Exploring the integration, configuration, and implication of the design process of played-form practice in soccer based on ecological psychology

Played-form practice designates training activities for player development or performance outcomes. To achieve targeted outcomes through practice, these activities must be carefully planned so they provide the relevant opportunities for actions together with the right challenges for improvement. In that sense, designing played-form activities that will have intended effects on the performance of participants implies informing key elements of interaction between task, environment, and participants within the settings of the activities. The aim of this paper is to explore the integration of these elements as contributors to the development of players, each one analyzed with respect to psychological theories. Key information about these elements is described along the narrative, with particular attention towards (1) demands, conceived as the feed for task design, as well as (2) the notion of intention, interpreted as a catalyzer of objectivity towards outcomes. The use of a model is expected to guide the design of customized practice settings for team sports like soccer, always with the care to adjust it to the different levels of competition. Implications highlight the contribution of a design model to compensate the current abundance of exemplified suggestions in the practical literature.