Small-Sided games in Chinese soccer coaching: A mixed-methods analysis of seasonal use, training aims, and task design

This study examined how small-sided games (SSGs) are used in Chinese soccer coaching, with particular attention to seasonal use and their role in physical, technical, and tactical training. A total of 210 respondents completed the questionnaire, and 23 participants took part in semi-structured interviews. Questionnaire data were analysed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, Cochran's Q tests followed by adjusted McNemar comparisons, and chi-square or exact tests for comparisons between data sources. Interview data were analysed using directed qualitative content analysis. Respondents reported more weekly training sessions during the in-season (p = .013), more sessions per week that included SSGs (p = .002), and more SSG time within each session (p < .001), whereas individual training sessions were longer during the pre-season (p = .003). The use of SSGs during the warm-up and main part of training was similar between seasonal phases, while cool-down use was more frequent in-season (p = .006). Questionnaire respondents reported using SSGs to develop aerobic fitness (67.6%), sprint performance (60.0%), change-of-direction ability (62.9%), technical skills (68.1%), and tactical behaviors (71.9%). After adjustment for multiple comparisons, only the difference between sprint and tactical purposes remained significant (p = .031). Questionnaire and interview responses were similar in several areas, although differences emerged in the aerobic formats used, sprint duration and weekly frequency, numerical relationships adopted for technical training, and game formats used for tactical development. Overall, SSG use differed between seasonal phases and according to training purpose, while questionnaire and interview responses were not fully consistent for some aspects of how SSGs were implemented.