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Skill Acquisition

How our players acquire skills through formal practice and informal play.

How can play impact performance? PDP Lead Researcher & International Futsal player, James Vaughan examines how important play is when it comes to finding solutions in a high performance setting. Last month New Zealand played against the Solomon Islands in the FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifiers in Fiji. Tied at the top of the table this game was the tournament decider, the game that determined Oceania’s representative for the upcoming World Cup in Colombia. Four years of preparation and sacrifice on the line during 40…

In this Live Webinar replay, Todd Beane, Co-Founder of Cruyff Football & Founder of TOVO Institute discusses his experience, what he’s learnt from Johan Cruyff and some of his recent blog posts. We’ll be discussing practical advice for establishing an environment of development. Also joining the discussion from the USA will be Chris Panayiotou – the Developmental Director of Rush Soccer, Virginia. Chris is a highly experienced coach. Originally from England, Chris has presented at the NSCAA Coaching Convention and he has multiple qualifications from…

PDP Video Session Plans are adaptable sessions designed by academy coach, Dave Wright. All sessions show key focus points, set up, and progressions so you can use them in your next practice.

PDP Video Session Plans are adaptable sessions designed by academy coach, Dave Wright. All sessions show key focus points, set up, and progressions so you can use them in your next practice.

PDP Video Session Plans are adaptable sessions designed by academy coach, Dave Wright. All sessions show key focus points, set up, and progressions so you can use them in your next practice.

Bruno Travassos, Ricardo Duarte, Luís Vilar, Keith Davids & Duarte Araújo This study reinforces the practical results of recent research demonstrating that there is good sense in designing training sessions that correspond as much as possible to skills and tactics necessary for competitive game performances. This study focusses on the conditions we create when we train, and how that relates to the performance on game-day. In the sport of futsal, for example, this study demonstrates that creating more complicated passing options in practice increases the likelihood that…

Player Development Project Magazine Editor, Dave Wright was fortunate enough go behind the scenes at Liverpool FC Academy with U21 Manager Mick Beale. Following on from our 2015 interview, Dave gets Mick’s views on developing better people and watches the U21’s train prior to their match against Middlesborough. On a gloomy day in the North West, I arrive at the Liverpool Academy with fellow coach and friend, Dan Wright to meet with U21 Manager, Mick Beale – a man who was featured in Issue 7…

Zlatan Ibrahimovich is one of the great characters and creative players of modern football. PDP Lead Researcher, James Vaughan examines some of the reasons why. Watch this… Zlatan is the best example of affordances in action. Ibrahimovic sees and plays passes that very few players can because he sees the opportunity to move in ways that most people can’t. This allows Zlatan to make passes and score goals that no one else can. He is one of the most unpredictable, innovative and therefore creative players of…

In this Live Webinar replay, Mark Upton joins us to discuss the non-linear journey of player development, constraints based coaching, skill acquisition and more. Mark is co-founder of myfastestmile and is one of the UK’s top coach education researchers. Mark will join the PDP Team, regular hosts Dave Wright & Jimmy Vaughan for an engaging discussion about topics from both Mark & Jimmy’s research. We break the conversation down into a number of key topics around non-linear pedagogy and athlete development. This is a must watch for…

Dave Wright discusses the power of play and how a learning environment that allows play and creativity but challenges players to grow through adversity and failure is key to long term success. In issue 1 of Player Development Project Magazine, I wrote an article called Fighting the Fear Factor, challenging the environments that many coaches still create despite the knowledge we have in modern football and coach education. It’s an absolute passion of mine to develop environments for players where they can be free, to learn,…

Encouraging a growth mindset and emphasising the learning journey is a key component of Player Development. In this article, Founder of TOVO Institute, Todd Beane shares his thoughts on how you can ensure a learning environment. Do you want your players to learn? The night was cooling down as the players were warming up. These young footballers, fresh from primary school, sprinted on to the training ground with boundless energy to play like their heroes. Messi, Iniesta and Neymar were merely a short ride up…

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