Deliberate Practice is the phrase coined by the team led by K Anders Ericsson in the early 1990's. In their studies of elite level musicians they noticed that the subjects were not allowing their skills to become automatic. This automacity is most commonly exemplified by people saying 'when I first learnt to drive I had to think about everything, now I can drive while texting!'
Ericsson found that elite performers were holding of automacity by constructing increasingly complex mental models of the skill and its applications. This idea of taking a skill or even a tiny element of a skill and consciously working it from countless perspectives and situations was described as Deliberate Practice. It is unfailingly described as difficult, painful and mentally exhausting, with the very best being unable to exceed 60min sessions.
One conundrum of the popular philosophy of "let the game be the teacher' is that its 'street football' proponents claim that it is a form of 'deliberate play', where children do exactly what Ericsson is suggesting but in a fun environment and to their own agenda. All good and I will not argue the value of this. My question is what of those children who don't already have the mental toolkit and playing skill set to approach the free for all in such a manner?
I once heard a writer say that he did not enjoy writing but of having written. This to me is deliberate practice, it might not be as much 'fun' as other methods but the sense of achievement far exceeds that afforded in many other areas.
The essence of the 7SC is not the wrist bands, the colours, or the challenges. It is the application of the skill to the chaos of a game. Taking the young players concentration away from what they can do, and focusing it on a continuous process of attempt-fail-re-try is bound to cause frustrations for some, but like birth we don't have to enjoy the process to love the product.