Technical training of junior football players in an annual training cycle

Actuality. The technical training of junior footballers in an annual training cycle is a very relevant and important topic in their development. This process is based on combining the technical learning of football fundamentals with the development of the physical and mental skills necessary to become successful players. Thus, the annual training of junior footballers is an integral component of any system of training sportsmen, subject to appropriate laws, including the orientation towards the highest achievements. Specialists in the field dealt with the problem of improving the technical training of junior football players, but still there is an insufficiency of works dedicated to improving the technical training process of 13-14 year old junior football players at the stage of pre-competitive preparation. The purpose of the research consists in the elaboration and experimental substantiation of the technical training methodology within an annual cycle of pre-competitive training, considering the improvement of the sequence of techniques as well as their combination with the advanced training of 13-14-year-old footballers. Methods of research used to achieve the proposed purpose are: 1. The bibliographic study method; 2. Questionnaire method; 3. Observation method; 4. Testing method; 5. Methods of mathematical statistics. Findings and Results. For the experiment, 22 junior football players from the Specialized Football Sports School No. 2 from Chisinau (experimental group) were selected. Also, 22 juniors from IP LT "Ion Creangă" from Chisinau (control group) were tested. The experiment lasted for 1 year, from September 2022 to May 2023. After the experiment was completed, children in both groups were tested repeatedly. The experimental group was subjected to a special training program, with methods and means specific to technical training. The control group was trained according to the curriculum for secondary school classes. The development of the methodology for the technical preparation of the experimental group, at various stages of the annual training, took into consideration the results of the preliminary study regarding the competitive activity of the junior footballers. The most common mistakes that arose in combining techniques such as dribbling - pass, dribbling - shot, pass - reception, heading play, feints - pass, and throwing the ball from the sideline were also taken into account. The particularity of the applied method consists in the development of instructional blocks for technical training through the implementation of: training blocks for junior football players to master the following techniques: passing, dribbling, tackling, deceptive movement, receiving, shielding, shooting, throwing the ball from the sideline; training blocks for the development of psychomotor qualities; outdoor games to reinforce the techniques and their integration; outdoor games to strengthen the techniques and develop physical qualities. In the conditions of the pedagogical experiment, it was established that there is a statistical interconnection between the results of technical training and physical qualities at a weak level (r=0.32-0.48, р <0.05), moderate level (r=0.50-0.69, р <0.01), and strong level (r=0.70-0.86, р <0.01). It was found that in the experimental group, the technical level of the game is higher than in the control group, as evidenced by the calculated Student's t-test (t=5.810-11.222), indicating the effectiveness of applying training blocks in technical preparation. The research results of the control and experimental groups (with р<0.05-0.001) confirm statistically significant differences between the indicators of technical preparation. Furthermore, it is important to mention that in the experimental group, not only the time and qualitative indicators have been improved, but also the execution of technical procedures became of better quality compared to the control group. During the experiment, our goal was to eliminate errors within the experimental group, and thus, a combination of group and individual approaches was applied when teaching technical procedures and their combinations. As a result of the conducted experiment, it could be affirmed that effective methods are those that are structurally similar to competitive exercises, simulating the level of muscular tension and the movement structure required for competition tasks during their execution. In the control group, sequential error correction was not performed, and for this reason, errors were not eliminated. Apart from training deficiencies, there could also be reasons such as errors in teaching the methods of performing technical procedures, methodical mistakes in the training process, development of inadequate skills, uncertainty and anxiety in performing technical procedures, and delayed transition from one procedure to another. In the experimental group, the training methodology had a positive impact, significantly influencing the effectiveness of the executed technical procedures. As a result, the percentage of errors in the final testing decreased from 62% to 32% in the experimental group, while in the control group, it decreased from 63% to 58%. Errors are natural in the process of training technical procedures. Observing these errors and addressing their causes greatly determine the efficiency of training technical procedures in the football game. Conclusions. The research results demonstrate that the development of technical procedures in training was improved due to the correct consistency of training, appropriate warm-up exercises, and the development of movement skills necessary for performing technical procedures. All these factors facilitated the acceleration and quality conduct of the training and refinement process of junior football players' technical elements in training. Thus, the obtained results confirm the effectiveness of the developed method for junior football players, to the extent that the effectiveness of their subsequent football activities depends on the level of technical procedure preparation and their ability to continuously perform these procedures.