Speed of decision-making as a key element for professional and academy soccer players’ performances

• Published in: Retos (Madrid) 2023-01, Vol.50 (50), p.1195-1203
• Main Authors: Teoldo, Israel, Mezzadri, Eliakim, Cardoso, Felippe, Machado, Guilherme
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: football; game reading; perceptual-cognitive skills; perceptual-motor skills; response time; talent development
• ISSN: 1579-1726; 1988-2041; 1988-2041
• DOI: 10.47197/retos.v50.100355

This study aimed to: i) compare the number of decisions made in official matches between youth academy and professional soccer players and ii) compare the quality and speed of decision-making between youth academy and professional players. In experiment 1 we assessed 12 soccer matches (7 professional and 5 academy matches) through notational analysis. In experiment 2 we assessed 138 soccer players from professional (n = 42) and academy (n = 96) levels. The TacticUP® was used to assess game reading and decision-making skills. Results indicated that professional players make around 56% more decisions than youth academy players in official matches of their respective tournaments. In addition, professional players are quicker in making decisions for all match situations: with the ball (offensive phase), without the ball (offensive and defensive phases), near and distant from the ball. Based on the results, we verified that both in situ (official match) and in vitro (controlled test) situations the speed of decision-making was a distinguishing feature of performance between professional and youth academy players. Keywords: football; game reading; perceptual-cognitive skills; perceptual-motor skills; response time; talent development.