Ryan Hodgson
DIRECTOR OF COACHING AND
PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
COON RAPIDS SOCCER
ASSOCIATION
PLANNING A PRACTICE SESSION
LENGTH
• Equal to the length of a game (MYSA Law 7-Duration
of a match)
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U9-U10 Two-25 Minute periods-50 Minutes
U11-U12 Two-30 minute periods-60 Minutes
U13-U14 Two-35 minute periods-70 Minutes
U15-U16 Two-40 minute periods-80 Minutes
U17, U18, U19 Two 45-minute periods-90 Minutes
• Generally add another 10-15 minutes for the halftime
interval
focus
• Pick a topic
• What are your objectives?
• Seasonal
• Previous game
• As players get older, observing games tells coaches what
the needs are
• STAY ON TOPIC!!!
Flow
Do the activities flow from one to the next?
• Why?
• Minimizes down time
PROGRESSION
• Simple to complex
• Clear and Concise
Breaking the practice into
sections
• Warm up
• Main Theme
• Conclusion of activity
• Warm Down
Breaking the practice into
sections
• Warm up-20% of practice
• Prepare players physically and psychologically
• Make sure they are ready for the demands of the practice
• Should be related to theme/main activity of practice
• Movement is key to learning skills
• Keep them moving versus talking with them in length
about the practice
Main theme
• 50% of practice time
• 2-3 activities relating to the game will have the best success
• Progression of main theme
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Increase/decrease size of space
Number of players-Adding for pressure/reducing for success
Time
Number of touches-1, 2, 3 touch
Increase/Decrease Number of goals
Balls
• Size, Number of balls, placement of service
Conclusion of
activity
• 25-30% of practice time
• Game like-It’s what the players look forward to
• Relate previous training points to the game
• Should be to goals-Full size with keepers if possible
• Smaller numbers give clearer coaching points, larger
numbers reduce frequency of teaching points
• Use restrictions to paint picture
• Remove them for at least 2/3 of this activity and as soon as
possible
Conclusion cont…
• Observe for 2-3 minutes
• Correct if needed
• Pause activity if coach see’s the coaching point the game is
designed to train with reinforcing positive performance
• Or correcting an individual or team mistake
• Let them play, the activity can self teach and make less
frequent coaching points
• Pose questions to help players problem solve, involving
them more in the teaching/learning process
Warm down
• 5% of practice time
• Stretch, including upper body
• Reinforce the efforts of all players positively
Questions
“Give them a ball and set them
free, young footballers have a
great way of working the rest out
for themselves”
Michael Beale-Chelsea FC