Improving dribbling performance using small-sided games – a pilot study in youth football players

Abstract

This study examined the effects of a 3­ ‑month intervention on the dribbling performance of youth football players in both game and analytical tasks. A total of eighteen under­ ‑11 players (age 10.5±0.7 years) participated in the game­ ‑based intervention, which consisted of 36 sessions. The intervention focused on two main tasks: i) 10 minutes of 1v1 small‑sided games (SSG), and ii) 10 minutes of 1v1 to 3v3 SSG. In the first month, players engaged in exercises on pitches with varied sizes and shapes to improve ball mastery. In the second month, they played on pitches with obstacles to increase the number of touches. Finally, in the third month, players performed on pitches with multiple targets to enhance their speed of movement. The pre­ ‑ and post­ ‑test assessments were conducted during a Gk+3v3+Gk SSG. Also, two analytical tasks assessing dribbling speed were used. After the intervention, players demonstrated improvements in decision­ ‑making (moderate effect, p<0.05), deceiving opponents (moderate effect, p<0.05), ability to create space (moderate effect, p<0.05), and in the dribbling speed analytical drills (large effects, p<0.05). Despite these improvements, the absence of a control group limits the potential for generalizing the results. However, coaches should consider using game­ ‑based tasks to emphasize technical development due to higher representativeness to competitive matches.