P.R. Ford and A.M. Williams
The Big Idea
The American golfer Arnold Palmer (1929-2016) once said “It’s a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get.” Risking over-simplification, Palmer’s witty observation is a fair one-sentence summary of this discussion on what research tells the coach about developing elite soccer players. Risking over-complication, the deeper question isn’t how much one practices, but how much one practices the right kind of practice. The authors of this paper urge coaches and players who strive to be in elite soccer circles to pay more attention to research-based principles in designing practice and learning sessions. These principles may have far more power to create Palmer’s “luck” than emulation of other coaches, historical precedent, instinct, or hunch.
Takeaways
- The topic of this paper is a summary discussion of the research on elite player development.
- The path to elite-level play begins with early engagement.
- To avoid the possibly negative effects of early engagement (such as burn-out), early diversification of sport interests and delaying specialization are valuable.
- Aging-up presents the problem of structuring practices to include both training form (fitness, skills, techniques) and playing form (replicates actual game play).
- The tendencies are for coaches to prefer training form (65%) to playing form (35%), especially given how difficult it is to duplicate game conditions and contexts.
- Yet with more creative approaches to designing practices, it is possible to un-structure structured practices.
- In the text of this summary there are some examples of how it is possible to manipulate a variety of individual, environmental, and task constraints to improve the chances of emphasizing playing form over training form. (There are more examples in the paper itself.)
- Finally, there is no getting around the need for deliberate practice in the pursuit of developing elite soccer players. But it is imperative that player development through reflection and self-regulation be significantly increased if playing plateaus are to be transcended.
The Research
The bulk of this discussion on acquiring skill and expertise is a review of the existing research literature. The paper breaks down into four sections: 1) developmental activities and pathways of elite players; 2) a microstructure of practice; 3) the nature of deliberate practice; and 4) useful instructional strategies.
Developmental activities and pathways of elite players
“If I don’t practice the way I should, then I won’t play the way I know that I can” –Ivan Lendl
The authors of this review discussion define soccer-related developmental activities in three ways. There is formal, coach-led practice; competition itself; and informal soccer play. There are studies attempting to quantify the relative amount of time elite players devoted to these kinds of activities. Whether in childhood or adolescence, one study with 328 elite players from seven countries reported players beginning soccer at 5 years of age; in childhood they engaged in soccer practice 186 hrs/yr, play for the same number of hours per year, and competition only 37 hrs/yr. In adolescence, the numbers for the same categories were: 412, 160, and 67 respectively.
There are significant differences between countries and systems, but “early engagement” in the sport is common. Other studies have raised concerns about the potential for negative consequences of the early start in sport-specific play. Instead, those with concerns suggest early diversification of sport interest and delaying specializing. A compromise of sorts is in Brazil where coach-led practice is far less popular in the early years giving way to soccer specific play instead. The advantage of this approach is increased motivation to play because of preserving the play element. In addition, it appears that these youngsters possess superior anticipation and decision-making ability.
Microstructure of practice
“We cannot make good news out of bad practice.” –Edward R. Murrow
When we factor in motor learning and practice structure, there are some interesting suggestions. Consider the difference between random and blocked practice on discrete skills such as a pass, header and turn. In random practice, the player practices different skill attempts, one after another. In blocked practice, a single skill is practiced without interruption from other skills. Interestingly, random practice leads to better learning during the practice phase. But blocked practice seems to increase superior performance.
However, there do appear to be limitations on the generalisability of research on practice structure. The big problem is the inherent difference between controlled practice and uncontrollable competition. Game-intelligence (perceptual-cognitive skills) doesn’t seem to be easily reproducible in typical practice structure modifications. Play activity more naturally nurtures these skills.
Yet, when youth practice sessions are studied, it is possible for researchers to distinguish between training form and playing formactivities. Training form activities are those without much, if any game-play contexts (like opponents); these are fitness, technique, and skills practices. Playing form replicates game-related conditions as much as possible (such as small-sided and possession games). In one study of 25 youth soccer coaches and 70 different practice sessions in England, 65% of the time were composed of training form practice and only 35% playing form. So the concern once again is the inherent habit of contriving practice skills and techniques that may or may not play out in game-playing conditions and contexts.
One argument coaches use for reducing the playing form activities is because of the complexities of soccer itself; in other words, the amount of play form activities by coaches is limited because the play form is too demanding for learners. But it is still possible to adapt a practice session to include play form activities. The game skill can be simplified, for example. Practice tasks to promote learning challenges must be neither too simple nor too difficult. But it is still possible to find the optimal challenge point for youth players and modify the playing form skill to match that skill level.
One model for successfully increasing the amount of time youth players experience playing form over training form is called the constraints-led approach. Typical constraints are individualconstraints (leg strength, aerobic capacity), environmentalconstraints (ground surface, light), and task constraints (rules of soccer). All three types of constraints can be manipulated by the coach. In order to teach variability and flexibility over routine habit for example, consider the way rules can be manipulated in small-sided games to reduce the players’ challenge point:
- Increase the size of pitch
- Reduce the number of players on each team
- Include extra players who always play for the team with the ball
- Ban tackling—only allow pass blocking a pressure
- Create uneven teams
- Ban running—walk only
- Have the coach play (and forgive the coach for any embarrassments!)
There is also good sense when using small-sided games to manipulate the practice of specific perceptual-motor skills:
- Remove goals and use touch lines to score instead
- Limit touches via one- and two-touch passing
- For long passing, narrow the playing pitch, use two very small goals and a “no-go” penalty area
- For turning, allow both teams to score at either end of the pitch
- For shooting, place large goal nets at either end of the pitch
Deliberate practice and instructional strategies
“There is nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.” –Johann Sebastian Bach
It is a given that elite soccer players move through learning plateaus by way of “deliberate practice.” For most ordinary skilled sport players, they have moved through the early stages of rapid learning and on to plateaus of competence. And there they remain. But for the determined elite-pursuit player, remaining on a plateau is a kind of arrested development. Not satisfied with mere competence, the pre-elites enter realms of practice that are physically and mentally both tough and rarely enjoyable.
Research advice is that in the early years there is no need to load up on deliberate practice. Instead, the coach could lean on structured practice and play activities; maybe even encourage multiple sport participation. But if elite soccer playing is the goal and when plateaus inevitably appear, deliberate practice becomes a necessity.
Regarding instructional strategies, there is research support for reducing the amount of exclusively verbal instruction, feedback, or demonstrations. Especially limiting is feedback or instruction that is explicit, immediate, or negative. Significant motor learning is enhanced by implicit, delayed, action-oriented, infrequent, and positive.
Finally, there is a consensus in the research literature that expert soccer performance requires both perceptual-cognitive as well as perceptual-motor skills. While acquiring motor skills early-on depends to a certain extent on automaticity (habitual movements), as progress toward elite performance materialises, increasingly we see complex mental representations to attain ever-higher levels of playing control. Increasing player reflection and self-regulation along with continuous refinement and creativity in the functional skills of the sport combine to produce elite soccer players.
