What makes a good Touch player?

"What makes a good Touch player?" It's a question with many answers but one which can create endless debate and often arguments when teams are selected. What follows is a short guide to the skills that selectors of representative teams in particular look for in a Touch player, which may give you some clue into the areas that you can work on to improve. If you have played or watched a few seasons of Touch, you already have some idea about what makes a good Touch player. You will have some appreciation of what makes a good or successful player, and what is needed for a team to win games or be competitive in them. To improve your own game or improve your ability to assess players for either coaching or selecting purposes, you will need to broaden your appreciation of the game and slightly change your mindset when watching a game or a training session.

For example, many people only consider what attacking skills a player may have and pay little attention to the defensive skills needed to be able to compete against other good players. Likewise, many spectators can only recall those players who scored and not those who contributed to the plays or decisions that led up to the creation of the scoring opportunity. When selecting teams, coaches and selectors need to consult with each other as to what kind of game style they are aiming to play (if any) or what kind of players they would prefer. Straight away, you can see that this may mean that this may mean that those players who are considered the 'best' 14 players may not get picked.

Some coaches will have a detailed list of attributes they are looking for, others will be quite general. If you look at higher level teams, you will realize that a team is usually not made up of players who are exactly the same, indicating that there is no one ideal kind of player. For example wingers need different skills and different physical capacities to middle players – many players are incapable of, or are unsuited to playing both positions. Similarly, a team full of dominant personalities will often fail to play to their technical potential unless they are coached by a strong coach.

Selectors and coaches generally look at four broad areas -

• Physical Skills (speed, speed endurance, agility, aerobic capacity, possibly even height)
• Technical Skills (passing, clean roll-balls, squaring up touches, correct positioning in defence)
• Game Skills (good reads of defence and attack, analyses opposition strengths and weaknesses)
• Personal Skills (listens to coach and teammates, is disciplined, plays to team gameplan)

This breakdown gives you a good idea of things that you can work on in your own personal game. It is probably difficult to excel in every area, especially in the technical and physical skill areas. What it does indicate is that if you are not exceptionally fast over five to ten metres but if you can keep your speed up, or if you have an average pass but are a very good runner with the ball, you probably have enough talents to make you a good player and can work on your other skill areas.

One way of improving your own game is to watch others play. When doing so it is a good idea to vary the position you stand in, so that you get a good idea of how players are performing in different positions up and down and across the field. You will also be able to hear how they communicate to other players and gain a better appreciation of why they may make particular decisions. You can also ascertain how a coach may be telling them to play and see if they are following instructions. Whether you are a player, coach or selector, you should be aware that not everyone will have the same opinion.

If you are a player who enjoys analysing the game of Touch, you might want to consider becoming a Coach or a Selector. It is not necessary that you are an outstanding player to take up one of these roles, in many cases players who had to work hard to improve are better coaches because they understand what is required to inspire and educate other people. If you are interested in taking up coaching or selecting, then get in contact with one of the club committee or someone at the Touch Football South Australia office who can point you in the right direction. Top 5 attributes of a good Touch player