Use the practice spectrum
You know what you want the players to work on. Now, think about how the different practice types can help.
The practice spectrum lists four types of practices:
Each one brings different returns.
Unopposed and unopposed with interference practices work more on technique development. The players get the chance to practise the mechanics of an action.
Overloaded and matched-up practices allow players to implement the skill they’ve been working on. Here, they have opposition and decisions to make, so it’s more realistic and relevant to the actual game.
So, think about which one suits your player’s needs when you’re designing practices and sessions. If you have players with different abilities, parallel practices can help. You could scale the challenge they face by having different practice types on each of the pitches.
Check out our practice spectrum explainer article to find out more.
Think about invasion game principles
Football, like some other sports, is an invasion game. What does that mean? Well, it simply means players need to attack – invade – their opponent’s territory and score.
So, how can you make your practice design follow these principles? Ensure you have drills that are directional, include opposition and have scoring systems in place.
If you include these principles in your practice design, your sessions will be more relevant. And your players will benefit. They’ll experience creating space, getting past an opponent, and supporting teammates. All actions that the game needs.
Create practices that link to matchday
Another way to design effective practices is to create ones that link to matchday. After all, training should prepare players for what they’ll experience in a game. And matchday is an opportunity for players to apply what they’ve learnt.
Knowing your outcomes and making them your focus – the first point in this article – can help with this. If you want to help players with a particular skill, design practices that work on this. Then, on matchday, observe and give feedback on how they did.
Another way to create practices that link to matchday is by replicating the conditions they may experience. This makes it more realistic for them. You can do this by creating practices that use:
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areas similar in size to what they’ll play on
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the same size goals
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scenarios they’ll face in a match
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the format they’ll play – like 5v5 or 7v7.
For more insight on linking practice to matchday, read this article.
Understand your players
Ultimately, understanding your players is the best way to design effective football practices.
So, get to know what they want from your sessions and think about what they need. What do they enjoy? What are their super-strengths, and how can they develop them further? What areas could they improve on? Then, design practices that can help with all that.
Have some adaptations in your mind, too. Think about how any constraints, our Four Corner model or the STEP framework (Youth Sports Trust, 2002), can allow practices to better meet your players’ needs and wants.
And remember, it’s ok to recycle practices. If they do all the above – and offer players realism, relevance and repetition – they’re worth using again.
