This book presents a state-of-the-art overview of the science underpinning talent identification and development in the worlds most popular sport. It covers a broad range of topics that span the various sub-disciplines of sports science with contributions from some of the foremost scientists and applied practitioners globally.
This book presents a state-of-the-art overview of the science underpinning talent identification and development in the worlds most popular sport. It covers a broad range of topics that span the various sub-disciplines of sports science with contributions from some of the foremost scientists and applied practitioners globally. The chapters provide readers with a comprehensive insight into how sport science is helping practitioners to create more evidence-based approaches when attempting to identify and develop future generations of elite players rather than relying on tradition and precedence. This book dispels some of the myths involved in talent identification and highlights how science is playing an ever-increasing role in guiding and shaping the practices used at the most renowned professional clubs across the globe. It is a must-read for anyone involved in the game at any level including sports scientists, medical staff, coaches, and administrators. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Sports Sciences.
IntroductionTalent identification and development in soccer: An update
and contemporary perspectives
1. Talent identification and development in
soccer since the millennium
2. Identifying playing talent in professional
football using artificial neural networks
3. Evaluation of soccer players
under the Moneyball concept
4. Defining the attributes for specific playing
positions in football match-play: A complex systems approach
5. A
bioecological perspective on talent identification in junior-elite soccer: A
Pan-European perspective
6. A survey of talent identification and development
processes in the youth academies of professional soccer clubs from around the
world
7. Change-of-direction, speed and jump performance in soccer players: a
comparison across different age-categories
8. Maturity status effects on
torque and muscle architecture of young soccer players
9. Comparing the
magnitude and direction of asymmetry during the squat, countermovement and
drop jump tests in elite youth female soccer players
10. A case study
comparison of objective and subjective evaluation methods of physical
qualities in youth soccer players
11. High-intensity endurance capacity
assessment as a tool for talent identification in elite youth female soccer
12. New curve sprint test for soccer players: Reliability and relationship
with linear sprint
13. Cross-sectional comparison of body composition and
resting metabolic rate in Premier League academy soccer players: Implications
for growth and maturation
14. Biomechanical mechanisms of jumping performance
in youth elite female soccer players
15. The adolescent motor performance
development of elite female soccer players: A study of prognostic relevance
for future success in adulthood using multilevel modelling
16. Hill on a
mountaintop: A longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of the relative age
effect in competitive youth football
17. Relative age and maturation
selection biases in academy football
18. Longitudinal emotional process among
adolescent soccer player in intensive training centre
19. Psychological
characteristics of developing excellence in elite youth football players in
English professional academies
20. Psychosocial outcomes associated with
soccer academy involvement: Longitudinal comparisons against aged matched
school pupils
21. Positive youth development and gender differences in high
performance sport
22. Training load and submaximal heart rate testing
throughout a competitive period in a top-level male football team
23. Power
training in elite young soccer players: Effects of using loads above or below
the optimum power zone
24. Comparative efficacy of active recovery and cold
water immersion as post-match recovery interventions in elite youth soccer
25. The developmental and professional activities of female international
soccer players from five high-performing nations
26. Evaluating the impact of
a coach development intervention for improving coaching practices in junior
football (soccer): The MASTER pilot study
27. Efficacy of using non-linear
pedagogy to support attacking players individual learning objectives in
elite-youth football: A randomised cross-over trial
28. How does the modern
football goalkeeper train? An exploration of expert goalkeeper coaches
skill training approaches
A. Mark Williams is a highly-cited and world-renowned sports scientist. He is Senior Research Scientist at the Florida Institute of Human and Machine Cognition and a Visiting Professor at several prominent universities in the US and UK. He has published over 300 journal articles and 19 books focusing on the science underpinning how best to identify and develop talent in sport.
