The player in the 4v4 game touched the ball 12.31 more times in the same time period against the same opposition as the 11v 11 game . The assessments were done on four different occasions against different opposition, and assessing different players each time to reinforce the above figures. The reason to implement small- sided games into the program was to increase the time and amount of touches a player had on the ball and these results clearly back this up. It would be useful if other coaches tried the same experiment and showed the results to anyone who just simply doesn t understand why we do it and why it is important. Even the best players in the world have non quality touches on the ball.
Players learn from doing it right but also from doing it wrong.
I believe players must make mistakes to help them learn how to do things correctly as well as learning from doing it correctly in the first place. From the 135 non - quality touches they will have gained valuable experience of what not to do e.g. a first touch was bad and the ball went to the opposition so next time that player concentrates on making a good first touch and so on. In comparison in the 11 a side game the same player hardly touched the ball making only 11 quality touches but also only 11 non quality touches meaning very little opportunity to learn from quality work and non quality work. My experience in the game has taught me this is an important way to help players develop their technique and improve their game and these results act as confirmation of this. I am sure this presentation goes some way to show how important it is to continue to use this type of developmental work as a part of our overall coaching programs.