Reader,
Have you ever run a training session that looked absolutely perfect, only to watch your team step onto the pitch on matchday and completely forget everything you worked on?
This is a common frustration for coaches, and it usually comes down to the difference between performance (what happens in training) and learning (what is permanently retained and transferred to the game). Decades of research by cognitive psychologists, such as Dr. Robert Bjork at UCLA, have highlighted the concept of “desirable difficulties”, the idea that introducing short-term challenges during practice leads to long-term gains in learning.
In soccer, this often relates to how we structure our practice spectrum. We tend to rely heavily on blocked practice, for example, players standing in a line passing back and forth. While this looks neat and tidy, and players find quick success, it lacks the contextual interference required for the brain to truly learn.
Conversely, random and variable practice looks messy. If you interleave different skills, asking a player to execute a short pass, then defend a 1v1, then make a recovery run, they will make more mistakes in training. It might look like the session is failing, but this chaotic, dynamic environment forces players to constantly process new information, adapting to constraints just as they would in a real match
Three Things to Consider
1. Are your sessions too tidy? If your players are executing drills flawlessly with no mistakes, the challenge point is likely too low, and genuine learning has stopped.
2. Mix it up. Instead of dedicating 20 minutes solely to shooting, integrate shooting into a transition game where players must also react to losing the ball.
3. Embrace the struggle. Acknowledge to your players that training is supposed to be difficult. Help them develop a growth mindset by framing mistakes as necessary steps for long-term retention.
One thing to try this week
Take a drill you usually do unopposed and add a desirable difficulty. If it’s a passing square, add a passive defender in the middle. If it’s a finishing practice, add a time limit or a recovering defender to increase the cognitive load.
One Critical Resource on the Topic
Check out the research review on Practice, Instruction, and Skill Acquisition in Soccer, which debunks traditional coaching myths and highlights the value of variable practice.
