Andre Botelho’s Soccer Coaching Blog

To design the perfect soccer practice plan, you don’t need to be an artist… but planning ahead can do little miracles for you - and your players!

Here’s an example of how proper planning can help bring all the pieces together… and create a fantastic piece of “art”:

As has been emphasized so many times, planning and documentation is the key for overall success in soccer. So, once you have a basic understanding of the various training components and factors that need consideration in a quest to improve the soccer performance of the players, it is time to gather this information and develop a plan for the season ahead.

Before you start to create one, consider the factors such as balance between different players, challenges, motivation levels, as well as the style of the team. It should have a proper direction and goals else it will not lead to anything positive.

The following is a step-by-step approach to what constitutes an ideal training program. A word of caution though – designing a training program is a creative process and as such is only limited by the creative genius and imagination of the soccer coach. So there can never be only one way to design a soccer practice plan. Use these instructions as an outline along with your own thinking to design a power-packed plan.

1. Gauge the time that you have available throughout the season to train the kids. You should factor the important matches and tournaments during the year in planning your time. If you are aiming to enter into major leagues, it is always best to ignore the less relevant matches and utilize that time to train instead.
2. Give due weightage to recovery and rest periods. This should take into account the time frame in which the training will need to be jacked up before the tournament as well as occasional breaks due to school exams and holidays. Transition phases that involve active rest or planned recovery should be considered planned recovery. With kids especially, you should leave adequate room for extended recovery time in which to cross-train with non-soccer related activities. This will definitely help the young players recuperate and regenerate their interest and enthusiasm for the next season.
3. Get your team working backwards from the rest periods and put the training team into stages based on the changeover like an active rest period, preparation, pre competition, and competition seasons. Keep in mind that you don’t need to utilize all the stages. Apply only those phases where the duration of training is at least 4 weeks long so as to allow the body to adjust to the training routine. In case it’s not possible to stretch the duration for 4 weeks, utilize the time available in the best possible manner. No time is insufficient provided the purpose of training and is defined and each workout is pre-determined.
4. Develop training goals and a needs list based on initial or current baseline testing or evaluation. Always take your training experience and age into consideration whenever you sit and design a plan of attack. For example: if your training experience is not enough, plan to spend most of your time in an extended non-competition phase to develop your basic athletic skills. This is important because various athletic skills like balance, coordination, and strength need to be addressed before progressing to detailed training; for example, kicking power or jumping height. Therefore, you’ll be confident of having a solid base that can be later transitioned to advanced training levels and activities demonstrated on the field.
5. Integrate a training theme in each stage that will have the dual effect of reflecting your training rationale as well as your training goals. For example; increasing acceleration and general strength, improving the explosive power, and increasing anaerobic training levels will provide direction to your stages and facilitate you to concentrate on your individual requirements.
6. Make an exercise file for different kinds of resistance training, steadiness and flexibility training, dexterity and speed training, and habituation that will drive the plan during each workout. This however will depend on the stage or theme that you’ve established for your training. This should also be based on your requirement and not a stream of redundant drills. Give priority to quality over quantity when you are deciding on this. Although it doesn’t hurt to be thorough but since you may be facing a shortage of time, you would not wish to waste your time and energy. You can organize the resistance exercises by grouping them into convenient groups by means of upper-body emphasis, lower body emphasis, core strengthening, or total body power.
7. Organize your plans with exercises from your list of options on a daily basis. Train every fitness element depending on the number of days that you are training. Train each part not more than thrice a week, and keep changing the exercises every now and then in order to do away with staleness.
8. Now implement your plan with as much enthusiasm and vigor as you employed in designing it. Keep in mind that execution is equally important, if not more, as planning.
9. And finally, before the competitive season arrives, assess your progress by following lengthy training stages so that you can make out the changes that are needed in the program. The assessment can be as plain as the 10 yard acceleration or an incline pull-up replication test. Restrict your weekly plans with this snapshot knowledge.

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Yours in soccer,

Andre Botelho

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Tags: soccer coaching plans, soccer lesson plans, soccer practice plans, soccer session plan, soccer training plan