Yearly Session Planning

[Stephen RoliinsParticipant]

Does anyone use a yearly plan or do they plan week to week  I coach U10 and under and was curious what the expectations are with the progression of sessions

[Ryan RichParticipant]

I know some coaches use a training model that emphasizes a certain technical skill every few weeks (e.g. passing and receiving for two weeks, then shooting for two weeks) However, I dont agree with it especially when you are trying to ingrain a style of play. I tend to focus solely on the attacking side first starting in the defensive third amd working up the field. When I see that we can play out of the back wirh regularity, I move on to what we want to do once we get past that first line of pressure. I confess that I havent done a great job of teaching the defensive side of the ball.

Usually we repeat alot of positional rondos every practice and some sort of pattern passing, although none of which as focused as what Gary and Brian have presented. I definitely have seen that when we focus on positional rondos in practice consistently it carries over to games. When we dont do it, even for two practices, the games start to  messy again…speaks to the power of consistency.

[Kevin MurrayParticipant]

Stephen,

I like to set a few goals for the season (one of Summer, Fall, Spring) with consideration of the group (i.e. just forming as a team, getting ready to transition to the next coach).

Then put a progressive plan for the season at a high level.  The practices will follow a structure so that a routine is established (Warm-up, Theme (level 1, level 2..), n v n with restrictions {this could be Rondo or pattern play}, Game.)

I’ll plan the first few practices (always a re introduction of fundamentals – technique/style of play)  — this is mostly so I am prepared coming in and can focus on who is actually showing up and what the character of the group is could be.

Then once it starts I adjust weekly from there on out.  Every season I retire some components and add some new ones (hopefully because I have learned something).

The more I learn the less variation I introduce ( I just figure out how to keep it fun).  U10 is a great age to introduce lots of life long useful concepts (teamwork, dealing with mistakes, it’s ok to be physical { I coach girls }.

My challenge this season is to continue building out of the back – build there confidence – but not lock a player into one position.  I should add that at our club we roll the coaches every 2 years (in my case sometimes every year).  This has pros and cons of course.  One of my primary goals is to prepare a U10 development player to be ready for competitive team tryouts.  A side goal is to prepare the parents for competitive team.

 

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