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Sports & Fitness vocabulary · Coaching & Teams

Tactics

Meaning in sports & fitness, with examples

/ˈtæktɪks/nounCore term

In sports & fitness, tactics means: The plans and methods a team or player uses during a game to beat an opponent, such as how to attack, defend or use space.

In Turkish: taktik

How it is used

Used by coaches, analysts and commentators. Teams change tactics at half-time, discuss tactics in meetings and work on them in training. The adjective is tactical (tactical change, tactical foul); strategy usually refers to longer-term planning.

Example sentences

  1. We changed our tactics at half-time and pressed higher up the pitch.

  2. The coach spent an hour on tactics before the derby.

Common collocations

  • change tactics
  • defensive tactics
  • tactics board
  • tactical change
  • game planThe strategy a coach or team prepares for a particular match, including how to play and how to deal with the opponent's strengths.
  • coachA person who trains athletes or a team, plans their practice, teaches technique and tactics and often makes decisions during competition.
  • opponentThe person or team you are playing or competing against in a match, race or contest.
  • drillA short practice exercise, repeated many times, that trains one particular skill or movement, such as passing, footwork or a set play.

More terms: Coaching & Teams

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