Questions tagged [strategy]
Questions regarding planning and direction of a team at a high level, usually initiated by a coach or other manager. Requires a tag for the particular sport to provide context.
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Why do football teams announce their formation before the game starts?
While watching the pre-game for the 2015 Women's World Cup final, they said that Japan would be using a 4-3-3 formation. Why did Japan give up that strategic information? Wouldn't it be better to keep ...
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What do managers do when a closer blows the save?
Would they pull him for the tenth inning in most cases? I know that they're generally one-inning specialists but would they go to a setup man or something after?
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Why do bowlers go so near the crease?
Going so near the crease makes no-balls more likely.
Disadvantages : A penalty run is given away. Maybe more runs if the batsman can hit it. Maybe more runs in the next penalty ball. In 20-20 format, ...
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How to even out skill level for dodgeball between middle school kids (guys and girls)
We help lead a youth group at church which includes kids from grades 6-8 (ages 11-14)
I'm trying to figure out a way to make dodgeball fun for everyone. My problem is some of the girls don't like it ...
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Squeeze play: Is it harder to prevent score than it appears?
In a spring training game last week there was a runner on third when the ball was bunted to a spot just off the baseline midway
between home plate and first.
The pitcher retrieved it quickly and ...
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How to beat a good doubles player in singles
I lost to this very good doubles player (leftie) who rarely plays singles. That was embarrassing, given that I only play singles. It was close, but I am 100% sure I can beat her.
Her low pace flat ...
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Do NFL or college football coaches make up plays during the game?
Some sports are sufficiently dynamic and with few enough players that coaches make up plays during the game. But American football seems sufficiently complicated I would imagine it's hard to do that ...
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Why would Belichick spilt Gronk out wide against the Seahawks?
Bill Barnwell writes about the 2014-15 Super Bowl,
Gronkowski spent a surprising amount of time matched up early split
out as the world’s biggest decoy against Richard Sherman, but as the
game ...
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How to take advantage of an opponent's second serve
On two matches I lost recently, I thought I hadn't taken advantage of my opponent's serve.
One had a pretty short and dinky with a some weird spin (she had some shoulder problem).
The other one had ...
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Playing against a very athletic player - singles tennis strategy
What kind of strategy should you use when you play against someone who plays at a higher level than you, but is still beatable on a bad day? This particular player is very athletic, but she doesn't ...
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How can one estimate distance covered while spot-swimming?
I’ve been finding it difficult to track my progress while swimming with a swimming cord. Is there a swim watch or tracker that can provide an estimate of the distance covered while training like this?
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Declaring innings after the pitch is rolled?
In a Test match, the pitch is rolled at the start of each day's play. When the ground provides multiple rollers, the captain of the side currently batting has the choice of rollers.
Captains use ...
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Why does anyone choose to bat first?
In baseball, which I grew up with, it's always considered an advantage to bat second. In cricket I'd expect this to be even more true, because in addition to knowing what your target is when batting, ...
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Which strategies to use against aggressive tennis players?
Aggression spread aggression. It is easy just to follow the other player and bang harder back. You need to outsmart the other player somehow particularly if you are about the same level or you feel ...
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How Does the 2005 Offside Rule Amendment by FIFA Stretch the Game?
Here are a couple of reference for the background on the topic
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2010/apr/13/the-question-why-is-offside-law-genius
and the book ''Inverting the Pyramid'' Chapter ...
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Is a top prospect usually called up at the beginning or middle of the season?
When it is known before the season starts that the team's top prospect will be called up that year, does it usually happen for Opening Day, or do they get the call later in the year?
Also, are there ...
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Why are there so many pitcher types in baseball?
I understand when the various types of pitchers come on: starter, middle reliever, setup, closer.
But if the starter was good enough for 6 innings, why not similarly have one pitcher pitch all the ...
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How do pro baseball (or cricket) players decide who should catch a fly ball?
In baseball, it often happens that a fly ball is hit where two or more fielders would have a chance to catch it. In that case, the fielders have to agree as to who will make the catch. If they ...
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How can I recognize what formation a soccer/association football team is in?
When watching soccer on TV I often hear the commentators say stuff like, "They've come out in a 3-5-2, not their usual 4-4-2 in the hopes of ..." or "they've got so-and-so acting as 'false 9' today." ...
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In tennis, is there any advantage to decline the opening serve?
In football, the winner of the coin toss can elect to "receive" or "defer." The advantage of "deferring" is that you get to receive after halftime, meaning that teams will often elect this option.
In ...
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Defense against an isolation play
I'm a geezer now, but when I played competitive ultimate, a specific type of isolation play was very popular. Near the end zone, the handler would call out "Iso bob" (or whatever they wanted to ...
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How do (National League) managers decide when to "pinch hit" for their pitchers?
You're in the top of the seventh inning with a 1-1 tied score. Your starter has thrown about 80 pitches, meaning that he's good for at least one, maybe two, more innings. Your bullpen is tired, but is ...
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Can you play baseball more or less defensively?
In football (and I'm sure many other sports) if you're a goal down, you can push up with more attackers, and put more pressure on the opponent to try and get a goal back. If you're leading by a goal ...
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Undocumented Tennis Shots
I referred Tennis shots but didn’t see about looper and short angles. These two shots are helping a beginner like me to win some games. So, what are such gems like shots that are not documented in ...
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Do they ever pull the goalkeeper in football?
