Teaching to coach football: Pre-post changes in declarative tactical knowledge following a 14 week university programme
This study examined pre–post changes in declarative tactical knowledge (DTK) in first-year Sport Sciences students following a compulsory 14-week university football teaching programme. A quasi-experimental pretest-–posttest design was conducted with 54 students (19.0 ± 3.0 years) over a 14-week int...
| Authors: | , |
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| Format: | article |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Universidad Autónoma de Madrid |
| Repository: | Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:biblosearchi::c77a4c69ffe01c6ad177910fff78b3aa |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10486/758060 https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.footst.2026.100025 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Decision-making Soccer Tactical performance Football pedagogy Coach education Educación |
| Summary: | This study examined pre–post changes in declarative tactical knowledge (DTK) in first-year Sport Sciences students following a compulsory 14-week university football teaching programme. A quasi-experimental pretest-–posttest design was conducted with 54 students (19.0 ± 3.0 years) over a 14-week intervention. The TesTactico for F7 tool, comprising 62 game-play scenarios, was used to assess DTK at three levels: macro (global, offensive, defensive), meso (roles, sub-role actions, operational and fundamental principles) and micro (general tactical behaviours). Paired-sample T-tests with Bonferroni correction to control the family-wise error rate indicated significant improvements at the macro level (p < .01, d > 0.32). At the meso level, improvements were observed in the roles Attacker with the ball and Defender out of game centre, in the sub-role Dribble, in the operational principles Progress towards rival area and Protect the goal, and in the fundamental principles Penetration and Defensive unity. At the micro-level, no statistically significant improvements were observed, but 22 out of 31 tactical indicators showed better descriptive results. The findings suggest that the course supported the meaningful development of DTK through an integration of theoretical and practical sessions, including skill-based learning and game-based learning designed under a constraints-led approach. Rather than treating tactical knowledge and technical skill as separate domains, the programme helped students develop a tactical understanding relevant to coaching. The TesTactico for F7 proved to be an effective tool for assessing DTK in football coach education contexts |
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