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The present study investigates to what extend de-contextualized practice is necessary to acquire technical skills in developmental soccer training. Typically, open play is considered beneficial for acquiring tactical skills, whereas specific drills are used to support the development of technical skills like passing and shooting.

Too often the oldest players in a year group are selected for the ‘top junior teams’ with others deselected too early, says Jorg van der Breggen, Head of Football Development at the Dutch FA [KNVB]. Read about his perspective on early selection and the implications of doing so.

Calling a development programme high performance, or elite, doesn’t make it so. High performance, or elite, is a mindset above all else, not a realm reserved for the chosen few. There is no entitlement. Being elite must be earned and it doesn’t come easy. Read the views from a former FA National Young Player Development Coach on what makes an academy ‘elite.’

Understanding that each child in a coaching session is experiencing their own process of change and may respond differently to the demands placed upon them is key to good coaching, says Professor Keith Davids, expert in skill acquisition at Sheffield Hallam university.