Declarative and procedural tactical knowledge in youth soccer players: an exploratory study in Chile

Background and Study Aim. Tactical knowledge, both declarative and procedural, is an essential component of cognitive development in youth soccer. The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the declarative and procedural tactical knowledge of youth football players from a professional club in southern Chile. Material and Methods. The Soccer Offensive Tactical Knowledge Test and Procedural Tactical Knowledge Test were the instruments used in the study to assess declarative tactical knowledge (game principles and decision making) and procedural knowledge (execution based on the tactical strategy in a 3x3 reduced-field). Assessments of functional differences could be evaluated due to the representation of players from various positions in the sample. Results. The results indicated superior performance in off-ball procedural skills (JSB: 4.19 ± 1.64) but poor performance in off-ball marking (MJSB: 3.56 ± 2.09), illustrating limitations in defensive anticipation and positional reading. Defenders performed better than midfielders and forwards in all procedural dimensions (p < 0.05), indicating an internalization of tactics in a functional way according to their positional roles. At the declarative level, operational principles–based knowledge among the participants was found to be relatively higher (8.57 ± 2.63), while decision making was found to be lower in this study (5.94 ± 2.28), indicating a deviation from theory to practical execution. No significant differences were found by position in this type of knowledge. Conclusions. The finding of a partial dissociation between declarative and procedural learning, as confirmed earlier in related work, has implications for the methodological design of coaching at the U13 and U14 levels. It indicates why emergent-based methodologies that support the interweaving of tactical thought and action to enable adjusted and effective learning in grassroots football are urgently needed.