In ice hockey, teams that are losing will sometimes pull their goalkeeper late in the game and bring in an extra attacker to increase their chances of scoring and tying the game.
Do teams ever pull ...
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Why did the Netherlands put in their backup keeper for the PKs?
In the Netherlands v. Costa Rica World Cup game played on 5 July 2014, the Dutch substituted their keeper at 120+1', clearly solely for the inevitable penalty kick shootout. I'd expect the starting ...
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"Pressing high" in football (aka "soccer")
I've heard the term "press high" repeatedly while watching the World Cup. What does it mean? Do teams that press high generally enjoy more possession or less?
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How does basketball overtime strategy differ from regulation?
Both teams have demonstrated they can achieve similar offensive production. Does defense become more important? Is there a unique strategy regarding three-point field goals, steals, assists or other ...
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Do players share strategies/weaknesses of other players who were their team members
I was reading an interview of Luis Suarez and it made me think...
Do players share secrets, weaknesses of other players whom they played with at club level, when they go head to head in international ...
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Source(s) for Learning Cricket [closed]
I would like to learn the game of cricket. Not necessarily to play. I enjoy watching it, but don't really understand what is going on. I have watched some youtube videos that explain things, but I ...
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When playing ice hockey and giving a pass at the blue line, who should go first?
I didin't know how to clearly express my question, so here are a few explanation.
I'm currently playing in a small hockey club at a quite low level, and we always do this exercise where all the ...
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Why do players tend to pass the ball when taking corner kicks in soccer (football)
Whenever I watch soccer games and see a team having a corner kick, the player taking the corner kick sometimes passes the ball to another teammate before attempting to cross the ball. But, more often ...
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Are there strategical differences between two-man and four-man bobsled?
During the winter Olympics, I notice that there is a bobsled event with two men per sled as well as a bobsled event with four men per sled.
Are there strategical differences between two-man and four-...
user527
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NBA draft picks as a team rebuilding strategy
I am reading about strategies that general managers use to rebuild an NBA basketball team. By rebuilding I mean the process of letting go existing players and signing new young players with the aim of ...
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Is it allowed to play a cricket match without positioning any fielder as a wicket keeper?
In a cricket match , there are total 11 players which we called as playing eleven who will be there fielding and batting for a side.
There are different positions on which the fielders can be placed ...
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What are some good drafting strategies for a recreation basketball league?
Age: 16 - 18
I analyzed the past two championship teams who won it all in the last two years, and here is what I discovered about the types of players they drafted:
1. Last year's team:
First Round ...
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What is "Joker card" to be used in IPL?
In IPL 2014, Team owners will be able to use there Joker card. Whatever I have read and searched I found that teams can use joker card at time of auction to retain there previous players playing for ...
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When should the playing 11 be decided in a cricket match?
I often see a thing in the cricket match broadcast, that the captains are on the pitch with a match official(commentator) and the toss would be done. Then the two captains will talk about the pitch ...
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In American football, purpose of motioning the slot receiver
While watching a play with the New England Patriots you often see the z receiver or slot receiver (correct me if they aren't equivalent terms) motion towards the quarterback but then moves back to his ...
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Is it possible to change the captain in the middle of the match?
In Sachin's farewell's match, I saw a quote in Cricinfo that Dhoni can hand-over the captaincy to Sachin to honour him like he did that for Saurav.
I searched about that and yes, it's true that ...
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Are there sports in which game theory is explicitly used?
Game theory [interactive decision theory] is mainly used in economics, political science, and psychology, as well as logic and biology.
I believe that I know that tennis serving and football penalty ...
user1564
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Is it possible to place a fielder other than standard fielding positions?
Is it permitted to place the fielders other than the standard fielding positions terms in international cricket match?
To be more specific,
can a fielder be placed in
between the mid-on and long-...
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What are some techniques for masking a ping pong serve?
There are several ways to serve a ping pong ball. I have noticed that some serves are far more obvious to read/understand than others.
For example, if a player contacts the top of the ball during the ...
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In fantasy baseball, should I avoid playing pitchers who are starting against my batters?
One of the important things in fantasy football is to make sure that your defense isn't starting against your high-scoring offensive players, especially your quarterback. For example, if you had Tom ...
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Do players lose a point in a game on purpose as part of strategy?
In a game of tennis (singles), are there any strategies where players lose a point (and thereby, a game) voluntarily so that it benefits them in the long run - like say, a serving first on the next ...
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Zonal marking vs man marking
In our 7 vs 7 league, we employ a form of zonal and man marking that is formed out of necessity; during free-kicks or corners we have a man-to-man marking that has been both successful and ...
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Improving 7 vs 7 team and strategy
I am part of a team that plays in an amateur league that also has a playoff at the end of the season. Our team is consisting of fit players that are not very tall but can run around a lot. However, ...
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Are Hookers the only players allowed to take lineout throws?
When lineouts take place in Rugby Union I have only ever seen Hookers being the player who takes the throw in. Is it in the laws of the game that only a Hooker is allowed to take the throw?
If it is ...
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What is the role of a "false 9"?
Recently I read a few articles about strikers playing as a "false 9". My understanding of a "false 9", is that he is a striker whose purpose is to pull defenders out of position so that his teammates ...
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What are the team sports with more than two teams?
The only team sports with more than two teams I can think of is relays in track and field and swimming like 4x100m and 4x400m.
However I wonder if there is a full sport on its own that is played by ...
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