How To Plan A Better Training Session

Why this matters

A clear plan protects your session from the weather, missing players and the coach who turns up with no idea. It also means you can actually tell whether the session worked.

The common problem

The classic grassroots session is four unrelated activities in a row. Players enjoy it, nobody improves at anything in particular, and the coach cannot say what the session was about.

Try this instead

• Pick one theme per session and write it as a sentence: 'Receiving on the half turn to play forward.'
• Build up in realism: arrival activity → technical practice → opposed practice → small-sided game.
• Plan minutes, not activities. Grassroots sessions are usually 60 minutes; six phases of 8-10 minutes is plenty.
• Write two coaching points and one progression per phase. That is your whole plan.
• Finish with a game that still contains the theme, then two review questions before they leave.

On the pitch

Theme: playing forward. Arrival — dribble and turn in a grid. Technical — pass and receive on the half turn in threes. Opposed — 3v1 rondo where a pass into the middle player scores. Game — 5v5 with a one-point bonus for a forward pass into a teammate's feet.

Questions to ask

• What is the one thing I want players to be better at when they leave?
• Does every phase contain that thing?
• What will I do if only eight players turn up?