Season plan incorporating psychological, technical and tactical elements

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
2007’s Development Plan
Season 2017/2018

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
Content
Season aims 3
The player 4
The 5 C’s Introduction 5
i. Commitment 6
ii. Communication 7
iii. Concentration 8
iv. Control 9
v. Confidence 10
One Club Ethos 11
Example session layout (60 mins) 12
Example session layout (90 mins) 13
Proposed Curriculum 14
Notes 15

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
Season Aims
• Develop basic technical and tactical understanding relating to individual roles and
responsibilities of each position on the field
• Develop basic understanding of how individual positions work together as a unit
• Develop basic understanding of how one or more units work together
• Highlight and develop understanding of cues and triggers on and off the ball
• Develop game related physical attributes of Speed, Agility and Quickness
• Develop ball manipulation skills with game relevant examples whilst encouraging
improvisation and creativity, through full group and small group exercises
• Develop understanding of small group tactical scenarios I.e. – possession play,
defending, attacking and the importance of transitions
• Develop an appreciation of Psychological skills that will enable players to recognize their
own mindset, use tools and actions to challenge that mindset and then change it for the
better
• Inspire and motivate players to take control of their own development through
individually set challenges at home, in training and during matches
• Maintain and develop good habits relating to training and match day preparation
through a group led behavioral charter
• Develop and maintain an inclusive three-way working relationship with players-coaches-
parents

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
The Player
The aim is to develop a player (no matter which squad they play in) that can display all of the
following.
*(We must take into consideration that ALL players are individual and will develop at different rates, nonetheless,
we can still expect ALL players to be exposed to practices that will develop the specific points below)
T- for Technique
I- for Insight and Intelligence
P- for Personality
S- is Speed
Technique
Players will be comfortable and
confident on the ball. They will be able
to manipulate the ball with all parts of
the foot. Players will develop a
repertoire of passing techniques
Insight and Intelligence
Players will develop the ability to observe
and analyse play. Recognise ques and
triggers for actions on and off the ball.
Personality
Players will display an understanding
of the 5 C's, provide leadership, be
creative, accept challenge and
display respect and discipline.
Speed
Players will be able to accelerate,
decceralte, chnage direction and
display a high levels of effort
exertion.

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
The 5 C’s
Sir Trevor Brooking once said:
“99.9% of the young footballers that you work with will not become professional footballers, but
100% of them will need to become respectable members of society”
And I couldn’t agree more. Central to my belief in player development is the need to recognize
that as coaches we have a responsibility to develop both the person and the player. Just like we
plan, critique and develop the technical, tactical and physical attributes of a player we also
need to plan, critique and develop the Psychological skills of young players also. And in essence
that’s what the 5 C’s are about. They do not require any significant changes to your sessions,
they just require ‘us’ as coaches to think a little differently about how we coach. The 5 C’s as
detailed below can be introduced one at a time (one C per month) so that by the end of the
season we have made an attempt to develop a better rounded player. The 5 C’s are detailed
below:
Over the next few pages I’ve highlighted each C, the behaviours that we would like to develop
and the coaching methods/strategies that we can use to do that.
*Adapted from ‘Coaching Psychological Skills in Youth Football: Developing The 5cs
Book by Chris Harwood and Richard Anderson

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
All humans have three basic intrinsic motivations that we can use to develop our players
understanding of commitment, they are:
Autonomy – Where you have a choice to do an activity and you do not feel like you’re being
forced.
Competence - An activity that makes you feel good because you perceive that you’re good at it.
Relatedness – An activity that gives you a sense of social belonging or connectivity with others.
Commitment
Maintain
consistancey
with Mental
and Physical
efforts
Maintain
player
engagments in
games and
training
Embarce new
challenges to
stretch their
current level of
ability
Persistance
when faced
with set backs,
mistakes or
failures
Coaching Strategies:
Reward effort, attitude and
intention over outcome.
Encouragement of
persistence after setbacks
from coaches and through
positive peers
Coaching Strategies:
Provide skill specific and
personalised recognition
when earned. Take the player
aside one on one, no need to
continually stop the session
Coaching Strategies:
Positive reinforcement and
recognition when extra effort
leads to a positive outcome
Coaching Strategies:
Ask players to assess
commitment levels out of 10.
Then ask ‘How can we raise
it?’
Coaching Strategies:
Give players ownership over a section of the session once a week. This can be
known as a voice with a choice section. Split into small groups and then have a
vote on which exercise to use

