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# How the work gets done
- URL: https://www.danielbirkelund.com/how-the-work-gets-done/
- Published: 2026-11-07T07:10:14.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-07T07:10:14.000Z
- Description: The complicated part: plans, load, numbers, game prep and evaluation. None of it is glamorous.
- Author: Daniel Birkelund
- Tags: Methods, #Import 2026-11-06 18:11

*A companion to “*[*Complexity, in plain words*](https://www.danielbirkelund.com/complexity-in-plain-words/)*”*

The philosophy is about the complex part of the job. This page is about the complicated part: everything that can be planned, measured and written down, and therefore should be. The tools change from club to club, with the resources and the people available. What doesn’t change is that they exist, that they are written down, and that they are actually used. No shortcuts.

## A plan at every level

Every season starts with a written framework: the overall model, the priorities, and a season divided into periods, each with a clear purpose. Each period gets its own plan, each week follows a template built around game day, and each session is planned on paper with a purpose, target loads and timed blocks. A written playbook holds the tactical language, the systems, variants and principles, and is updated as the season goes on. Everything starts from one question: in what way will this make us better? And the players know the plan in advance, because a predictable structure lets them put their energy into the work itself.

## Load in two dimensions

I plan and monitor physical load with session RPE (rating of perceived exertion), RIR in the gym (reps in reserve) and minutes played. I plan cognitive load on a scale of my own: how much a session challenges the brain, through decisions, communication and changing conditions. Training should be hard when it’s supposed to be hard, and easy when it’s supposed to be easy. Individual adjustments may come in different layers: where a player is in his career and what his role is this season, his injury history and the dialogue with the physio, and, most important, an ongoing conversation with each player. Where the club has them, heart-rate monitoring, wellness check-ins and an integrated S&C coach and physio make all of this sharper.

## Numbers, and what they don’t say

I use the data that is available, as long as it tells us something relevant to performance on the court and doesn’t cost more time than it’s worth.

**Games:** league statistics on ourselves and every opponent, our own tagging of every match, and standardised post-game and scouting reports built from play-by-play data. We may look at:

- efficiency in each phase of play: the counter-attack in its first, second and third phase, organised attack, and 7 against 6 and 6 against 5 at both ends;
- saves and save percentage, which sectors we concede from, and where we don’t;
- turnovers, and when in the match they come;
- discipline: suspensions and penalties given away;
- individual performance indicators.

**Physical:** a test battery for strength, power, and conditioning runs at the start and end of each preparation period. It’s measured against available benchmarks, which turns results into clear priorities for each player and steers the programming.

None of it is read on its own. The numbers tell us where to look, and video, observation and conversation tell us what we’re looking at. Test results should be the start of a conversation, not the end of it.

## Preparing for a match

Most of the preparation doesn’t depend on the opponent. It’s the process of continuous improvement. Our concept works in three layers: the basic principles, standard solutions for the things that happen often, and only then the specific plan for this opponent and these players. So a game plan adds details. It doesn’t replace who we are.

A normal game preparation cycle typically looks like this:

- **Two days out:** we prepare our defence against the opponent, with analysis and data reports behind it and about 30 minutes of video.
- **The day before:** we prepare our attack the same way.
- **Match day:** there’s an optional priming session.

Mental preparation is written into the week as a focus for each day. Two days out, it might be “courageous and aggressive in defence, calm and clever in attack”; the day before, it could be “cooperation, communication, and a winning mentality aimed at the next situation”. In the match itself, the aim is to need very few words, because the important ones have been practised all week.

## Fixed rhythms for evaluation

There’s a team debrief after every match: short and concrete, covering what to reinforce, what to improve, and a few clips. A bigger team evaluation comes mid-season, together with a full round of in-depth one-on-ones. Individual follow-up runs all season, started by the staff or by the players. And there’s a season evaluation when it’s over, before anything is planned again.

## Clear roles

We work as one staff, with written roles. I own the planning, the playing style and the final decision, and specialists own their areas.

## AI as a working tool

AI is an integrated part of the work. I currently use it to analyse test results and game data, both our own matches and our opponents’, to help plan and programme strength and conditioning, to keep a log of what we do, and to research questions and find perspectives we wouldn’t otherwise have. It does the complicated work faster, which leaves more time for the complex part. The judgement and the decisions stay with people, and player data is handled with care. I expect this list to look different in six months.

**None of this is glamorous. It just has to be done properly, every week.**