By gregor on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:46:59 GMT

If you haven't heard already, Google has released their own browser, dubbed Chrome. It is very slick, and very fast, and I recommend you to give it a try. It is a great alternative to Internet Explorer, and to a lesser extent, to Firefox. It is of course FREE but only available for windows so far.

Also take a look at this cartoon. It is a fun way to learn more about Google's browser. Here's the first slide (1/38):

By gregor on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:09:07 GMT

By gregor on Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:29:53 GMT

Following my latest post, I have found this great interview of Andre Patin, the mythical coach of  Asnieres Volley 92 (Paris, France). The video (below) is in french but here's a translation:

"What makes the difference, right at the top [of the pyramid], is the emotional stability. It's all there, that's what makes the difference. Mental skill is central. Physical skills, technical skills etc... are only accessory. Physical skills without technical skills are only the ruin of efficiency. Technical skills without mental skills are only the ruin of performance. Quote from Claude Sarrazin, former prof. University of Montreal: "Excellence comes with time, effort, discernment, and tenacity. So is the excellence of the authentic champion".

 

Now I assume that what Andre Patin means when he says "Mental skill is central" could be tied to Andrea Zorzi's concept of chunks, the cognitive ability to use memory structures as units of perception and meaning, and the learning mechanisms leading to the acquisition of these memory structures(chuncks).

Mental skills allow the player to process a huge amount of data: statistical knowledge of the opponent's team combined with information gathered "onsite" (e.g. The pass being off the net usually means no threat from the quick attack but stats from this particular setter show that he/she likes to set in the middle when far from the net). This leads to the creation of information used by the player to make a decision. Mental skills are central.

Where the two experts seem to differ, however, is on what is most important.

Zorzi seems to consider the mental ability as predominant important (see update below) :

[Having a bigger Chunk means to deal with a lot of information as a single unit of perception. Obviously, the victories depend on many other factors, as technical skills, physical conditions, right emotional approach an so on.]

UPDATE: Andrea told me by email he disagreed with the following statement:

"Zorzi seems to consider the mental ability as predominant". He added :"A champion has to be a mix of different ability and you cannot win relying only on the mental ability without physical and technical skills.Then I saw many potentially good athletes wasting their talent due to a small mental ability."

Patin seems to consider emotional stability as predominant. A note next to "emotional stability" on the top right corner of his pyramid's diagram...

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By gregor on Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:29:03 GMT

After his coverage of the 2007 World Cup, Andrea Zorzi is back this year with more videos interviews and coverage of the 2008 FIVB events (the World Grand Prix 9-13 July in Yokohama (JPN), the World League 23-27 July Rio de Janeiro (BRA) and the Olympic Games 8-24 August in Beijing (CHN)) on his blog.

A matter of Chunks: In this post, Andrea analyses the 2008 World Grand Prix through the concept of Chunks.

If you are not familiar with this concept, here's a definition Andrea gives:

[the term chunk indicates memory structures that can be used as units of perception and meaning, and chunking is the learning mechanisms leading to the acquisition of these chunks.

*This is the Wikipedia quotation explaining the meaning of chunk in cognitive psychology and mnemonics.

Then Zorzi applies this concept to Volleyball with a fantastic example :

[Try to put yourself in the shoes of a Volleyball middle blocker, while his team-mate is serving. He’s looking at the opponent side but from the sound of the hand hitting the ball, he can identify the kind of serve. Then, just looking at the position of the opponent passer, he can cut out many possibilities, making his decision easier. The stronger players don’t need to see where the pass will arrive because they anticipate the passing trajectory just by processing the data they quickly recognize. After that, the middle blocker will focus on the opponent setter’s choice. Dealing with the information available from the previous statistical studies and the present situation, he can clearly identify the remaining possibilities. For instance, if the pass is far from the net, the threats coming from the quick attack suddenly disappear. Then the middle blocker will focus on the opponent spiker evaluating the setting speed, the ball distance from the net, the spiker approaching, the position of his blocking mate, his own position and so on … The athletes ceaselessly keep on with this process throughout the match, striving to be in the best position to reduce the effect of their adversaries’ plays. Obviously, the more possibilities for opponents, the more difficult it is reacting correctly when dealing with these extra options. Volleyball is a continuous challenge in predicting what the opponent is trying to keep unpredictable.]

Make sure to read the entire post here.

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By gregor on Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:08:50 GMT

The AFP has released a very cool Volleyball animation with detailed explanations about rules, tactics, number of players, fouls…

 

By gregor on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:36:53 GMT

You take stats of all your games, all your players, all your opponents. Good for you ! But really, who cares ?  That is, unless you do something useful with all that data, just collecting it won’t do you (or your team) any good.  I’ve seen too many a coach indulging in this long and painful process of taking note of each pass, each set, spike, block of their players just to find out that all this data stays hidden at the back of their drawer and never gets analyzed, much less divulged to the team.

I’ve always seen that as a CYA (Cover Your Ass) strategy. We’re in sports, we take stats. That’s what we do. That’s part of the game. 

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in stats. I believe in analysis. But as a mean to an end. Sometimes showing a player a simple number of their real effectiveness can go a long way in the perception they have of themselves. “I know you think you’re doing good but take a look at your stats: you have an average of 68% of perfect passing. I think you can do a lot better, don’t you agree ? So let’s work on that…” And there you go.

Meaningful info about your opponents can come in the simplest form: “Number 7 hits diagonal 80% of the time when she’s in position 4, and hits line 90% of the time when in position 2.”

Now replace that with: “Number 7 hits most of the time diagonal when in 4 and line when in 2.”

Admittedly not as precise as the first one but does it make such a difference ? If you’re coaching a national team in the Olympics, and your players are advanced enough to make use of that information, it probably will. Because 8 times out of 10 is different from 9 times out of 10, and this single point could cost you a medal.

But for most coaches out there, and (again) for most players, a simple trend expressed in understandable English (or insert_your_language_here) is usually enough. “Look at the setter, every time she lowers her elbows, she sets in the middle.” Your middle blocker doesn’t need to know that it is actually only 94.37 % of the time. Their job is to make a choice (to commit in the middle or to go to the wing) in a very short time. By recognizing this pattern and telling them to commit in the middle every time they see it, you take out of their way a big chunk of the uncertainty that makes it so difficult to block the middle hitter . And if they are right only 95% of the time, well that’s a pretty impressive return on investment.

Taking stats, and analyzing it is a time consuming process. So unless you have enough time and knowledge yourself (or have a committed assistant to help you) to collect that data, to transform that raw data into meaningful information, and then to deliver that information...

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