Drill design and performance analysis

Drill design and its impact in Performance Analysis

They say preparation is half the battle; while football offers no guarantees, how a situation is addressed, from a training session, a gym workout or the actual match day is what defines a team. With the advancement of technology and understanding of the game and its many outcomes (physiological, tactical etc…) there has been a growing need to validate that preparation in the form of a drill database.

Drill design is the systematic cataloguing of specific training on-field exercises according to different variables. The outcomes of altering these variables can be physiological, tactical, technical or a combination of them. For example, a coach can plan a session addressing a certain coaching point through a small-sided game in medium spaces with a small number of players involved. This organisation of factors will produce a specific fatiguing output and space and opportunity to practice specific coaching indications. The primary end goal of this is to create a fast and varied database of drills for an efficient training session planning suited for different objectives according to the periodization model each team is following.

Drill design can be tailored according to several factors such as age group, skill level or position specific. It further helps consistent player development monitoring by modifying drills, allowing for an easy evaluation of players’ strengths and weaknesses; offers variety and engagement maintaining players’ motivation and consistency throughout the coaching staff enabling them to follow a structured playing philosophy across all levels within a club. It further sets benchmarking values enabling the team to compare across seasons or different coaching approaches.
Perhaps the single most recognisable aspect of drill design is the impact performance analysis has had regarding injury prevention and load management. Tracking intensity through GPS analysis and tactical objectives through video analysis comes to paint a thorough picture of a detailed session plan. Internal load management is an extra variable which completes the picture, considered via heart rate monitoring or other tracking methods such as RPE forms (rate of perceived exertion).

As NYSA, our main responsibility is supporting our athletes by coordinating load management between training with their respective teams and NYSA sessions making the need for such a system crucial. Following the weekly microcycle, we identify the load placed on each player within their team’s training and the NYSA sessions are tailored to provide that additional stimulus according to their gaps and specific positional demands, whether this is increased sprinting distance or more technical work with limited high speed running demand. This provides a more accurate fatigue control, with individualised load prescription as well as scheduled recovery sessions/rest days when needed.

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