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

NCT07479368 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 25

Last updated 2026-09-01

No results posted yet for this study

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

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Tactical Programme for Critical Thinking (TPCT)

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.

BEHAVIORAL

Matched Academy Football Training

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.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Édison Andrés Pérez Bedoya

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • SAMUEL JOSE GAVIRIA ALZATE, PhD · Tecnologico de Antioquia

Study Design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
9 Years
Max Age
9 Years
Sex
MALE
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-04-14
Primary Completion
2026-05-31
Completion
2026-05-31

Countries

  • Colombia

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07479368 on ClinicalTrials.gov