Building Skills and Problem Solving with the Constraints Led Approach

A traditional method of coaching is, “I’m going to tell you what to do.” However, a more effective way for players to learn is through experience. So how do you get a player to do what you want with without diagramming it out on the chalkboard? That’s where the constraints led approach comes in.

The framework of the constraints led approach is essentially to create environments for players to learn by doing. To do this, coaches put ‘constraints’ on their players. So, rather than only telling players what to do, coaches must also put players in situations where they can learn skills through played experiences.

“The players were getting really good at following directions,” said Zachary Nowak, USA Hockey Coordinator of Coaching Education Program. “Whereas in the constraints led approach, you’ve got to put them in an environment where they are forced to solve problems.”

In this framework, there are three main constraints: 1. Individuals, 2. Environment, 3. Task. There are things coaches can’t change, like individual player characteristics.

“As coaches, we’re really concerned with the task constraint,” Nowak said.

Task Constraints

“The constraints led approach is more about manipulating and changing the space and the rules and certain things to incentivize or discourage certain behaviors,” said Nowak. 

Nowak gives the example of getting players to move the puck across the Royal Road to create better scoring opportunities. Research from former NHL netminder Steve Valiquette shows that moving the puck across the center of the ice, or Royal Road, immediately preceding a shot increases the shooter’s scoring opportunity by over 10 times.

So, using a constraints led approach, Nowak draws a line down the middle of the ice and includes a constraint for moving pucks across the Royal Road.

“We can create a game or activity that incentivizes that behavior,” Nowak said. “I tell the players, goals are worth one. But if you can make a pass across the Royal Road that results in a goal, then that goal is worth three. By utilizing these constraints or the rules, changing the task, we’re incentivizing certain behaviors.”

This also allows players to make decisions on their own, without being told what to do or how they should do it.

“We haven’t totally excluded out the fact that you can just score a normal goal, but we have incentivized this behavior in this activity is worth more and hopefully as a result, we’re seeing players interact and create those plays more often,” Nowak said. “And that would be the behavior change we’re after.”

Perception, Action and Environment

The constraints led approach can be used in a lot of different ways – it can be used to teach technical skills or reinforce concepts of team play. The key for coaches is creating activities that get players to explore the many different solutions there are actually in the game.

“What’s really important is making sure that our perceptions and our actions are coupled and together,” Nowak said. “Oftentimes we try to teach stickhandling by having a player go and stickhandle around cones. That’s not very representative of what we need them to be able to do. We don’t want them looking down all the time stickhandling. We want them to be really good at manipulating a player. Or navigating around a moving stick.”  

 

So, rather than putting static cones out on the ice, coaches should put players into environments and situations that use live-action play to complete a task.

 

“Sometimes we teach in a way where the realness of the environment doesn’t really match what our players are going to need to do, Nowak said. “And oftentimes that changes the way they act or the way they play.”

Nowak encourages coaches to put players in as many different environments as they can that are game-like in nature. This will allow players to learn how to learn. And problem solving helps them work through learning how to learn.

“If we want those decisions and we want that behavior to change, we need to have as much of that decision-making thought process as we can,” Nowak said. “Sometimes that means for us as coaches we need to sit back and observe more and watch our players and see some of the changes they’re trying to implement and let go of the reins and give our players the opportunity to learn.”

For more on the constraints led approach, check out Nowak’s interview on the USA Hockey Podcast featuring Arizona State professor Rob Gray, who has extensively researched the topic.

Source: usahockey.com