This book builds off the "Games for Understanding Approach" originally developed in 1983 by Len Almond, Dave Bunker, and Rod Thorpe. "The Games Approach" advanced two basic tenets: (1) When introducing sports, the sport educator's task should be to reduce the technical demands (skill techniques) of the game so as to help players concentrate on learning the tactical components of effective play. (2) The skill techniques of sports should be introduce in the later stages, or if the game is breaking down because of weaknesses in this area. Launder shows how this can be done by presenting carefully thought out lead-up games and challenges that help players learn the tactical essentials of the sport. He does this for virtually all sports. I think he does this particularly well for invasion sports such as soccer, basketball, field hockey and lacrosse. But he also has some useful ideas for activities as diverse as track and field, golf and skiing.

The essential premise of this text is that every child, not merely very talented children, should have the opportunity to participate in enjoyable and challenging sporting activities. Play Practice evolved as Launder searched for a better way to introduce young people to the joys of sport and help them to become competent, confident players. As the term implies, Play Practice turns practice into play by using games and challenges in some form or other to create realistic and enjoyable learning situations. The object is to remove the idea that play must become work if children are to improve, so challenges replace technique practices, and drills make way for carefully structured games.

Reading this book has had a profound affect on my designing of sport practices. It has helped me to see weaknesses in some of the drills and lead-up games I have long used. Furthermore, it has resulted in a philosophical shift in the amount of team practice time that I believe should be devoted to technique practice/drills as opposed to tactical instruction. I have been convinced that while some team practice time still needs to focus on fundamental techniques, far more time should be given to helping the players learn tactics. I now see tactics as an ever more critically important part of most sports and that those tactics can only be effectively learned by the players when you have them together. On the other hand, skill techniques require a great many hours to learn and refine and can often be practiced in isolation. I therefore believe that learners should be strongly encouraged to practice these skills outside of team practice much as possible. I have long felt this way about the need for beyond team practice fitness training, but had never fully thought of the concept being applied to skills practice.

I definitely recommend this book to any level physical educator or coach. It has been one of the most influential books I have read in the past couple of years. Mr. Launder is clearly someone who loves sports and who has given his life to intelligently instructing it. I think these quotes from the book sum up his passion.

"Sports belong with the arts of humanity because they are as fundamental a form of human expression as music, poetry and painting." "Players paint a picture for hundreds of thousands of people, in which the theme moves constantly and each second the scene changes completely. They are creating a picture of the highest form of art, neuromuscular control."

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