Hey Baca
One of our biggest problems on this team is our inability to make real time adjustments during the match and when its a race to 5 or a race to 7 in Semi Pro PSP, its a huge thing to be able to do.
We have lost a fair few matches against teams that we feel should have beaten but its been our inability to identify what the bad guys are doing to beat us early enough to turn things around. We are getting better at it, but its a weakness.
Any info on in-match adjustments and the differences we will be dealing with would be much appreciated.
I fear our biggest problem is we haven't got a designated coach who watches the opposition to figure them out and I think we have resigned to the fact that there isn't someone available for the job so instead rely on our own abilities to coach each other forwards.
Would be interested to hear your views
Many thanks
Leigh - Nexus
It sounds like you have a handle on the specifics of your predicament, Leigh, which is a good start.
The primary ways for getting a handle on your opponent is scouting and in-depth knowledge and understanding of the field. You may not have a coach to do the job but there is every reason you as players should be putting in all the time you can charting the breakouts and tendencies of future opponents to begin with.
And one practical thing you can do is always, as a team, and as individual players, in practice and in real matches, identify the spots and angles where you're getting shot. With a good working knowledge of a given layout this functions rather like a quick reference guide to exactly what the other guys are doing effectively.
A good way to put all this input into some context is to have a game plan and within the game plan counters and alternatives. Your game plan is a reflection of your style as a team and whatever limitations or opportunities a specific layout offers. Win or lose this provides a foundation for analyzing your results and for thinking through how you might be stopped.
As you can see a lot of the things I'm focusing on occur outside the actual match but can and often do have a significant impact on the outcome. And for the most part they are things you can all work on together. It's all about preparation, preparation, preparation.
If we have an opportunity to sit down in advance I would be happy to show you how to organize all these elements (and a couple others) in a simple to keep track of fashion and we could talk thru how best to deal with actual match needs. I can also give you background on most of the semi-pro teams as I already know how they play and what they like to do. (Depending on the actual event schedule I would be happy to work your pit with you but that's more a matter of compatability and making sure y'all would be comfortable.)
At any rate drop me a line sometime when you know when you'll be over hereand we can go from there.
