Is this the end of the “dynamic korfball”?
Watching the Finals of the 2019 Dutch Korfball League and seeing Fortuna/Delta Logistiek celebrating their well-deserved championship title after the 21–19 victory over PKC? This question has to pop out to every korfball “expert”, including me.
Please, don’t let me be misunderstood, I have nothing against Fortuna. Their victory was well-deserved, the passion of the whole team, the vision to make the dream come true was definitely overwhelming, and most probably made the difference. Congratulations.
But,… What we’ve seen in recent years of korfball development was increasing impact of the so-called “dynamic korfbal” (called “all-round” or “360 korfball”) practiced specifically by the Dutch national team and some Dutch clubs on various international tournaments. The quick ball passes, cross-balls, full-court moves and axis-based running lines of all 4 players, shooting with a “fluid” rebound and searching for a quick “2nd chance shots”. Beautiful to watch such a game.
I have experienced that approach closely for the first time in 2015 on the European Championship U21 in Olomouc (Czech Republic). The selection of Wim Scholtmeijer brought the all-around korfball to the court and their dominance was even more apparent then anytime before. Until the finals. The Belgian squad played very steadfastly, setting a lot of pressure on Dutch shooters and collecting well all their missed shots. In the last minutes, the Dutch team got really frustrated, even yelling on the coach to change the non-functional setup. So, they changed the approach in the last few minutes to standard 2–2. Suddenly, they closed the gap and equalized at least at the end of the match. But then, losing in absolutely exciting Golden Goal. For the first time ever in this category!
Since then, wherever I came and saw the Oranjes playing, I was more and more convinced the all-round korfball is a great step forward because they were just amazing.
In the last few years, many teams started to adopt this approach saying — hey, this is great, let’s play the same way. The coaches were taught to make their teams play this way, teams are built to fit this approach, players were trying to adapt their habits to the full-court play. And, when you experienced playing against a Dutch team practicing all-round korfball (eg. TOP), you had the feeling of being trapped in a hamster wheel. You had no idea where is the ball or/and where is your player until you saw the ball bouncing on the floor under the korf and noticed your opponents high-fived.
And today, Fortuna Delft in 2019 makes the final of the most famous korfball league in the world with “old-fashioned” play 2–2. And not just that. They stole the show.
It was not a nice game to watch, at least watching it online really wasn’t. Those who saw the game had to have the same feeling — “hey, why the players were not moving?”. First ball inside to the assist, cutting for the rebound, static assist position and 2 players moving short lines on 8-metres diameter trying to hit the korf. 2x25 minutes, all the time the same.
But, wait! They won the game! And the shooting accuracy? Oh, my gosh! Nick van der Steen scoring every 1 of 2 shots, and when his opponent went closer, he slipped away to running-in. Fleur Hoek scored almost every shot from the right back corner of the field. Mirjam Maltha and Thomas Reijgersberg ruling the rebound position like two solid towers. Boring, but effective. I think I haven’t noticed a single quick “second-chance shot” in Fortuna’s game. I hardly remember one or two cross-balls.
We still have to keep in mind, the key success factor for Fortuna was most probably the team setup — very experienced players, extraordinary rebound predispositions, and overwhelming long-distance shooting accuracy.
So, my question is obvious. Is the dynamic/all-round korfball really dead? Let’s get back to the standard pattern 4–0, 3–1, 2–2? Or, is the “360 korfball” good just for the Dutch team to rule over the rest of the world, but when the ship starts to sink, the standard approach rules?
I would love to hear your opinion. Let me know what’s your perspective, where korfball strategy will go in next years.