Instant on-screen feedback during soccer drills made young players more interested and keen

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   60 young soccer players in China, aged 12 to 15 (about 13 on average), half boys and half girls. All had played in a club for at least 2 years.

2. 02

   What they did

   For 8 weeks, twice a week, one group wore a headset during dribbling, passing and shooting drills. It showed the ball's path, a target zone and shot speed, and beeped when a try fell short. The other group did the same drills and got spoken feedback from a qualified coach.

3. 03

   What happened

   At the end, the headset group rated their interest, skill and effort higher than the coached group. The gap still showed four weeks later. The paper gives two session lengths (45 and 90 minutes), and the new gadget itself might have made players more keen.

What the study found

1. Helped

   Players who got instant feedback in a headset liked drills more, felt more skilled and tried harder than coached players.

   • Rule: Get feedback on your progresstested

   Small randomised trial of 60 young soccer players aged 12 to 15 · vs the same drills with spoken feedback from a coach · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable

Source