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Promising talent
Sammy Dudek, born in 2008, joined the Lech Academy at 13 years and made his debut for the U19 team with 14 years. One year later he played his first minutes for the club’s second team in April 2024.
skills.lab Arena at KKS Lech Poznań
Perfecting the Transition from the Academy to the First Team
For over four years, Lech Poznań has used the skills.lab Arena to develop and successfully integrate its own talent into the first team. Thanks to its clear structures and individual plans for each player, the club has achieved visible success.
Implementing the club’s philosophy with a clear plan
The Arena at the Lech Poznań Academy
The Lech Poznań academy plays a central role in the club’s strategy by developing talent for the first team. The club aims for 50% of its first team to be club-trained and has created pathways to achieve this goal. Since December 2021, the academy is operating its own skills.lab Arena to support individual player development at every stage.
The method
Shaping a modern central midfielder
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Individual development
To promote his abilities, Lech created a training program for Sammy Dudek in the skills.lab Arena, focusing on first touch and his weaker left foot.
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Continuous monitoring
Dudek completed the program alongsinde team training. In addition, his progress was monitored through comprehensive ProAssessments.
The method
Training areas of Sammy Dudek from January 2022 to December 2024 in the skills.lab Arena
Each exercise in the skills.lab Arena can be assigned to a specific training area. The chart shows the focus of Sammy Dudek’s training.
„A central midfielder needs to make quick and accurate decisions under pressure, so the program was designed to improve not only technical skills, but also perception, information processing and reaction to dynamic game situations. Thanks to the technology of skills.lab, we were able to closely analyze every aspect of Sammy’s game and implement solutions that had a real impact on his development.
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Michał Dolata
Youth Teams Coach, KKS Lech Poznań
The Method
All training sessions of Sammy Dudek at the skills.lab Arena from 2022 to 2024
Over a period of 148 weeks, Sammy Dudek worked specifically on his individual development. Each of his sessions was between 15 and 45 minutes long and he played a total of 8874 balls in the skills.lab Arena during all of his sessions.
The result
Visible Progress and a Promotion
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Focus areas
In addition to first touch and the quality of his weaker foot, training also focused on developing the cognitive skills that are particularly important for a central midfielder.
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Significant progress
Sammy Dudek has made significant progress in his focus areas and achieved the defined training goals, as shown by data from both training sessions and ProAssessments.
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Matching the benchmark
In just two and a half years, Dudek improved his First Touch score by 70%. In the Two-Footed area, he increased his score by 230% – more than tripling his initial score from the winter 2023. According to the club’s data benchmarking, he is since then performing at first team level.
The result
Assessments show a significant improvement
Based on his ProAssessments, the coaching team created a targeted training plan for Sammy Dudek, focusing on his first touch and weaker foot. After the winter 2023 ProAssessment, the focus shifted to the Two-Footed area. One year later, the comparison between his 2023 and 2024 ProAssessment shows a clear progress in both areas, especially in his ability to use booth feet.
„With each session, I could see the progress I was making and how well it translated onto the pitch.
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Sammy Dudek
KKS Lech Poznań and former Academy Player
