Practice plan template you can reuse each week

A useful practice plan template records the goal, players, space, activities and timings. It also leaves room for the changes you make when fewer players arrive or an activity needs more time. Keep that structure, save what happened and use it to prepare the next session.

Below is a blank template and a completed soccer example. You can use the planning structure for other sports too, with activities suited to your players and playing area.

Copy this practice plan template

Fill in the session details before choosing drills. On a phone, scroll the tables sideways to see all columns.

Then add the activities.

For each activity, explain how it starts, how players rotate and what happens when the ball goes out. Add a simple diagram if the positions are hard to describe.

After practice, record what to keep and what to change. Those notes belong with the plan, where you will find them next week.

Open the drill bank to build your plan. You can arrange activities and share the practice before signing in.

Choose one focus before looking for drills

"Passing" leaves you with hundreds of possible activities. "Move into a new passing position after releasing the ball" gives you something specific to design for and watch.

England Football Learning's planning guidance recommends starting with the intended outcome and accounting for players, equipment, time and facilities. It also describes linking sessions by keeping useful practices and developing them over successive weeks.

For our example, the focus is moving after a pass. The group has 12 players, two coaches and an hour. The activities assume players can already control the ball and make a short pass. Adjust the challenge for your group.

A worked 60-minute soccer practice plan

This worked example was written for this article. Set up two adjacent pitches, each roughly 20 by 15 metres, with a clear gap between them. Each pitch has a cone gate about two metres wide at either end. Bring six balls, spare balls, cones and bibs. There are no goalkeepers.

Each coach works with six players. The blocks below include instructions, water and changes between activities.

Opening activity

Make three pairs in each pitch. Give each pair a ball and its own part of the area. One player dribbles at a controlled pace while the partner follows without tackling. The leader changes direction within their space. Swap roles regularly.

Start gently. Ask the leader to look for space before turning. Keep the pairs apart rather than sending them across each other's routes.

For a different opening activity, see our football warm-up ideas. Choose one that suits your group and adjust the timings in the plan.

Pass and move

Keep the pairs and balls. Players start a few metres apart. One passes, then moves sideways into a new receiving position. The partner controls the ball, looks up and passes back. Repeat, with both players moving after their passes.

Give each pair enough room to keep its passes away from the others. If control is difficult, shorten the distance. If the players are comfortable, ask the receiver to look for the partner's new position before the ball arrives.

Play 3v3

Make two teams of three on each pitch. A team scores by dribbling through the opposing end gate under control. After a point, the other team restarts from its own end. When the ball leaves the pitch, the opposition restarts with a pass from the boundary. Defenders give room for that restart.

Let players choose when to pass and when to dribble. Watch what the passer does next. At a break, ask where they could move to become available again.

Repeat with the same setup

Keep the game for the next block. Use what you observed to choose a short coaching point. If players are trying to support but cannot find space, make the pitch wider where room allows. If they already have useful options, keep the area and let the game continue.

You do not need a new activity simply because the next block has started.

If the group needs a different final game, our session-ending games offer alternatives. Replace a block instead of adding more time.

Finish with a note for next time

Ask players what helped them receive another pass. Then record your observation, such as: "The return pass worked when the passer moved away from the defender. Next time, keep the game and look at that movement."

This is more useful next week than a note saying only "good session".

Adapt the plan when eight players arrive

Use four pairs for the opening activities. Then play 2v2 on each pitch, reducing the area if it is too large for the group. Each coach still has a game to manage.

If the second coach is absent, reconsider the supervision as well as the player numbers. A single group activity may be more manageable than two games that both need attention.

Keep this alternative beside the original plan. You can choose the version that fits the evening without rewriting every instruction.

Build the plan without logging in

In the CoachTruly drill bank, choose your sport and use Add to practice on the drills you want. Open Plan your practice, arrange the activities and add durations and notes. You can also add written activities for the parts of your session that are not bank drills.

Check the total against the time you actually have. Include explanations, drinks and transitions. A list containing 60 minutes of activity alone will not fit neatly into a 60-minute booking.

You can build and share the practice before signing in. An anonymous shared practice lasts 14 days from its first share. Save it to your account if you want to keep it for later.

Use the saved plan next week

Find the saved session in your session list and choose Use as template. Check attendance, available space and the focus for the new practice. Keep the activities that still fit and change the ones that do not.

The saved plan gives you both the instructions and your previous decisions. You can spend the next planning session deciding what the players need, with the setup already written down.

Build your first practice from the drill bank. Start with the session you need next, then save it as the basis for the one after that.