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
Another effective coaching tool for communication is the ‘buddy system’. At the start of the
session each player randomly picks a piece of folded paper. When they open it they will see the
name of a teammate, throughout the session it is that players jobs to provide praise and
encouragement to the player they have chosen without making it obvious. At the end of the
session each player must guess who their buddy was.
Communication
(HELPA)
Help - Player to player
and coach to coach
communication- focus on
direct instrcutional
information. Players
understand when and how
to send helping commands
(man on, time, space etc)
Encouragement-
On pitch
encouragement-
Players learn when
and how to give small
group and team
encouragment
Listen- Is an
attentional skill-Players
will be able to decifer
and listen to important
information and learn
how to be ready to
listen. Players will
adhere to the value of
listening to others by
allowing teammates to
provide feedback to
help them out
Priase - Players will
be able to praise
specific skill
performances of
teammates. Learning
how to develop
interpersonal skills
Acknowledge and
Accept - A Recieving skill-
Accepting and
acknowleging feedback
from coaches or
teammates. Showing
respect and trust of others
Coaching Strategies:
Develop specific practices that
encourage communication
(only two players can talk,
silent soccer etc)
Coaching Strategies:
Include conditions that put an
emphasis on communication
(put a name on a pass, use of
trigger words etc)
Coaching Strategies:
Recognise and reinforce when
a player gives good praise,
feedback, body language,
information or instruction to a
teammate
Coaching Strategies:
Recognise and praise when a
player listens to, receives and
uses information offered by a
teammate

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
Concentration
Concentration reflects a player’s ability to sustain attention on an object, a person(s), a thought, a feeling, an
action or a goal for a defined period of time. The quality of this concentration is determined by two factors:
• Attentional focus – Where their focus and attention is placed
• Attention span – The ability to remain focused and/or hold attention on certain objects, people, thoughts
or feelings for a required length of time without distraction.
With under 11’s concentration is also focused on their attention off the ball, so that they are not caught ball
watching or day dreaming too often. We need to build their attention to concentrate on their anticipatory
movements, observations of opponents, reading the game, ability to lose marker, finding space and making runs.
In 1970 Psychologist Robert Nideffer purposed his theory ‘The Four Attentional Channels’ as a way of explaining
attention, which has been accepted by Sports Psychologists as a coaching tool. Therefore, we will use the Theory
outlined below to coach concentration over the course of the fourth coming season:
Narrow - External
Players will focus on:
The ball
A teammate
An opponent
Focusing on a target/accuracy
Role in Performance:
Performing
Broad-External
Players will focus on:
Teammates in open play
Indentifying open space to
move into
Positioning of opposition
Awareness of the bigger
picture
Role in Performance:
Scanning
Narrow - Internal
Players will focus on:
Internal, thought, feeling or
image
Feeling of contact of ball on
foot
Positive thought or attitude
after an event
Trigger word or image before
event
Role in Performance:
Responding/Preparing
Broad - Internal
Players will focus on:
Thinking through strategy
Planning where to pass with
multiple options
Organising teammate and
planning having problem
solved
Role in Performance:
Decision Making
Coaching Strategies:
Highlight cues that
players should be
focusing on (on and off
ball)
Coaching Strategies:
Use practices that
allow players to scan
and switch focus
(close your eyes
where are your
teammates? Scan
between ball,
opponents and
teammates. Close
your eye how many
opponents to your
left?)
Coaching strategies:
Overload and stretch
players with
distraction training,
when fatigued or
bored.
Coaching Strategies:
Use of consistent
trigger words for
individual, unit and
team (press, hold,
push up etc)

