By Dr. Davide Sganzerla
Psychokinetics or Psychodynamics is the science that studies the relationships between psychic facts and space; in simpler terms, Psychokinetics studies what brings together reasoning (psycho) and movement (Chinese). Psychokinetics and its exercises, therefore, go to train the athlete's ability to perform and change a behavior - movement as soon as possible based on external stimuli (visual, sound and tactile) that arise.
In modern football there is a need to have players, not only physically, technically and tactically gifted, but also "mentally gifted", that is, with high "mental speed", since the footballer, during the race, is subjected to thousands of various stimuli nature to which he must respond in the correct way and as quickly as possible.
Football is a game where nothing is established, in fact its main characteristic is its unpredictability. At every moment new situations and circumstances arise with which the player must relate and give an immediate answer; just a moment's hesitation or a little carelessness to change the outcome of the game. Obviously not only need to answer, you need to answer correctly.
In addition to the basic technique, tactics and athletic training, the athlete's "mental preparation", which consists of memory, perception, and ability to concentrate and analyze the situation, must therefore be developed synergistically.
Psychokinetic exercises therefore stimulate the ability to acquire and read situations, the ability to know how to focus attention on what is really relevant and the ability to anticipate, that is the ability to find solutions as soon as possible. These abilities are real qualities that an athlete possesses in his own DNA, but which can nevertheless improve, so they must be trained and stimulated simultaneously with technique, tactics and athletic training.
When setting up a psychokinetic training you have to devise exercises that recreate more realistic situations in the game but that force the player to think in order to answer correctly. With training, the player will gain some experience which will then be re-performed automatically during the game. The exercises should initially be easy to solve and enjoyable, to avoid attitudes of refusal by the players. Subsequently, once you have gained some experience, these exercises will have to be increasingly difficult.
The psychokinetic session must be scheduled at the beginning of the training, immediately after the warm-up, when the players are not tired, so as to remain attentive and focused throughout the whole exercise. Psychokinetic exercises, associated with Technique and Tactics (Psycho-technical and Psycho-tactical), requiring reasoning and mental elaboration that are often very complex, so they should be performed not near the race, but at the beginning of the week, perhaps associating them to heating. The Psychokinetic exercises associated with athletic preparation (Psycho-athletics), on the contrary, requiring inferior reasoning and mental processing, so they can be performed in the vicinity of the competitions; in particular, those exercises able to stimulate speed and motor responsiveness can also be performed in the finishing of Saturday. Very important, in the success of every psychokinetic activity, is the relationship established between the athletic trainer and the players, with the "prof." Who must try to give life to an open mind, marked by an attitude of trust towards the proposed activities. The athletic trainer must put himself in a proactive manner, drawing attention to precise and never numerous details, he must not give or suggest solutions, but must wait for the players themselves to come up with solutions to the problems posed. The enthusiasm of the group is fundamental for the continuous work, so at the beginning it is necessary to propose easy and fun exercises, perhaps in the form of games, challenges and competitions. This represents a starting point for a gradual journey, made up of small daily acquisitions and towards always new achievements, which moreover do not foresee points of arrival, as man's intellectual abilities are practically infinite. The proposed exercises, then, must gradually be more and more demanding, always respecting the training method described above.
EXERCISES OF PSYCHOCINETICS WITH AND WITHOUT BALL
| 1) Move to the square relative to the said number and click on the cone of the color called. | |
 | variants: - move on the square opposite to the said number; -insert exercises inside the squares (skip, jumps etc.); - in pairs whoever controls the square of the said number, the other goes in the opposite. |
| 2) Move horizontally in the space relative to the said number and click on the cone of the color called. | |
 | variants: - move to the space opposite to the said number; - insert exercises within the spaces (skip, jumps etc.); - in pairs whoever controls the square of the said number, the other goes in the opposite. |
| 3) Rapidity paths with click on the cone of the color called or shown. | |
 | variants: - click on the cone opposite to that of the color called; - click on the cone opposite to that of the color shown. - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone relative to the called number; - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone opposite the called number. |
| 4) Skip on the post, click on the cone relative to the color called and return always clicking on the other cone. | |
 | variants: - return based on the number called, equal number, straight click, odd number click on the other cone crossing with the partner; - click on the opposite color and reverse numbers. |
| 5) In 4, start with skip on the over, at the whistle click towards the central cone and click on the cone of the color called. | |
 | variants: - click on the cone opposite to that of the color called; -2 click on the cone of the color called and 2 click on the opposite; -1 clicks on the cone of the called color and the other 3 click on the other cones according to their starting position. |
| 6) Click on the cones related to the colors called in succession and click 10m to the right or to the left. | |
 | Variant: - click on the cone of the opposite color to the one called. - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone relative to the called number; - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone opposite the called number. |
| 7) Overcome an obstacle with a leap and sit on the spot, at the whistle click on the circles and fall in bending to the ground, at the whistle snap 10m. | |
 | |
| 8) In pairs of side, skip on the circle, at the start take the circle ahead and "skippare", then click on the cone of the color called or shown. | |
 | variants: - snap and try to take the partner; - click on the cone of the color shown; - click on the cone opposite the color called or shown. - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone relative to the called number; - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone opposite the called number. |
| 9) In pairs in front, skip on the circle, at the start take the circle ahead and "skippare", then click on the cone of the color called or shown. | |
