Stephen Harvey on Teaching Games for Understanding

This is the thinking behind Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), an approach to youth coaching designed to foster tactical awareness by using realistic scenarios to build players’ understanding of the game. In this Science Explained presentation, Professor Stephen Harvey of Ohio University in the United States explains the strengths and weaknesses of this methodology, and considers how coaches can make best use of it on the training ground.

Part 1: Introducing TGfU
Developed and published in the UK in 1982, the TGfU was founded on the idea that fostering a sound understanding of how football (or any sport) works can help players apply their technical skills effectively during matches. As Professor Harvey is keen to stress, the published TGfU model was always intended as a guide rather than a set of prescriptive instructions, and coaches can adapt and apply it flexibly based on players’ needs. In doing so, they should distinguish between performance, which is immediately visible, and learning, an internal process that may only become evident over time.

Part 2: Key principles for coaching TGfU
In this part of his presentation, Professor Harvey discusses the four pedagogical pillars upon which TGfU is built: sampling, modification representation, modification exaggeration and tactical complexity. These principles serve as levers coaches can adjust to tailor exercises to meet the needs of their players. For example, altering the size and shape of the playing area, such as by making it wider but shallower, can exaggerate the principle of width. Coaches can manipulate these levers to create game-realistic scenarios that challenge players to solve tactical problems, such as advancing the ball up the field and preventing their opposition from winning possession.

Part 3: A sample session
The next part of the presentation is designed to walk viewers through a TGfU-based training session. In this example, the opening exercise is a 4v4 small-sided game, which is followed by game-related practice, a skills-based exercise, and finally a second small-sided game. Professor Harvey discusses how these exercises can be used to develop both technical and tactical understanding, outlines when and how to employ specific coaching interactions (e.g., direct feedback, questioning) in a TGfU-based session, and demonstrates how the CHANGE IT framework can be applied to adjust activities if the session is not producing the intended outcomes.

Part 4: Does TGfU work?
This all sounds fine in theory, but does TGfU actually work? To answer this question, the professor draws on his own review of 15 different studies since 1982. That review suggests that TGfU can indeed be useful in developing both tactical and, perhaps surprisingly, technical ability. However, just like any other methodology, it will not necessarily suit every coach, every player or every team. With that in mind, coaches might choose to treat it as one tool among many, and draw on it when the circumstances are right.

Part 5: A practical example: US Soccer’s “PPP Model”
US Soccer has put the principles of TGfU have into practice at grassroots level in the “Play-Practice-Play” (PPP) programme. In response to high drop-out rates among young players and complaints that coaching was too technically focused, US Soccer opted for a game-based approach that prioritised enjoyment and encouraged consistency in coaching. After describing how the three phases of Play-Practice-Play are organised, Professor Harvey concludes the session by revealing what a survey of US coaches showed about its perceived benefits and the challenges associated with implementing it.

Viewers of this session should be aware that although initial scientific findings on the usefulness of TGfU have generally yielded positive results, more studies incorporating adequate controls and longitudinal research designs are required to provide further insights into the efficacy of this approach.