Reader,
Coaches are generally all short of time. Many coaches juggle work, parenting and family commitments and are left with little time to plan and prepare for every session.
However, one thing I have reflected on a lot this season is the importance of detail, on and off the pitch. Personally, I love to plan and love to be organised. In coaching, I think this can be a real advantage.
This week I was sharing messages with a coaching colleague who just won a youth tournament in Europe with a group of academy players. He spoke of the importance of planning, the staff working late nights to ensure everything was organised from set piece to game day timings.
I had a similar experience in China this year leading a team at the ISF Secondary Schools World Cup where we were meticulous in our planning processes, particularly around analysis, recovery and match previews. I have no doubt the daily details around time management and a clear campaign plan helped in our success.
If you work in a high-performance environment or a professional academy, you’re usually going to have the luxury of time to plan every detail around your session or your season.
If you’re a volunteer or part-time coach, you may not have this time. So what steps can you take to ensure your sessions and team are organised?
Three things to consider
- Trade a training session on the grass for an evening of 1-to-1 meetings with your players. Whether this is with the aim of forming an individual development plan or simply taking 5-10 minutes per player to talk about them, their goals, their strengths and their work-ons, this is a massive opportunity to get to know your players.
- At the beginning of the season, take a longer-term view. If you have a games programme or league season scheduled, consider taking some time before you get into the rush and week-to-week grind of the season to work out your training weeks. Whether it’s a focus on periodising your programme or simply getting clear on what areas you will focus on each session, this can help you.
- Seek out an Assistant Coach and a reliable manager. Even if your assistant is a first-time coach or volunteer parent, a good assistant coach can ensure you don’t have to work alone and can take care of everything. A good volunteer manager can support administrative tasks away from the pitch to allow you to focus on training and supporting the players.
One thing for you to try this week.
Put 30 minutes in your diary to focus on planning for next week. If your training week includes two to three practices, get clear on what themes you might want to focus on, and which individuals need to support. Then, pre-plan your practices as best you can.
If you’re short of time, check out our PDP session planning app, Coach Frank and he can support you with the details and give you some great ideas.
One critical resource on the topic.
Check out this PDP Q&A discussion on the pros and cons of having a season-long plan.