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
Control
Indenify and use
speicific coping
strategies to help
control emotions and
self regulation
Maintain a
postitive body
language after a
mistake and look to
get immediately
involved again
Motivate
teammates when
energy levels have
dropped
Learn and perform the
role of a team monitor-
Manage worry,
nervousness and
excitment by
recognising
Physiological
responses (sweaty
palms, beating heart,
quick breathing or
feeling tense
A player or number of players who
monitor the emotions of
individuals or the group and report
to the coach. Coach will then
facilitate group chats to feedback
to group and talk over any positive
behaviours or any that need
addressed
Coaching Strategies
Highlight negative
emotional reactions and
how they affect
performance
Coaching Strategies:
Allow players to practice
negative reactions and then
switch to positive ones
Coaching Strategies:
Use bad calls and adapted
rules against one team to
test responses. You can
name it the ‘ugly zone’
Coaching Strategies:
Encourage players to
detach themselves from
negative feelings by using
simple refocusing
techniques (Saying I’m
back, next chance,
showing thumbs up,
grabbing grass and
Coaching
Strategies:
Reinforce mental
preparation before
a game (as soon as
I cross the white
line, as soon as the
coach uses trigger
word ‘warm up’ as
soon as I touch a
ball on the pitch)

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
Coaches should aim to manage these three parameters in order to coach
confidence
Confidence
Demand ball
from
teammates
Maintain
positive body
language
Be creative
and intuative
on the ball
Attempt new
skills/tricks in
both matches
and games
Ability to
recall positive
models of a
skill from past
experiences
Positive Attitude
AccomplishmentSuppport
Encourage positive body language
and physical presence in all sessions,
where players talk and act in a
positive manner. No fear of failure
just trying and learning.
Ensure there is opportunity for
success setting appropriate and
successive challenges. Use recall of
past positive experiences.
Encourage all players to provide
individual praise and support.
Praising a player’s effort and then
providing positive constructive
feedback.
Coaching Strategies:
Use first name when
giving individual
praise or feedback
Coaching Strategies:
Copy confidence, ask
players to train like
confident players
Coaching Strategies:
Encourage players to
express themselves
Coaching Strategies:
Offer players a chance
to do their feel good
games or drills

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
One Club Ethos
I am keen to promote the idea that, we, as an age group are not individual teams, but are ‘one’
age group within ‘one’ club.
We can all make simple changes to help us achieve that:
• No player should be classified, nor labeled as a ‘Junior’, ‘Colt’ or ‘Jet’ rather an 07 player
playing for HBJFC
• At the beginning and end of every session all 2007’s will come together for a welcome
and a debrief, each player and coach should shake hands
• Once a month, all 2007’s will play in an inter age group Small Sided games night, which
will consist of three different small sided games over 3 cages, with no coaching from
coaches. This will take on the format of a Dutch Masters tournament (I will pass that
document onto you separately) and teams will be mixed.
• If a squad does not have a game, they will be required to attend the game/s of the other
squads, to provide support and encouragement. I would be keen to communicate this to
the parents as a requirement and for it to be treated with as much importance as a
game. To that end, I will also be encouraging parents to attend the game/s too.
Juniors
Jets
Colts

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
Proposed Session layout
Tuesday’s (60 mins)
Phase 1
Free play
Phase 2
Warm up
Phase 3
Performance
Phase 4
Cool Down/Debrief
0-5 Mins
Players are able to assemble,
with a ball each and either
pass, dribble or juggle-NO
SHOOTING
Before warming up, set the
scene of the session with
explanation of aims of session
and a description of the C’ that
we are focusing on
5-15 mins
Technical ball warm up, Avoid
line drills where possible.
Players to have either a ball
each or in small groups with a
ball between them (example
Rondos)
15 mins-55mins 55 mins-1hr
Leg drains- With group led debrief
facilitated by coach
Technical/Tactical
introduction
Development Game
relevant
play
Game or exercise
to introduce
technique or
tactical
component
Avoid line drills
where possible
Develop
difficulty and
introduce
game realistic
challenges
and decisions
Small
sided
game with
fixed
theme of
session
Provides opportunity to
socialise as well as providing
giving players autonomy over
their actions
Increased ball contact with
more quality touches on the
ball. Set tempo and session
expectations
All technical and tactical components with game
realism. Players should be making game related
decisions.
Developing good habits by
educating players on benefit of leg
drains as well as encouraging social
inclusion with a group debrief
Coaching behaviors
• Greet each player individually as they arrive
• Allow players free time to interact
• Use individual ‘clinics’ by approaching players individually to provide feedback or question, no need to constantly stop the session
• Aim to have players involved in play for at least 75% of the session (45 mins of session with a ball each or involved in play like
activities)
• Use guided discovery and open-ended questioning. Guided discovery is where you lead the player to the answer via questioning or
displaying actions, it forces the player to think through their answer. In addition open ended questioning allows players to explore a
number of different options before coming to the correct answer (more info on page…..)
• Embrace group discussions, allow players to express views if you ask them to explain their opinions, again another attempt to getting
the player to think through their answer
• If possible, use whiteboards and diagrams to explain your session, alongside demonstrations to cater for all types of learner

