One theme. Three or four parts. Each one harder than the last.
For U12 to open age.
As players get older they can handle more detail on one idea. A part-progressive session takes a single theme and builds it step by step, from a warm-up to a game, so each part sets players up for the next.
Around an hour to 75 minutes. Adjust the minutes, keep the order. Every part works on the same theme.
Every player is on the ball, working on movements that belong to tonight's theme. It gets bodies ready and gets the idea in front of them early.
Keep it moving and keep talk short. Add a simple challenge once they're settled, so it doesn't drift.
Players repeat the technique the theme needs, with enough structure that they get it right lots of times. Opposition is light, passive or absent.
This is where most of your detail goes: body shape, first touch, timing. Correct the technique while the pressure is low.
The same technique, now against real opponents. Players have to choose when and where to use it, not just do it.
Coach the decision as much as the technique. If it falls apart, make the area bigger or add an overload, then take it away again.
A small-sided game set up so the theme keeps happening, often with a condition or a scoring rule that rewards it.
Step back. Coach in the flow, sparingly, and watch whether what they practised turns up when it matters.
From our U13 to U14 season plan, written by Anthony Limbrick. Four parts on one theme, each building on the last. Every practice has a filmed video and an animation.
Every player has a ball, dribbling around the area with ball manipulation skills, tricks, turns and feints. The busy area forces lots of small decisions about where the space is.
Three teams with different jobs, swapping roles every five minutes. Players move to create space and receive, using the width and depth of the area to make the pitch big.
Two teams, each trying to move the ball from one target player to the opposite one, with goalkeepers acting as targets for the other team. Players have to pass and move to create space for themselves and each other, against real opponents.
The area is split into four triangles. Once a player passes, they must leave their triangle so a teammate can rotate in. The rule makes movement to create space happen again and again inside the game.
Both put the game at the heart of the session. They just get there differently.
| Play · Practice · Play | Part-progressive | |
| Ages | U5 to U12 | U12 to open age |
| Shape | Game, one practice, game | Warm-up, technical, skill, game |
| Where the game sits | At both ends | At the end, as the payoff |
| How it builds | The game teaches most of it | Each part adds pressure and decisions |
| Coach detail | One idea, two short stops | More detail, mostly in the technical part |
If what they practised turns up in the game at the end, the session worked.
Coaches of U12 and older, and anyone ready for more structure than Play · Practice · Play. Our U13 to U14 and U15+ season plans use part-progressive sessions.
A session built around a single theme and run in three or four parts, usually a warm-up, a technical practice, a skill practice and a game. Each part is harder than the last and builds on the one before.
Usually three or four. The four-part version runs warm-up, technical, skill, then a game. A three-part version drops one of the middle practices when time or numbers are short.
We introduce it at U12 and use it through to open-age football. For U5 to U12, Play · Practice · Play suits better.
Play · Practice · Play starts and ends with a game, with one practice in the middle. Part-progressive builds step by step from a warm-up to a game, adding difficulty at each stage.
Around an hour to 75 minutes. The demo session runs 10 minutes of warm-up, 15 of technical practice, 20 of skill practice and 20 of game.
When most players can do what the current part asks, most of the time. If the next part falls apart, step back: a bigger area, one fewer defender or a slower tempo, then try again.
