Playbook

What is it?

The playbook is the main strategy guide the team is going to use for build season and competition, it's important for everyone who goes to the competition to know and understand so we can be an effective alliance member that helps form strategies that work to our team's strengths. It's also important so anyone on the team can be an effective scouter.

Why do we need one

The playbook for the season is very important for competitions and overall success. A broken team strategy could make or break a competition. It's important for there to be a good idea of good strategies for the game we're playing and associating those strategies to the strengths of our robot and drive team. 

How do we make one? - Courtesy of FRC 4607 Alumni Ryan Swanson 

• Begin with Gane Analysis

  • We analyze the game from kickoff and tweak it all the way until our final match. 

  • Begin with the FRC Rulebook for that year

  • Think about overall strategies for that game

  • Figure out all of the ways to score points and all of the ways to prevent points

  • Go through  as many "what-if" scenarios as possible with potential robots that could exist

    • Using RI3D robots will help

• Think about game-breaking strategies

  • What: 

    • Tasks in a game that ensure victory for the team that does them

  • Going to be obscure and difficult to perform 

    • If a game-breaking strategy exists at all 

  • Use the rule book to your advantage 

    • Look for obscure rules 

  • Another benefit: 

    • Gives you a very good understanding of the rules and how the game will be played 

• Create your strategic plays

  • Different plays for different scenarios 

    • High-Risk High Reward, Safe and low potential, etc. 

  • Created before the competition 

    • Edited and updated after watching events and especially the powerhouse teams and their gameplay 

  • Show to alliance partners when discussing pre-match strategy 

    • Use along with Strategy Pad to explain ideas 

• Finally: Cost-Benefit Analysis

  • Estimate how many points you can get for a certain task and how much time it will take (remember FRC matches are SHORT every second counts)

Next up - implementing it in the build + competition season

• Prioritize the tasks in the game 

  • Design your robot to do as many of them as is feasible 

  • Remember though, it may be worthwhile to do one or two tasks perfectly rather than all task poorly or to a medium level

• Remember your alliance partners can also do tasks However, be careful relying on them 

  • The amount you try to accomplish on your own depends on your team’s resources, experience, etc.