The Importance of Planning Soccer Training Sessions Beforehand

When I was 7 I had a coach that terrified every kid on my team, and even some of the parents! He was the authoritarian drill instructor type, and his abilities as it related to dealing with children were non-existent. While his methods allowed him to be in complete control at all times they probably would have worked a little better with older kids. For an U-8 Advanced House team, they were very much excessive.

Of course the more common coach is probably likely to have less control, as most coaches exist on the opposite side of the spectrum. The coaches that I had that fit this bill pretty much never had control of our team, mostly because they didn't know much about soccer, didn't study it and the players knew it. Instead the players tended to run practice and we spent the time scrimmaging, especially as I got older.

Now that I have coached, I feel that as with most things in life, the correct answer lies in the middle. While it is important to have the power to organize and discipline your team, it is not the only important factor. I think that somewhere balanced between the variables of league competitiveness, age group and your knowledge about the game you can find a style that works for you. Regardless, as a coach your job is to be a manager so you should always be in command of the team and run the training session. Never let the players take control, no matter how much you know about the game. If you don't know how to plan effective soccer practices, get help from someone who knows what they are doing, or even hire a paid soccer trainer!

There are plenty of soccer coaching resources in the world to aid your journey, and you just have to take the initiative to read good soccer books, watch videos and study the game, many of which you can find on this webpage.

If you are a coach that knows the game like the back of your hand and you can wing it as far as practice plan go, great! Most people are not in this sort position. As a coach one of your primary roles is to progress your players understanding of the game. If you never put together a solid training schedule, you won't know what you have done and you won't know where you are going. To reiterate the point once more, planning soccer practice beforehand is an essential element to your success as a soccer coach.