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)
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