CASE STUDY
Praise moves players: a C2X × Beyond Pulse case study
In a session with one controlled change, adding coach praise lifted every player's running.
At a glance
- Partner: Beyond Pulse (wearable player-tracking sensors)
- Players: 15 youth female soccer players with full sensor data
- Format: small-sided games, same players, same teams, same rules
- Measured: steps and Active Participation
- Date: January 2025
The question
C2X measures how coaches coach: praise, questions, instruction and talk time. But does what a coach says actually change what players do? We teamed up with Beyond Pulse to find out.
How we tested it
Players wore Beyond Pulse sensor band through two rounds of 4 × 3-minute small-sided games, with points for receiving in the middle channel, playing forward and scoring from combinations. Round 1 was coached with no praise. Round 2 repeated the same games, teams and rules, with one change: the coaches added praise. Both rounds lasted 16 minutes.
What we found
- +213 steps per player on average (1,866 → 2,079), an 11% lift
- 15 of 15 players took more steps with praise
- 9 of 15 gained more than 200 steps, and 5 more gained 100–200
- 60% of players raised their Active Participation score (9 up, 2 the same, 4 down)
Not a few standouts
The smallest gain was +76 steps and the largest was +322. Every player moved more, not just a handful.
Why it matters
Praise costs nothing, and coaches rarely know how much of it they give or who gets it. C2X shows that after every session: how much praise you used, how specific it was, and which players heard it. Beyond Pulse showed what that praise did on the field.