo, there is a lack of material demonstrating how these principles can be integrated on the field. The objective of this project was to undertake a co-creative process with Water Polo Canada to ultimately design evidence-informed training exercises adapted to the senior national teams’ needs, resources, and challenges.
METHODS:
In collaboration with national team program staff and athletes, a multi-phased, mixed-methods approach was used. Focus groups and interviews were conducted to identify specific team performance gaps and tactical objectives. Frameworks of representative learning design and the constraints-led approach were discussed with staff as tools to enhance, rather than replace, coaches’ existing practices. Through an iterative process that was continuously fed by coach and athlete feedback, several training exercises were created.
RESULTS:
Some high-priority tactical objectives included quick adjustments to abrupt changes in relative positioning, flexible responses to opponent-specific tactical plays, and forcing the shot on net from specific positions. Corresponding training exercises created to address these were called “Late to the Party”, “Roulette”, and “Ostrich”, and involved deliberate manipulation of task constraints (e.g., allocation of points, number and configuration of players, rules) to focus players on the tactical objective without removing the dynamic and unpredictable nature of real game play. “Late to the Party” involves an extra player joining, at an unpredictable moment from an unpredictable location, the attacking team of a small-sided game, requiring all players to adjust their positioning relative to one another accordingly. In “Roulette”, athletes play against teammates who are acting as a rival team and who exhibit their corresponding tactical tendencies – the majority of the, but not every, time. In “Ostrich”, the attacking team is undefended at the wings, but can only earn points, and prevent the defence from earning points, if they score a goal from a more central position.
CONCLUSION:
In working with the team to understand their challenges, objectives, and current practices, we were able to draw from evidence-based theory to create training exercises that were relevant and feasible for coaches to implement in training. These concrete outputs are related to training athletes’ match-play decision making in water polo, but reflect an approach that has high potential for all those working in applied sport science.