Effects of a Tactical Programme for Critical Thinking on Football-Specific Decision-Making in Under-9 Academy Players

NCT07479368 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: TPCT-Football-U9
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 25
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study evaluates whether two academy football training programmes are associated with different changes in football-specific cognitive-motor performance in under-9 male players. One academy cohort completed a Tactical Programme for Critical Thinking (TPCT) embedded within game-centred training, whereas a comparison cohort followed its usual repetition-oriented academy programme. Performance was assessed before and after 12 training sessions using the Stroop Task Football Test (STFT), including execution time, response accuracy, and a derived Total Index.

Conditions

Football Players; Decision Making

Keywords

Tactical Programme for Critical Thinking; Stroop Task Football Test; Critical Thinking; Execution Time

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Stroop Task Football Test Total Index (TI)

  The STFT Total Index is calculated according to the original scoring procedure as the number of correct responses divided by total execution time expressed in minutes. Higher values represent a combination of greater response accuracy and faster execution.

  Baseline (before the first intervention session) and 48 to 72 hours after the participant's final intervention session (approximately 6-7 weeks after baseline).

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Stroop Task Football Test Execution Time (ET)

  Baseline (before the first intervention session) and 48 to 72 hours after the participant's final intervention session (approximately 6-7 weeks after baseline).

• Stroop Task Football Test Decision-Making: Direction of Movement (DMA-DM)

  Baseline (before the first intervention session) and 48 to 72 hours after the participant's final intervention session (approximately 6-7 weeks after baseline).

Study Arms (2)

TPCT-integrated academy football training

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants completed 12 academy football training sessions combining structured tactical reflection with modified games, task constraints, and extended representative play. Reflection episodes used standardised, age-appropriate questions to identify tactical objectives, evaluate previous actions, consider alternative responses, and agree on an observable collective adjustment for subsequent play.

Behavioral: Tactical Programme for Critical Thinking (TPCT)

Usual academy football training

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants completed their academy's usual 12-session training programme with the same weekly frequency and approximately the same session duration as the TPCT cohort. Training was predominantly repetition-oriented and included technical drills, passing and dribbling activities, and customary game play without planned collaborative reflection or systematic reflective pauses.

Behavioral: Matched Academy Football Training

Interventions

Tactical Programme for Critical Thinking (TPCT) BEHAVIORAL

A socio-constructivist, game-based pedagogical intervention embedded within routine under-9 academy football training. TPCT is delivered over 12 on-pitch sessions and includes: (1) a brief opening collective dialogue (\~10 minutes) focused on the tactical principle of the day; (2) constrained small-sided games designed to amplify targeted information-action couplings; (3) brief structured reflection episodes (3-5 minutes) guided by five critical-thinking questions addressing tactical objective, helpful and hindering actions, alternatives, performance evaluation, and collective adjustment; and (4) extended free play representing approximately 50% of session time to promote transfer.

TPCT-integrated academy football training

Matched Academy Football Training BEHAVIORAL

Routine academy football training delivered under normal practice conditions, matched across groups for weekly frequency, session duration, and tactical content. Sessions target offensive and defensive tactical principles through regular coaching activities. In the control condition, training emphasizes repetition-based technical drills and customary game play without structured reflective questioning.

Usual academy football training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 9 Years - 9 Years
• Sex: male
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Male academy football players registered in the under-9 category.
• Regular participation in academy football training.
• Free from injury at baseline and able to fully participate in training and testing.
• Written informed consent provided by a parent or legal guardian.
• Age-appropriate assent provided by the child participant.

You may not qualify if:

• Any injury or medical condition limiting full participation at baseline.
• Injury sustained during the study that prevents continued full participation.
• Absence from more than 25% of intervention sessions.
• Inability to complete baseline assessment.
• Inability to complete post-intervention assessment.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Édison Andrés Pérez Bedoya: lead

Study Sites (1)

Tecnológico de Antioquia

Medellín, Colombia

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Gaviria Alzate SJ, Valencia-Sanchez WG, Espinal FE, Bustamante JL, Arias-Arias E. Tactical critical thinking program on the tactical efficiency index, declarative and procedural knowledge in male soccer players: a case study. Front Sports Act Living. 2024 Dec 20;6:1469347. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1469347. eCollection 2024.

  PMID: 39758555 BACKGROUND

• Gaviria-Alzate S, Higuita DA, Jaramillo AF, Machado JA. Impact of a Tactical Critical Thinking Program (TPCT) on ball control and passing accuracy in U-8 football players: A quasi-experimental study. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. 2025.

  BACKGROUND

• Calle-Jaramillo GA, Gonzalez-Palacio EV, Perez-Mendez LA, Rojas-Jaramillo A, Gonzalez-Jurado JA. Design and Validation of a Test to Evaluate the Execution Time and Decision-Making in Technical-Tactical Football Actions (Passing and Driving). Behav Sci (Basel). 2023 Jan 26;13(2):101. doi: 10.3390/bs13020101.

  PMID: 36829330 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• SAMUEL JOSE GAVIRIA ALZATE, PhD

  Tecnologico de Antioquia

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: None (Open Label)
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Sponsor investigator

Model Details: Participants were allocated non-randomly at academy-cohort level to one of two parallel training conditions. The TPCT condition combined structured tactical reflection with modified games, task constraints, and extended representative play, whereas the comparison cohort followed its usual repetition-oriented academy programme. Both cohorts followed the same weekly training frequency and approximately the same session duration. Because each training condition was implemented in one academy cohort, training condition and academy context were structurally confounded.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 12, 2026
• First Posted: March 18, 2026
• Study Start: April 14, 2026
• Primary Completion: May 31, 2026
• Study Completion: May 31, 2026
• Last Updated: September 1, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Beginning 6 months after publication of the main study report and ending 5 years after publication.
• Access Criteria: Data will be available to qualified researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal. Access will require approval by the study team and, because the study involves minors, a signed data use agreement ensuring confidentiality and no attempt at re-identification.

Locations

CO (1)