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Background The predominant instructional method utilised by soccer coaches are verbal instructions that occur whilst (during) players are executing soccer-skill. However, little is known on the specificity of the information contained within. These verbal instructions can guide the learner to either the performance characteristics of a movement (internal focus) or the intended movement effects (external), with the latter known to facilitate superior motor performance, retention, and transfer. Purpose The aims in the present study were to quantify the focus of concurrent verbal instructions utilised by professional youth soccer coaches during drill-based (i.e. isolated) practice activities, and to modulate how these instructions are delivered in coaching sessions following the engagement in a coproduced evidence-based educational workshop. Method Systematic observation was used pre and post the workshop to quantify the nature of verbal instructions delivered by 5 male coaches (31–47 years of age with 4–24 years of coaching experience) across 34 sessions with players from 8 to 13 years of age. For instructions provided during (concurrent) action-execution, we further quantified whether these instructions were focused on motor performance characteristics (internal) or the intended movement outcome effects (external) using criteria outlined in the revised Arizona State University Observation Instrument. To facilitate behaviour change, all coaches engaged in an educational workshop led by skill acquisition specialists (SAS). The workshop was designed so that educational material related to the principles of skill acquisition, and motor control and learning, were presented using a pedagogical delivery method containing verbal information, data presented in illustrations, and videos. In addition, the results that quantified coaching behaviour during the pre-workshop systematic observation period were presented to coaches as quantitative feedback. To guide the coaches to ap

Background: Researchers in the field of sport pedagogy have highlighted questioning as a behaviour that facilitates athletes’ high-order thinking and problem-solving. However, previous studies have suggested that coaches ask a reduced number of questions during training that are typically convergent and lead players to predetermined responses. Formal coach development programmes (CDPs), intended to encourage the use of questioning, have been scrutinised for their limited impact on coaches’ practice. These criticisms have been made without consideration of the instances and situations during training that might present a better opportunity for asking different question types. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore coaches’ perceptions concerning potential ‘teachable moments’ to ask convergent and divergent questions during training at three data collection points, and to associate changes between knowledge and behaviour after a work-based CDP. Method: Six Spanish youth football coaches working for an elite academy were recruited to a longitudinal study. The study involved a six-week CDP delivered by a coach developer, in collaboration with the club’s Academy Management Team, and an experienced research team. Data collection occurred throughout 24-months interspersed by a workshop and two directed tasks organised in several stages: (1) Pre-systematic observations (Sep–Dec 2018) and (2) pre-interviews (Jan 2019), to identify coaches’ baseline behaviours and knowledge; (3) a workshop & directed task 1 (Feb 2019), encouraging coaches to experiment and self-discover how to implement questioning within their training contexts; (4) a directed task 2 (Feb–Mar 2019), facilitating coaches’ video-based and dialogic reflections about their questions; (5) post-systematic observations (Mar–May 2019) and (6) post-interviews (May 2019), capturing changes in knowledge and questioning after the intervention; and (7) consolidation interviews (May 2020), recording coaches’ kn

We examined whether practice activities adopted by professional youth soccer coaches are modulated through the implementation of and engagement with cocreative evidence-based programs. Across two experiments, we used systematic observation to identify the practice activities of seven coaches across 134 sessions. In Experiment A, drill-based and games-based activities were recorded and quantified. To encourage behaviour change across the study, the systematic observation data were compared with skill acquisition literature to provide coaches with quantitative feedback and recommendations during workshops. Postworkshop systematic observation data indicated that practice activities used by coaches changed in accordance with the evidenced-based information (increase in games-based activities) delivered within the workshop. Interview data indicated that coaches typically stated that the workshop was a key reason for behaviour change. In a follow-up Experiment B, feedback and recommendations were delivered using an interactive video-based workshop. The systematic observation data indicated that coaches increased the use of soccer activities that contained active decision making with coaches citing the workshop as a key reason for behaviour change. These findings indicate that coaching practice activities can be supported and shaped through the implementation of cocreated workshops wherein coaches collaborate with sport scientists and researchers to bridge the gap between science and application.

