Developing Youth Players' through Small-Sided Games using a Constraint- Led Approach : A Practical Guide

Olthof, S ORCID: 0000-0002-7660-8448 and Lemmink, K (2026) Developing Youth Players' through Small-Sided Games using a Constraint- Led Approach : A Practical Guide. In: Nunes, NA, (ed.) Football Coaching Pedagogy Insights for Elite Player Development. Routledge, London, pp. 157-169. ISBN 9781003641445

Text DEVELOPING YOUTH PLAYERS' SKILLS THROUGH SMALL-SIDED GAMES USING A CONSTRAINT-LED APPROACH_ A Practical Guide.pdf - Accepted Version Access Restricted until 6 January 2028. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (569kB)

Abstract

Small-sided games (SSGs) are popular training formats in football practice designed to develop the physical, technical, and tactical skills of youth players. SSGs are typically used with a variety of pitch sizes, number of players per team, and playing rules. The versatile nature of SSGs makes them very suitable for daily practice in academy settings. This chapter explores how the constraint-led approach (CLA) can guide the SSG design for youth players to create representative learning environments that promote skill transfer to match-play. Drawing on research into personal, task, and environmental constraints, the chapter examines how manipulating space, player numbers, and informational factors such as coach behaviour can shape game demands and player performance. The importance of representative game formats is emphasised, including how the area per player (ApP) can be used to highlight physical and tactical demands. The chapter concludes with concrete examples of how principles of the CLA can inform SSG for elite youth development. Particularly, the examples focus on the tactical and physical development for various age groups.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	Deposited under the terms of the NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License, which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge/CRC Press in Football Coaching Pedagogy: Insights for Elite Player Development on 6th July 2026 available online: https://www.routledge.com/Football-Coaching-Pedagogy-Insights-for-Elite-Player-Development/Nunes/p/book/9781041076261
Uncontrolled Keywords:	39 Education; 3904 Specialist Studies In Education
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV561 Sports > GV711 Coaching G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV561 Sports
Divisions:	Sport and Exercise Sciences
Publisher:	Routledge
Date Deposited:	01 Oct 2026 14:46
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2026 14:46
DOI or ID number:	10.4324/9781003641445-14
Editors:	Nunes, NA
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29552

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