Planning a training session: three structures, space and what to adapt

The short version

• Start with the outcome you want, not with the practice you fancy running.
• England Football Learning teaches three session structures: whole-part-whole, carousel, and up the steps.
• The size of the area changes what players do, so set it up deliberately.
• There are ready-made session plans, free, on the England Football Learning site.
• Heading should not be introduced in Under 7 to Under 11 training. Matchday playing-time limits are separate from how long a training session should be.

Start with the outcome

England Football Learning's planning guidance (opens in a new tab) puts it simply: think about the outcome first, then design the practice around it. Ask what success looks like by the end of the session.

• Think about what your players need, not what looks impressive.
• Look at what you worked on last time, and where this session sits across several weeks.
• Make the plan fit the players, the equipment, the time and the facilities you actually have.

Across a season, the same guidance (opens in a new tab) suggests working to a theme or two at a time, then planning individual sessions that link to it, and reflecting at the end of each one on what worked and what needs to change.

Three structures that work

England Football Learning sets out three ways (opens in a new tab) to put practices together.

• Whole-part-whole. Start with the whole group playing a game, split into smaller groups to work on a technique or skill, then finish with another whole-group game. On finishing, for example: a game where players have to show three types of finish, then small-number games on different finishes, then a game awarding points for the finish type. It gives repetition and makes the practice deliberate.
• Carousel. Three or four stations, each on a different skill linked to the session theme. After the warm-up, split into small groups, rotate everyone through the stations, then bring the group back together for a match to use the skills in a matchday setting. Think about who is grouped with whom.
• Up the steps. Increase the difficulty as the session goes. Start with the technique on its own, add defenders and small-group games, then a whole-group game that rewards players for using the skill. Same theme throughout, growing pressure.

England Football Learning's own tips alongside those: keep the players' needs at the front of the decision, vary the type of session rather than using one every week, and explain to players why you are doing what you are doing.

The three Rs

England Football Learning also uses a Three Rs approach as a sense-check: make practices realistic to the game, relevant to the players and rich in repetition.

Setting up the space

The guidance on setting up a session (opens in a new tab) has the practical points that make or break an hour on a cold pitch.

• Area size changes the outcome. A smaller space gives more touches. A bigger one gives more running with the ball.
• Working in an area similar to the pitch they play on at the weekend helps players transfer what they learn to matchday.
• One stride is roughly a yard, which is enough to mark out an area without measuring.
• Set up so players are not standing about while you build the next area. If that means laying two areas out before you start, do it.
• Numbers can change on the night. Decide in advance how you could simplify, combine or expand a practice if fewer or more players arrive.

Managing the session (opens in a new tab) is the other half. With one session a week it is tempting to pack everything in, and their guidance is that a more considered approach works better.

You do not have to write it yourself

England Football Learning publishes a library of session plans (opens in a new tab), free to use, alongside six-week session programmes built around a theme. For a volunteer coach with an hour to prepare, starting from one of those and adapting it to your players is a better use of the evening than designing something from scratch.

Session design is also taught properly on the coaching courses. Our guide to the coaching badge pathway covers what each one includes and the funding routes that can reduce the cost.

Rules and guidance to keep separate from the session plan

Some of what surrounds a session comes from rules and guidance rather than from coaching choice. None of it tells you how to design a practice, and two of them are matchday rules rather than training ones.

• Heading. At Under 7 to Under 11, heading should not be introduced in training. From Under 12, England Football publishes age-banded limits and recommendations. Our guide to heading in youth football carries the current figures.
• Matchday playing time. The FA sets age-based maximum playing times for competition matches, including daily limits that matter when a player has several matches in a day. Those are matchday limits and do not prescribe a maximum length for an ordinary training session. Our guide to mini soccer rules has the younger-age figures and the context they belong in.
• Format. The age-group numbers are maximum match formats. England Football Learning encourages coaches to vary formats in training, using smaller-sided games for more repetition or something closer to the matchday format when the return you want is tactical.
• Safeguarding. Practice design sits inside the club's safeguarding arrangements. A session plan does not replace the requirements about who leads and supervises a session, so follow the club and FA process.

After the session

At the end, note what worked, what did not and what you would change next time. England Football Learning treats that reflection as part of planning the next session rather than as a separate exercise.