Small/er soccer nations rely strongly on developing youth athletes into experts in adulthood due to financial, logistical, and coach education constraints. One factor that contributes to this expertise is activities engaged in during childhood. Researchers have described these activities by focusing on larger, well-developed countries that often have larger participation rates and higher competition levels than their smaller counterparts. Therefore, to provide more specific information to support talent development in smaller soccer nations, a survey of the youth development system of a small soccer nation was conducted, alongside recording the developmental activities of skilled and less-skilled soccer players within this system. Key stakeholders (e.g., technical director) completed a youth development system survey. Skilled soccer players (n = 12) who were representing their country at U17 level and less-skilled players (n = 13) that had never played for their country completed a Participation History Questionnaire. Skilled players engaged in significantly higher amounts of individual practice in both childhood and early adolescence compared to less-skilled players. Survey data indicated that the greater amounts of individual practice for the skilled players stemmed from a lack of finances, playing facilities, and a formal coach education program. Results from this study may inform future practices and processes in the youth development systems of small/er soccer nations and their national associations.

Football, unlike some other team sports, includes limited game interruptions for coaches to easily communicate with players and affect their performance. However, a reduced number of studies have explored how coaches attempt to influence players during half-time. This study examined football coaches’ behaviours during half-time and their perceptions underpinning their talks’ delivery. Five Spanish coaches (Mage = 32.2, SD = 8.8) working for a La Liga academy were systematically observed during half-time talks (n = 20) and participated in a semi-structured interview each. Half-time talks were coded using a modified version of the Coach Analysis and Intervention System, and semi-structured interviews were analysed following thematic analysis procedures. Instruction and feedback were the most employed behaviours for four coaches, with younger age-group coaches employing greater divergent questioning and in-talk player participation. Furthermore, data suggested that coaches conferred with their staff, before entering the changing room and rapidly progressed from divergent to convergent questions and feedback and instruction. The team's ‘level of play’ was the most perceived relevant factor affecting the verbal and vocal strategies of coaches’ messages, albeit the score gained importance for coaches of older age-groups. This study is pioneering, examining how coaches attempt to influence their players during half-time talks of competitive youth football.

Small/er soccer nations rely strongly on developing youth athletes into experts in adulthood due to financial, logistical, and coach education constraints. One factor that contributes to this expertise is activities engaged in during childhood. Researchers have described these activities by focusing on larger, well-developed countries that often have larger participation rates and higher competition levels than their smaller counterparts. Therefore, to provide more specific information to support talent development in smaller soccer nations, a survey of the youth development system of a small soccer nation was conducted, alongside recording the developmental activities of skilled and less-skilled soccer players within this system. Key stakeholders (e.g., technical director) completed a youth development system survey. Skilled soccer players (n = 12) who were representing their country at U17 level and less-skilled players (n = 13) that had never played for their country completed a Participation History Questionnaire. Skilled players engaged in significantly higher amounts of individual practice in both childhood and early adolescence compared to less-skilled players. Survey data indicated that the greater amounts of individual practice for the skilled players stemmed from a lack of finances, playing facilities, and a formal coach education program. Results from this study may inform future practices and processes in the youth development systems of small/er soccer nations and their national associations.

It is approximately 35 years since the publication of the first relative age effect paper in sport and despite the volume of empirical studies, book chapters, conference presentations, and column inches dedicated to this topic we appear to be no further on in eliminating or attenuating this discriminatory practice. This commentary argues that the ongoing use of univariate methods, focusing on primary or secondary analyses of birth-date data, unearthed from previously un-examined contexts is not conducive to stimulating discussion or providing empirical solutions to relative age effects. This paper concludes by suggesting a departure from the traditionally narrow view of relative age inquiry and instead consider the role of transdisciplinary research.

The literature regarding formal coach education and development highlights issues of transference of usable knowledge to the real-world context. This study sought to engage coaches from a Spanish football academy in a longitudinal work-based coach development program (CDP) focused on the delivery of post-match feedback. The CDP was delivered over a 23-month period through collaboration between a sport pedagogue researcher-practitioner, the Academy Management Team, and an experienced research team. The study adopted a case study design, utilizing a multiple method data collection strategy that occurred in several stages: 1) Systematic observations (Sep–Dec 2018) and 2) debrief (Jan 2019), where baseline coach behaviors and underpinning knowledge were recorded; 3) a workshop and a directed task (Mar 2019), encouraging coaches to apply new knowledge; 4) a directed task 2 and reflective interview (Apr/May 2019), facilitating coaches’ reflection on their past deliveries and rationalization and planning of their forthcoming sessions’ delivery and 5) a consolidation interview (Apr 2020), capturing knowledge stabilization. Qualitative data suggest that there was an increased understanding in the adoption of behaviors including corrective feedback, silence, questioning, and player participation throughout the CDP. In addition, coaches’ self-reflection found acceptance of their coaching delivery or a disconnect between their desired and actual behaviors during the delivery of video-based feedback. This study provides a preliminary framework for further implementation and exploration in developing coaches’ knowledge and understanding of delivering post-match video-based feedback.