Bridging the Gap Between Research and Coaching Practice #

If you’ve ever found yourself trying to dig through academic papers on skill acquisition only to give up after the first page, you're not alone. For most coaches, research is meant to help us get better at what we do, but too often it feels like it's speaking a different language. Complex jargon, dense writing, and terms that seem designed to confuse rather than clarify create a barrier between valuable insights and the coaches who need them most.

This blog series is about changing that. #

The aim here is simple: to break down the best of academic literature on skill acquisition into practical, easy-to-understand insights that can help you coach better. By doing this, we can bridge the gap between the science and the art of coaching.

We know that football is about so much more than teaching players to kick, pass, or dribble. It’s about developing adaptable, creative thinkers who can respond to the unpredictable nature of the game. Research is packed full of ideas and frameworks that can help us do this better, but if that information stays buried in academic papers, it’s not doing anyone any good.

With each article, we’ll focus on the key takeaways from specific studies and research, translating the complex into the clear. Whether it’s ecological dynamics, constraints-led coaching, or how players learn and retain new skills, the goal is always the same: practical knowledge that you can use in your next training session.

Coaching is about finding the balance between theory and practice, and the more accessible the theory is, the better equipped we are to adapt our methods. This blog series is for coaches who want to keep improving but don’t have time to spend hours deciphering academic language. The journey starts here.