Player Development Project: Finding the appropriate challenge for players

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One of the biggest challenges coaches face at all levels is ‘managing difference’. Players develop at different rates, they will have highs and lows when it comes to performance and within a team setting, players will need a different challenge point at different times throughout their youth football to maximise their potential.
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So what does this mean in practice and how do we go about it?
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The appropriate challenge for one player might be significantly different for another. With young children, the concept of training age can be amplified. Training age is the amount of time or experience a player has playing the game.
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Some might start in an organised environment at 4 years old. By the time they are 8 or 9, they could look far more advanced compared to a player who only entered organised sport, at age 7 for example.
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Similarly, players may have varied movement histories which can impact their performance. Some may have far more experience of ‘informal play’ or other sports which in turn equips them with different skills. Of course, a player could be at the other end of this and simply new to the game, and they require time to catch up to their peers.
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When delivering sessions it’s important to consider how we can tailor our approach for individuals in the group. If you have a player who is performing particularly well (right now) then perhaps they need a bit more stretch, whilst a player who is struggling may need support.
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This means the player who is more advanced could require a higher challenge point. This could be delivered through individual constraints within the practice, playing a player in an older age group, putting a high quality technical player up against a more physically mature opponent, or even stretching players 1v2 in different scenarios.
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How we manage this not only impacts the player’s development but their experience. We want kids to enjoy their environment and, importantly, to be challenged too. If the session is too easy or too hard, players could become disengaged or discouraged.

Three things to consider

How well do you know your players training age, movement history or sporting background and how might it impact their performance?

Are you aware of the players’ biological age in the group and the impact of relative age effect? A January born 10-year-old has a full year of life and sporting experience over their December-born friend.

How do you design practices to challenge the strongest players in the group or allow those who are less advanced to gain confidence?

​One thing for you to try this week

Plan a practice with your best player in mind. How can you challenge them individually to stretch their ability?

Set them a task, discuss it and review it during or after the session.

Next week, you might consider how you do this with a player who is less advanced.

One critical resource on the topic

Check out this insightful article on how coaches can Seek the Appropriate Challenge for young players by world-class academy coach Dan Wright.

As part of their commitment to help coaches, PDP will share content with Friends of Football in a new regular column. Each week, we will re-publish one of the PDP newsletters from their library of content.

This story was first published on August 27, 2024.