The role of coaches’ drawing in memorizing tactical soccer scene: a visuospatial abilities moderation analysis

Objectives Intending to facilitate learning from narrated tactical diagrams, this study investigates how drawing influences the memorization of soccer scenes given individuals’ visuospatial abilities (VSA). Methods Fifty-four male university students, all novices in soccer domain were randomly assigned to two groups. First group, without-drawing, viewed a pre-drawn diagram while listening to a concurrent oral explanation. Second group, with-drawing, listened to the same description while observing the coach simultaneously drawing the diagram. All participants conducted a control test to assess their VSA level and completed the main test, which included rating their overall mental effort and recalling/reconstructing the tactical scene. Results The principal results indicate an interaction between VSA and drawing: individuals with high-VSA particularly benefited better from the with-drawing condition, while those with low-VSA did not, thereby confirming the ability-as-enhancer hypothesis. Conclusions Overall, this study underscores the importance of aligning the choice of drawing formats with individual characteristics, especially VSA, to enhance memorization from narrated tactical diagrams.