ABSTRACT
Plans are crucial in all aspects of our lives. It may often happen subconsciously, and we certainly don’t always write plans down, but we’re often making plans in one form or another. One of the best places to watch people planning is during sporting events. Take football as an example: a team will go out and follow the plan that has been put together by the manager. This plan might be to play in a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 formation; it might be to push forward or hold back; the players might have been told to tackle heavily or take it easy. During the match, each player will be formulating plans throughout the game. Some might be made in an instant — ‘I’m going to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper’ — while others might require a little more thought. Next time you watch a football match, just watch the player about to take a free kick from a dangerous position. Once they’ve done their in-depth assessment of how far away they are, where the wall is, where the wind is blowing from, they’ll decide where and how they are going to take the kick. Without this plan, they’ll never score: they’ll just hit the ball vaguely towards the goal and hope for the best.
