Soccer Practice Planning Recommendations for Coaching Success

Training a team correctly involves planning practicesclearly not educational enough for players to learn and
that are both fun and informative for players. If playersprogress.
are not entertained, they are not likely to pay attention,Compare this to Coach Bo Ring, who spends 95% of
which will obviously make it very difficult for them topractice time doing drills that do not inspire creativity,
learn. However, the drills must involve a skill element inand do not give players a chance to learn by doing.
order for players to improve their game, which areAvoid the pitfalls of each and structure your soccer
repetitious, and can be boring. The objective is findingpractices in a way that mixes both fun and work.
the right mix for your team, which is dependent on theEducational skills drills, followed by high energy small
age group, competitiveness and other importantsided game element drills give players a chance to
factors.work on what they have learned. If you focus players
Take the example of Coach Wing Init. He never plansattention on improving during the game element what
practice beforehand, and instead spends the entireyou have previously worked on in the skills drills, pretty
practice scrimmaging. While practice may be fun forsoon they will do it without even thinking. Quality
the players, this is not going to get the players highsoccer practices are designed with the intention of
numbers of touches on the ball, and the uninterestedevolving the play of your players, both individually and
players will surely disengage. These practices arecollectively.