An analysis of practice activities and instructional behaviours used by youth soccer coaches during practice: Exploring the link between science and application

Abstract

We examined the practice activities and instructional behaviours employed by 25 youth soccer coaches during 70 different practice sessions. We evaluated the extent to which these activities and behaviours differ from those shown in contemporary research to best facilitate skill acquisition. Nine coaches worked with the under-9 years age group and eight coaches each with the under-13 and under-16 years age groups; nine of those coaches were employed at the elite level, nine at the sub-elite level, and seven at the non-elite level. Coaches had players spend more time in activities that were deemed less relevant to soccer match performance, termed "training form" (e.g. physical training, technique and skills practices), than activities deemed more relevant, termed "playing form" (e.g. small-sided/conditioned games and phase of play activities). Coaches provided high levels of instruction, feedback, and management, irrespective of the activity in which players engaged. Few differences in practice activities and instructional behaviours were reported across skill and age groups, implying the absence of any notable age- or skill-related progression. Findings are discussed with reference to recent research in the areas of skill acquisition, motor learning, and expert performance.

Manipulating Task Constraints in Small-Sided Soccer Games: Performance Analysis and Practical Implications

“…Such game situations concede to players the opportunity to learn by guided discovery. Ford et al [2], Button et al [10], and Davids et al [11] argue that this kind of "playing form" activities (i.e. small-sided and/or conditioned games) encourage players to participate actively in the learning process, exploring solutions to problems imposed by constraints during practice.…”

“…Particularly in soccer, the "playing form" activities (i.e. small-sided/conditioned games and phase of play exercises) seem to be more relevant to skill acquisition and performance than other types of activities involving physical training and the isolated practice of technical skills [1,2]. Several researches (e.g.…”

“…For instance, Ford et al [2] investigated the practice activities employed by 25 coaches working in England with three age categories (Under-9, Under-13, and Under-16 years *Address correspondence to this author at the Faculty of Human Kinetics, Technical University of Lisbon, Estrada da Costa, 1495-688 Cruz Quebrada, Lisbon, Portugal; Tel. : +351 967990275; Fax: + 351 214144712; E-mail: carlosalmeida83@hotmail.com old) and three skill levels (elite, sub-elite, and non-elite).…”

Developmental activities and the acquisition of superior anticipation and decision making in soccer players

“…Moreover, the co-occurrence of high amounts of a particular activity and higher anticipation and decision making ability does not show or infer that the activity caused the ability. A range of other factors contribute to expert performance, such as the microstructure of practice (Ford et al, 2010b) and these may play a role in the development of these abilities. In future, traditional experimental designs with controlled training interventions may be applied for this purpose in an effort to explore causal links between engagement in certain types of practice activities and/ or the strategies employed (e.g., instructional processes) and specific changes/adaptations in particular performance attributes such as the decision making skill.…”

“…These between-group differences in the amount of structured activity during adolescence led to the high-performing anticipators accumulating more total hours in cricket activity compared to low-performing anticipators. It appears that the structure and type of activity in which players engage (e.g., Ford, Yates, & Williams, 2010b) as well as the amount of activity accumulated differentiates high-from low-performing anticipators.…”