The Targetizer

Planning and preparation are a coaches worst nightmare because many coaches believe it’s a laborious, time-consuming job which should be done by admin staff!

Of course, those of us that have winged it in the past and learnt from the mistakes know that planning and preparing your football / soccer team is possibly the most useful thing you’ll do at any part of the season - start, middle or pre-season.

But how can you make this part of your job easy, quick and useful beyond just an admin sounding task?

Although Planning and Preparing doesn’t sound like the sexiest thing you could be doing, believe me, the results and insight you will get from doing this will more than make up for the drab title.

With a little foreword thinking you will have a template than you can use for years to come that will help you plan your season, plan each individual players development and help you see where your total strength and weaknesses REALLY are, not just where you think they are.

All top coaches - from grassroots football to the professional game - do this and the ones that do this well, WIN. That’s a fact.

And to illustrate the importance of planning check this true story out. It may even shock you….

A friend of mine has a child in an academy and he also coaches an academy development team for a very famous Championship team himself.

Unknown to his child’s academy coach, my friend asked him for his child’s end of season Report. Immediately the coach was on the back foot, sweat instantly pouring from his forehead and lost for words. He must have thought he was about to get investigated by his boss!

The only reason why my friend asked him for the report was because his child’s coach had decided to put him at right back for next season when all season he had either played centre midfield or lone striker.

And to add insult to injury he had scored 12 goals from midfield and 8 from upfront!

For one reason or another this coach just hadn’t been keeping an eye on his players and frankly didn’t have a clue (or cared for that matter) where his players were up to, how they’d performed and what needed to be done to get them performing better.

Although the story may seem a little extreme this happens at grassroots levels all the time because grassroots coaches either don’t realise the responsibility they have, believe they haven’t got the time to do this or just don’t know how.

By the way, this isn’t a go at grassroots coaches. The coach in the story was actually working for a top flight academy as a professional coach. And he was winging it. But many grassroots coaches do the same.

If you’re a grassroots coach you won’t get asked for a report from a parent who knows better but you’ll be doing your players a massive dis-service because they will not be getting the development they need under your coaching and guidance.

Imagine letting your child go to a school that doesn’t keep you informed of your child’s progress and doesn’t tell you what they need to do in certain areas if they want to perform better?

It just wouldn’t happen and if it did you’ll probably be marching straight to the headmasters office or writing a complaint in to the local council!

The story illustrates two main points:

1. Make sure you know what you’re players are doing well, good and need help on.
2. Make sure you have a record of it (and do your reports if you’re paid to do so!!)

And number 2 above is more useful and valuable to you and your team than just a piece of paper to show your parents. It will give you your football coaching blueprint to success.

Here’s how to Plan and Prepare your football teams success:

The basics of good P&P are as follows:

1. Devise a simple prep chart / form that you will fill in for each player (free preparation chart in The Secrets To Soccer Success)

2. Split an area in the form for ‘where your player is now’ and what he/she needs to do to get where they want to be’.

3. Complete the form with the player. That way you will give them ownership of their development which is a powerful motivating tool because it gives a player direction, focus and a reason to do what they’ve told you they’re going to do. Oh, and you’ve got it in writing too!!

Don’t worry if it all seems a little complicated because once you get this sorted it will be most valuable time you’ll have spent with your players (and their parents if they’re only young - yes, get them invloved too).

You really will have an enlightened view of where your team is now and what you need to do to get them where you want them to be.

The book, The Secrets To Successful Soccer Coaching has half a chapter dedicated to Planning and Preparing your team for winning. There’s a digital version available now at the ‘cheap as chips’ price of just £7.99 (around $10). Prices correct at time of writing so please click here for up to date prices.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Coaches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.