3 dimensional (3D) football involves seeing the game through height, width and depth. Adding an extra dimension (4D), we can note that these are limited by time. A player cannot skip from one end of the pitch to the other in under a second - each movement across the first three dimensions is limited by the fourth. Through a five dimensional lens (5D), there are then all the possibilities for movement within the confines of the first four dimensions. As a player begins to move, many of the possibilities they had disappear and are replaced by what is newly possible thereafter.
Although it is largely unconscious, when we speak of players who read ahead of play or see things before they happen, it is an appeal to the idea of reading everything which is possible and then responding adequately to predictions of what is most likely. This combined with the motor skills to open one’s own 5D grid up to a larger or greater selection of possibilities shows massively in the skill level of a player.
Especially with tight pressurised situations at the highest level such as dribbling to evade a defender, the effects are clear. It is pivotal to be able to respond at speed to the rapidly-evolving situation with small touches and changes of direction. Furthermore, this is done while baiting a defender into traps with the aim of opening up space which can then be exploited.
The 3D thinking player acts only on moving the ball to where space currently is.
The 4D thinking player acts to move into the existing space at the right time, such as when the defender dives in.
The 5D thinking player actively shifts the ball to encourage certain actions from the defender while already having a strong understanding of all the escape routes whether or not the defender does as expected.
תגובות