Planning a Training Week

Let’s go through a normal week and the best way of organising a training program. Remember that circumstances are going to be different for every coach.

Team Plan

As coaches, we have all been guilty at some time of not being organised because we have not planned well. The old saying of a ‘poor plan is better than no plan’ might be true, but it is certainly not correct or acceptable. Planning is the most important component to successful coaching and we are obligated to put the time and effort into getting it right for the sake of our players and their future. Gone are the days, when a coach can just turn up to training and let the session unfold.

We have all been in the situation where our best made plans have had to be changed because of poor attendance, weather conditions, and unavailability of the oval, lack of equipment or player injuries. As mentioned in other sections of the book, coaching is finding solutions to problems and the person who is organised, will adapt better because he has planned for setbacks in advance.
Let’s go through a normal week and the best way or organising a training program. Remember that circumstances are going to be different for every coach.

Weekly Plan

All coaches need to remember the importance of analysing the last game, win lose or draw. The reason for this is it will give you a good gauge of the type of training drills and fitness work required for the up coming weeks. Given that most games are played on a Saturday, it is not too difficult to organise the week early, then make minor adjustments on the actual training nights.
A number of issues need to be remembered when planning. Things like, how hard was the last game? What teams are you playing in the coming weeks? Are finals getting closer and do you need to lift the fitness component of training, as a result? Are the players due for a light night or week following some hard sessions? Is the oval in poor condition? Or is the weather going to restrict the full use of the oval? (Cricket pitches being covered or roped off etc.) These are just some of the problems you may need to be aware of when planning the week ahead.
Monday night – After playing on the Saturday, this night is normally a good night to have a brief meeting to discuss the positive and negatives from the weekend’s game. It is always important to analyse the game closely with your players and make sure that you always finish off the meeting with positives, so that your players attack the week on the training track with the best attitude. This meeting is also a good time to give a rough outline of what you have planned for the weeks training. I would always look to utilise the Monday with a stretching session that could be done indoors if needed, a light ball session on the oval or a swim at the pool. The total time for this night should only be approximately 1 hour and the aim should be to keep it a low level of intensity and incorporate a component of fun where possible. If your players enjoy these sessions and leave training with positive attitudes, then it will assist you in gaining success at your club. Always finish off this light session with a warm down stretch, as the next training session they have will be the longest and hardest for the week.
WE MUST ALWAYS BE LOOKING AHEAD AND PLANNING FOR NOT ONLY THE NEXT GAME, BUT ALSO FOR THE NEXT MONTH.
Tuesday night - The main training night where you as coach can set high volume-high intensity or low volume-high intensity sessions depending on what stage of the months planning you are up to. Too many coaches think that training sessions are of better value in terms of productivity because of the length of time that players are on the oval. The reality is you can achieve just as much, if not more by shortening the length of training and increasing the intensity of your drills. A typical session should include:
Warm-Up – (Stretching and flexibility exercises) it should take a good 15 – 20 minutes to warm the players up and complete stretching. This will vary from team to team and players individually. Try to use this time to also include short handballing exercises and towards the end short kicks.
Skills section – (Revision and introduction) once the players are warmed up and stretched, expand the drills so that the players are running longer and delivering the ball further to team-mates. Players should start off with a couple of drills that they do well, so that you create a positive environment. This is also the section where you will incorporate any new drills, but remember to keep them relevant to the style of game and within the structure of the team rules that they play in. Take into account some of the issues that were raised earlier in this section and monitor each drill so that it can achieve your expectations and the players benefit as a result. With each drill running for approximately 8-10 minutes and a couple of minutes to talk with your players between each one, this section should run between 50-60 minutes. In this time you will have completed 4 or 5 drills to add to the 2-3 short hands drills during the warm-up period. Towards the end of the skills section, bring the players back in closer and shorten their workspace. Opening up all the drills though tends to take away the atmosphere that you build in the early parts of training with players hitting the ball hard and using the voice strongly. So bringing the players back in closer towards the end finishes the harder parts of the session in a positive way. Remember that the most important night of training is this night in terms of fitness building and skill development, but the last night is of equal importance as it is vital that the players are positive in preparation for the game on the weekend.
Warm-down - After a training session, it is important for all players to stretch down, more in readiness for the next session or game. This time should not be cut short and can be completed indoors, if the weather is poor. At the completion of warm down, the coach has the time to talk to a few players individually, or address the group feedback on the completed session. Do not talk too much at the end of training, as the players do not need to stand around in the cold night air for long periods.
Training evaluation – A coach and his match committee should always spend 3-4 minutes evaluating a training session to make sure that it achieved objectives in terms of skill or fitness. The total session including warm-up and warm-down should have taken no longer than 100 minutes. Leave the tactics or team play training to the last night as it is closer to the game and it will be easier for the players to understand and remember.
Wednesday night - Normally would be a night where players may come to the club for treatment or to participate in a weights program, should you have one. Generally it is considered as a free night and players would not be expected to train. Over the years, I have utilised this night for non-compulsory training, where players could come to the club and receive individual coaching on skill development. It is important that you make it optional, so those players who come down want to be there to learn. In the remedial skill teaching section of this book, you find some very handy training drills designed for these types of sessions. They are suitable for a coach who is working with only 2 or 3 players at a time.
Thursday night – The night that sets up your preparation for the upcoming game. Everything must be planned well and organised early so that it can be a total quality session. This is the training night that you must monitor your players and look after their legs, so that they remain fresh and alert on the weekend. Although a hard blow-out of short legwork drills with high intensity on the last training night, will do them no harm as they have approximately 36 hours to recover and then play the game.
Warm-Up – Very similar to the warm-up of Tuesday and should include handball and short kick drills when the warm-up is almost complete. Make sure that the players are positive and ready to go by giving them encouragement during the warm up. This is a good time to gauge your players attitude and concentration. I have often found that players who are not switched on by the time the warm up starts are the players who do not train well in preparation for the game. The warm up should run for approximately 15-18 minutes.
Skills section - Again start off with drills that they do well and keep the players in close early to create the right environment. Remember that the drills should be over a shorter distance and relevant to the way you want the team to play and within the structure of the team rules. I would keep this section on drills down to approximately 45 minutes. I would be very reluctant to incorporate new drills on the last night of training before a game because it is dangerous to upset their preparation with a drill that they might struggle with and as a result lose concentration or confidence. At the completion of this section, I would have a couple of short handball drills that are high intensity and in-close. They would be standard drills that the players do well and I would finish off training with these drills on the last night before a game, every week. The main variation to Tuesday’s training is shorter distances on each drill and the length of time that they run. The important point of the last training night of the week is to run through a few of your set plays like kick-outs and ruck-contests at centre bounces or boundary throw-ins and zones for kick-ins etc. The advantages of this are so that players can save their legs and walk through the set plays and it should still be fresh in their minds by game time. Allow 15-20 minutes to run through this routine which will give you a total of approximately one-hour in the skill section of training.
Warm-down - Players need to stretch and warm down in preparation for the game on the weekend. Should you wish to conduct a brief team meeting, allow the players to complete the stretching correctly and even have a shower and change.