Beyond the Stats

Design the Attention: What Coaches Need to Know About External Focus

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:34:00 +0900

In the previous post, I explained that a player’s attention is a limited cognitive resource, and what goes wrong when it runs dry.

As a follow-up, this post digs into the practical side: where, specifically, should we point that limited spotlight of attention?

Attention Is a Limited Cognitive Resource

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 18:35:00 +0900

Up to the last post, I explained motivation, one of the two pillars supporting OPTIMAL theory and the learner’s “engine,” and how to draw it out. This time I dig into the other pillar: attention, which handles the “steering” that guides that engine in the right direction.

The Two Pillars That Spark Intrinsic Motivation

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:00:00 +0900

From here, I want to dig into the two pillars that act as concrete switches for physically starting the learner’s engine, motivation (intrinsic motivation): enhanced expectancies and autonomy support.

Switch one: enhanced expectancies

“Enhanced expectancies” means raising the learner’s subjective sense of the probability of success in future performance, the feeling that “I can do this” or “it will work next time.” In other words, raising their self-efficacy.

The Science of Intrinsic Motivation: Learners Who Drive Themselves

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:13:00 +0900

In the previous post I gave a rough overview of OPTIMAL theory. From this post on, I will start taking it apart. Here I focus on motivation (intrinsic motivation), the fundamental engine that drives the learner, our “car,” powerfully forward.

OPTIMAL Theory: Accelerating Motor Learning

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:10:00 +0900

The rise and fall of the information-processing approach

For decades, theoretical frameworks for motor learning have been built on information-processing models. The best-known examples are the three-stage model proposed by Fitts and Posner (1967), made up of the cognitive, associative, and autonomous stages, and Schmidt’s schema theory (1975).

A System, Yes, but a Complex One

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 15:16:00 +0900

Simple systems and complex systems: a thinking trap we fall into

The more you work in volleyball, the more Meadows’ statement that “changing the elements has little effect” will feel wrong. I felt the same way at first. But here lies a big thinking trap that we easily fall into.

What Is Systems Thinking, the Foundation for Understanding TP?

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:22:00 +0900

Tactical periodization (TP) rose as a new paradigm that challenged the reductionist approach. But to truly understand TP and use it in practice, it is essential to understand the concept it is built on: systems thinking. So this time, I dig into the question “What is systems thinking?”

Reductionism and Its Limits

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 19:51:00 +0900

You cannot talk about training paradigms in modern football (soccer) without running into tactical periodization. Through the work of José Mourinho and others, this theory has swept the world. But when coaches actually knock on its door, many are surely put off by a wall of difficult jargon.

More than Stats: Beyond the Numbers

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 22:37:00 +0900

Hello, and nice to meet you. I have been fortunate enough to work in Japan’s top volleyball league for a good number of seasons now.

Coding, crunching data, writing reports… These days, using AI in data analysis has become essential too, and the role people like me play has been shifting a great deal over the past few years.

About

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I work as an analyst for a team in Japan’s SV.League, the top professional volleyball league in the country.

Numbers tell us a lot about a match, but not everything. This blog is about what lies beyond the stats: how players learn, how coaches shape the environment, and how a team builds a shared picture of the game. I write about the OPTIMAL theory of motor learning, tactical periodization, the ecological approach, and game models, always with real volleyball in mind.