Optimizing Scanning in Youth Female Football: The Role of Verbal Instructions

Abstract

Introduction In dynamic sports like football, where game situations change rapidly, gathering information through visual exploration is essential for expert performance (Aksum et al., 2021; Pokolm et al., 2022). While the importance of visual exploration for subsequent action performance is well-documented in men’s football (Aksum et al., 2021; Jordet et al., 2020), recent research highlights its equally critical role in women’s football (Hintermann et al., 2024). Despite coaches acknowledge the importance of visual exploration training, they often lack knowledge about effective training and developing methods (Eldridge et al., 2022). Verbal instructions, such as ‘check your shoulder’ or ‘head up’, are commonly used to encourage scanning during practice sessions and games (Pulling et al., 2018), however, their specific impact on scanning behavior and subsequent performance remains unclear. Therefore, this study examines the immediate effects of verbal instructions on scanning behaviour and subsequent performance during 4v4 small-sided games (SSG) among elite youth female football players. Specifically, it addresses two research questions: 1) Do verbal instructions increase the number of scans performed before receiving the ball? 2) Do players improve their performance in response to verbal instructions fostering scanning behavior?

Methods Twenty-five elite female football players (mean ± SD age : 17.6 ± 0.7 years) from two Swiss U19 women’s national league teams participated in this study. Each player participated in two 4v4 SSG sessions: one without verbal instructions (control, CON) and one with verbal instructions (intervention, INT). Verbal instructions encouraged players to scan their environment to locate teammates, opponents, and free spaces relevant to the subsequent action. A total of 1867 game situations, defined as the period beginning 5 seconds before the first ball contact and ending when the ball was released through a subsequent action, were analyzed (Hintermann et al., 2024). A scan was defined as an active movement of a player’s head in which the face was temporarily directed away from the ball, with the assumed intention of assessing the position of teammates, opponents, or available space relevant to subsequent actions (Jordet et al., 2020). The performance of subsequent actions was considered successful if the intentionally played ball reached a teammate and ball-possession was maintained. Conversely, if the intentionally played ball resulted in a loss of ball-possession, the action was classified as unsuccessful. SSG were video captured and manually tagged by two experts. Due to clustered data and binary dependent variables, logistic regression models allowing random intercepts for participants were applied (Bates et al., 2015).

Results On average, players performed 1.0 ± 1.1 scans per game situation in CON and 1.2 ± 1.1 scans in INT. Verbal instructions significantly increased the mean number of scans per player (t(24); p = .007; d = ‒0.59, 95% CI [‒1.09, ‒0.23]), with a 27% increase in number of scans compared to CON (RR = 1.27, 95% CI [1.12, 1.44]). Additionally, differences in the number of scans were observed between the two teams (RR = 1.36, 95% CI [1.10, 1.68]), but these differences were consistent across conditions, as no interaction effect was found (RR = 0.85, 95% CI [0.71, 1.01]). Secondly, the logistic mixed model showed that scanning before ball reception positively influenced the success of the subsequent action, with a threefold increase in successful outcomes compared to no scanning (OR = 3.31, 95% CI [2.71, 4.09]). This finding was independent of conditions CON versus INT (OR = 0.89, 95% CI [0.67, 1.14]).

Discussion/Conclusion Verbal instructions significantly enhanced the number of scans performed before ball reception, demonstrating that elite youth female players can actively adjust scanning behavior in response to verbal instructions from the coach. Clear differences in scanning behavior are evident between the two teams, suggesting influences from factors such as coaching style, team culture, coach-player relationship, and prior training experiences. Since these team differences remained consistent across conditions, verbal instruction was similar effective in both teams. The findings of this study confirm the importance of scanning in enhancing the success rate of subsequent actions (Aksum et al., 2021; Jordet et al., 2020). Notably, the additionally conducted scans through verbal instructions did not negatively impact the relationship between scanning and the success of subsequent actions, indicating no evidence of cognitive overload. Therefore, verbal instructions can be considered a promising coaching tool to increase the number of scans and potentially enhance performance.

In conclusion, this study underscores the potential of verbal instructions to improve scanning behavior in youth female football players, offering valuable insights into the development of perceptual skills. The findings highlight the importance of adopting integrated training approaches that address both scanning behavior and action execution. Future research should investigate long-term effects of verbal instructions and their influence on performance outcomes to further optimize training methods for young football players.

References

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