How to Plan a Coaching Session for Soccer

Planning a coaching session is one of the most vital components of helping players to learn the game. Planning and organization are two of the most important aspects that any coach looking to progress needs to master. Without a solid plan, the end product of coaching is just a collection of haphazard activities that bear no connection to each other and which fail to form a cohesive whole. Another side effect of lack of planning is that the lessons learned, such as they may be, in a session will not always easily carry over into the real game. There are several things which must be done in order to effectively plan a soccer coaching session.

Things You'll Need

  • Planner or notepad
  • Cones, balls and pinnies
  • Players
  • Goals
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Instructions

  1. How to Plan a Coaching Session for Soccer

    • 1

      Focus on one aspect of the game that needs to be worked on in the session. This can be something you as a coach has seen in a previous game as being a major deficiency in the players or it could be something you feel players may need to learn at that stage in their development. The important thing is to have a focus for the session. The focus can be anything from basic passing to complex formations and movement.

    • 2

      Give plenty of time to each individual section. Ideally, the sections should follow a pattern along the lines of warm-up drills, skill drills, tactical drills and small-sided games. The games portion of the practice should have the longest time, while the warm-up should have the shortest.

    • 3

      Decide how to best implement your focus in each section. It is important to have elements of your session topic in each portion of your session, including the warm-up. If your session focuses on passing, then you could have a pass-related warm-up, a passing skill drill, a tactical passing game and a conditioning game based around passing in the small-sided game.

    • 4

      Make sure you have the right equipment. Plan for how many cones you will use, what types of goals, how many pinnies or colors of pinnies you will need. It also helps to have backup plans for such events, as low player numbers, weather-reduced practices and even the mood of the players.

    • 5

      Ensure that all your coaching points are laid out in a logical order. This will help to progress the session smoothly and ensure that the players get the maximum benefit from the time spent at the practice.