Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 2 | Page 35

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2018, Vol. 2 seeks to illustrate the current environmental, psychological, sociological, physiological, technical and tactical youth football development techniques applied in English academies to support a greater holistic approach to talent identification and development. Methods Data was collected across one football season within a male professional football academy (n=98; aged 8 to 16 years). Data collection methods included: • the participation history questionnaire • psychological characteristics for developing excellence questionnaire (PCDEQ) • socioeconomic postcode data • physical performance • anthropometric measures • relative age • technical tests • match analysis statistics • perceptual-cognitive expertise (PCE) • match simulations. is likely that the samples from the populations are different. Results found 24 significant factors that differentiated high and low performers (Figure 1) from 54 collective measures (Kelly, 2018). Subsequently, an interdisciplinary talent identification concept is presented here using a locking wheel nut analogy. The Locking Wheel Nut Model (LWNM) Locking wheel nuts were originally invented to prevent alloy wheel theft as a result of an individualised key required to manipulate its release. These were created to replace a generic lug nut, which is easily deployed through their specific design. Working on a very simple principle, each locking wheel nut has a patterned indent alongside a key which matches this unique outline, thus only when the correct key is inserted will the nut be able to be operated. This locking wheel nut analogy is applied to illustrate the talent identification process in elite youth football. This is a result of applying the methodology and visual design of the locking wheel nut. This recognised the concept of an individualised approach while observing critical requirements to achieve expertise within the academy studied. It is important to understand where the player fits within the LWNM, through identifying and categorising individual strengths and weaknesses through player profiling. Conversely, without all the relevant information, the coach may not Two coaches, as trained assessors (UEFA Pro, ‘A’, or ‘B’ Licenced alongside either the FA Advanced Youth Award or the FA Youth Award) from each age group (under-9 to under-16), were asked to rank their players from top to bottom in relation to current ability from a holistic perspective. This produced a linear classification of perceived high-performing players down to their low-performing counterparts, with each age group then split into thirds. This created a group of ‘high performers’ who represent the top third, and a group of ‘low performers’ who represent the bottom third. This enabled a distinct comparison between the high performers and low performers within each age group, with the middle third discarded from the study (n=34). Due to the differing results between age groups as a result of their chronological age, such as older players generally having had more time playing, and subsequently have higher hours of engagement, data was standardised using Z-scores within their respective age group, to allow an unbiased grouping of players. The assumptions were tested by examining high and low performers using a two-tailed independent sample t-test. The t-test is used to compare the values of the means from the high and low performers, to test whether it Figure 1: The Locking Wheel Nut Model – the influencing characteristics for high performance (Kelly, 2018) 35