 | variants: - click on the cone opposite the color called or shown; - one of the two decides on which one to take and the other chases; - one of the two decides which one to take and the other clicks on the opposite cone; - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone relative to the called number; - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone opposite the called number. |
| 10) In pairs skip in the circle, shoot on the cone of the color called or shown, turning around the stake and without colliding with the companion. | |
 | variants: - click on the cone of the opposite color to the one called; - one of the two snaps onto the cone of the color called, the other on the opposite cone; - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone relative to the called number; - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone opposite the number called. |
| 11) In pairs of side, skip in the circle, to the whistle to shoot forward and to the call of the color to reach in click the corresponding cone in its side. | |
 | variants: - click on the cone of the color called but on the opposite side; - click on the cone of the color shown on its side; - click on the cone of the color shown but on the opposite side; - the pairs are positioned facing each other. - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone relative to the called number; - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone opposite the number called. |
| 12) Around around themselves or the stake and the call of the color, click on the relative cone. | |
 | variants: - click on the cone of the opposite color to the one called; - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone relative to the called number. - associate a number with the cones and click on the cone opposite the called number. |
| 13) In pairs, positioned frontally, A commands and decides to shoot right or left, B pursues him trying to touch him. | |
 | Variant: -B shoot from the opposite side of A. |
| 14) In pairs, in a square of 5m x 5m, play guard and thief. | |
 | |
| 15) In pairs within a rhombus, click on the vertex relative to the number called or shown. | |
 | variants: - more athletes inside the rhombus; - click on the opposite vertex to the number called or shown; -A snap on the vertex relative to the number called or shown, B snap on the opposite vertex. - the coach calls the 4 numbers in sequence and the athletes must move to the vertices quickly respecting the order of the numbers called |
| 16) I shoot 5m towards 2 stakes of different colors, turn around the stake of the color called or shown clockwise and shoot another 5m forward. | |
 | variants: - turn around the stake of the color called or shown in Counterclockwise; - turn around the bolt opposite the color called or shown in a clockwise direction; - turn around the bolt opposite to the color called or shown counterclockwise; - complete an "S" between the posts starting from the outside of the stake relative to the color called or shown; - complete an "S" between the posts starting from the outside of the post opposite to the color called or shown; - complete an "8" between the stakes starting from the color post shown or shown; - complete an "8" between the posts starting from the opposite post of the color called or shown. |
| 17) Groups of 3, A decide where to shoot, B and C chase. | |
 | - B decides where to shoot and the others take the other side; - who arrives last makes 10 pushups. |
| 18) Touch with the hand the stake of the color called or shown and at the whistle, shoot 10m by turning around the stake of the last color called or shown. | |
 | variants: - equal but touching the stake with the feet; - turning around the opposite pole of the last color called or shown; -turning around the stake relative to the first color called or shown; -turning around the opposite pole to the first color called or shown. |
| 19) Receive the ball, turn around as quickly as possible and pass it correctly towards the cone relative to the color called or shown. | |
 | variants: - associate a number with the cones and pass the ball according to the number called or shown; - pass the ball towards the cone relative to the only color or number not called or shown. |
| 20) Receive the ball, turn around in the shortest time possible and pull it towards the goal post to the color called or shown. | |
 | variants: - pull the ball towards the pole opposite the color called or shown; - associate a stake with the stake and throw the ball according to the number called or shown, -as above but on the pole opposite the number called or shown. |
| 21) In groups of 3, each athlete is distinguished by a number of different Chinese people placed in front of them at a distance of 10m, at the call of the number the one who belongs to that row takes right the Chinois right, the other two snap towards the other chinois crossing each other. | |
 | variants: - show the number instead of calling it; - use colors instead of numbers. |
| 22) Three groups of different colors run inside a delimited field and pass the ball with their hands in a defined sequence. | |
 | variants: -pass the ball with your feet; - changing the sequence of steps by inserting triangulations or tactical movements (yellow-green-yellow-red) |
| 23) Possession of the ball to 3 teams of different colors, the team of the color called by the coach must steal the ball from the other 2. | |
| 24) Match between 2 teams with 4 doors of 4 different colors, you must mark in the door of the color called by the coach. | |
| 25) A player must tell the colors that the comrades placed a few meters away show him while he is dribbling. | |
 | variants: - while the player passes the ball with a partner; - while the player hits the ball head-on; - while the player concludes on goal. |
| 26) Team deployed with a specific module (for example 4-4-2) to make possession of the ball to 1-2 touches, always passing the ball to a player of the other color. | |
 | variants: - pass the ball first to a player of his own color and then to a player of the other color; - on the coach's signal the whole team organizes an offensive restart, always respecting the constraint relative to the passing color. |
| 27) Two players with different colored jackets pass the ball, the coach calls the color of the player who must attack the goal to score, the other will have to defend in a 1v1 situation. | |
 | variants: - the coach calls the color he must defend; -2vs2, 3vs3, 4vs4; -2vs1, 3vs2, 4vs3. |
| 28) Two players turned from behind are positioned between 2 balls placed 1 on their right and 1 on their left, at the call of the coach (or right or left), the two players run towards the called ball and make a 1vs1 with conclusion in door. | |
 | variants: - associating the balloons to one color; - associating the balloons to a number; -2vs2, 3vs3, 4vs4; -2vs1, 3vs2, 4vs3. |
These are just some examples of psychokinetic exercises with and without the ball, they can be invented of any kind; just a little imagination and inventiveness if you can create or modify many.
Watch the video
X Watch the video on youtubeBIBLIOGRAPHY
- M. CECCOMORI - "Training and organization of offensive and defensive situations of inactive ball".
- A. IERVOLINO - "The importance of mental speed. Wait, schedule the sessions and psychokinetic ".
