Critical Thinking Tactical Training in University Futsal Players

NCT ID: NCT07279753

Last Updated: 2025-12-12

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 13 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-10-09
• Study Completion Date: 2025-11-05

Brief Summary

This study examined the effects of a tactical training program based on critical thinking (TPCT) on the tactical efficiency and decision-making performance of university futsal players. The intervention was designed to strengthen players' ability to interpret the dynamics of play, anticipate opponents' actions, and generate adaptive tactical responses under competitive conditions.

The program followed a socio-constructivist framework, promoting learning through problem solving and interaction among teammates. Training sessions combined representative game situations, reflective questioning, and guided tactical discussions.

A single-group pre-post design was implemented. Thirteen university players participated voluntarily after providing informed consent and receiving approval from the institutional ethics committee. Data were collected before and after the intervention to assess individual and collective tactical performance, goal effectiveness, and time of ball possession.

The study aimed to provide evidence on the educational and performance impact of a critical thinking-based tactical approach in futsal, contributing to contemporary models of athlete development and pedagogical innovation in team sports.

Conditions

Athletic Performance; Decision Making

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

TPCT

This arm includes a single cohort of university futsal players who receive a critical thinking-based tactical training program (TPCT). The intervention is delivered during regular team training over multiple weeks through structured sessions that combine dynamic warm-up, representative small-sided games, and futsal-specific tactical scenarios. Each session uses guided discovery and reflective questioning to promote tactical awareness, anticipation, and collective decision-making. Task constraints, game formats, and intensity are progressively adjusted to increase tactical complexity and physiological load during the main training blocks. All enrolled participants receive the same intervention, and each player serves as his own control through pre- and post-intervention assessments.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Tactical Program Critical Thinking

Intervention Type: OTHER

The intervention is a futsal-specific tactical training program structured around critical thinking (TPCT). Across multiple weeks, players complete representative small-sided and conditioned games framed by brief tactical problems (for example, creating numerical superiority or protecting central lanes). During tasks, the coach uses guided discovery and structured questioning to promote reading of key cues, generation and comparison of options, justification of decisions using principles of play, and anticipation of opponents' and teammates' actions. Task constraints and intensity are progressively adjusted, and each session ends with a brief collective reflection.

Interventions

Tactical Program Critical Thinking

The intervention is a futsal-specific tactical training program structured around critical thinking (TPCT). Across multiple weeks, players complete representative small-sided and conditioned games framed by brief tactical problems (for example, creating numerical superiority or protecting central lanes). During tasks, the coach uses guided discovery and structured questioning to promote reading of key cues, generation and comparison of options, justification of decisions using principles of play, and anticipation of opponents' and teammates' actions. Task constraints and intensity are progressively adjusted, and each session ends with a brief collective reflection.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age 18 years or older at the time of enrollment.
• Registered player of the university futsal team participating in the study.
• Minimum of 1 year of regular, organized futsal practice.
• Regular attendance at team training (at least 2 sessions per week) in the 3 months prior to baseline testing.
• Medical clearance or self-report indicating ability to perform high-intensity futsal training and testing.
• Provision of written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

• Current musculoskeletal injury or pain that limits normal futsal training or match participation at baseline.
• History or diagnosis of cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, or metabolic disease that contraindicates high-intensity exercise.
• Use of medications that substantially affect physical performance, heart rate response, or perception of effort, as judged by the study physician or medical screener.
• Participation in another structured experimental training program targeting futsal performance during the intervention period.
• Absence from more than 20% of the scheduled TPCT training sessions.
• Withdrawal of informed consent at any time during the study.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: MALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Federal University of Vicosa

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Édison Andrés Pérez Bedoya

Principal Investigator, Lecturer in Physical Education

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Universidad de San Buenaventura - Medellín

Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia

Countries

Colombia

Other Identifiers

TdeA-USBMed-TPCT-FUTSAL

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id