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
Phase 1
Free play
Phase 2
Pre Session
Phase 3
Warm up
Phase 4
Performance
Phase 5
Cool Down/Debrief
0-5 Mins
Players are able to
assemble, with a
ball each and either
pass, dribble or
juggle-NO
SHOOTING
Before warm up, set
the scene of the
session with
explanation of aims
5mins-15 mins
Introduction of this
week’s C plus any
group activity that may
involve
As this is a 90 min
session each C will be
discussed at more
length on Thursday
15 mins-25mins
Technical ball warm up,
Avoid line drills where
possible. Players to have
either a ball each or in
small groups with a ball
between them (example
Rondos)
25 mins-1hr 25 mins 1hr 25 mins – 1hr 30 mins
Leg drains- With group led
debrief facilitated by coach
Technical/Tactical
introduction
Development Game
relevant
play
Game or exercise
to introduce
technique or
tactical
component
Avoid line drills
where possible
Develop
difficulty and
introduce
game realistic
challenges
and decisions
Small
sided
game
with fixed
theme of
session
Provides
opportunity to
socialise as well as
providing giving
players autonomy
over their actions
Increased ball contact
with more quality
touches on the ball. Set
tempo and session
expectations
All technical and tactical components with
game realism. Players should be making game
related decisions.
Developing good habits by
educating players on benefit
of leg drains as well as
encouraging social inclusion
with a group debrief
Coaching behaviors
• Greet each player individually as they arrive
• Allow players free time to interact
• Use individual ‘clinics’ by approaching players individually to provide feedback or question, no need to constantly stop the
session
• Aim to have players involved in play for at least 75% of the session (45 mins of session with a ball each or involved in play
like activities)
• Use guided discovery and open ended questioning. Guided discovery is where you lead the player to the answer via
questioning or displaying actions, it forces the player to think through their answer. In addition open ended questioning
allows players to explore a number of different options before coming to the correct answer (more info on page…..)
• Embrace group discussions, allow players to express views as long as you ask them to explain their opinions, again another
attempt to getting the player to think through their answer
• If possible, use whiteboards and diagrams to explain your session, alongside demonstrations to cater for all types of learner
Proposed Session layout
Thursday’s (90 mins)

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Gary Devenney – September 2017
Attacking
Content
Technical Tactical Physical Psychological
Passing and Receiving
Type of pass –leading pass
Split pass
Outside of the foot
Driven pass
Trigger for pass (recognizing the cues
for a pass)
Timing of pass (recognizing when to
pass)
Type of touch-
Safe side (back foot)
Across body
Direction of first touch
Passing combinations- where and
when? One-two/give and go/triangular
Attacking principles
Width
Improvisation
Movement
Penetration
Support
2v1/3v2 building to full
game scenario (very basic
functions of play if
players can grasp concept
and need challenged)
FundamentalMovementSkills
Spatial
Awareness
Perception and
awareness
Acceleration
Motivation
Dribbling – at speed/at at angles, past
players and into space
Playing out from the back
Individual roles and
responsibilities
(Def,Mid.Str)
Coordination and
Balance
Team
play/Cooperation
Turning- Differentiate between
Change of direction
Agility Encouragement
Shooting
Back to goal
1v1
Placement
Power
Combination plays
Connecting the thirds
Ball control/Ball manipulation (All
parts of the foot, on the ground and in
the air- Combining ball manipulation
skills
Movement in front of, in between and
behind defenders (triggers and cues)
Possession play
Under pressure
No pressure
Unlocking defenses
Respect and
Discipline
Defending
Body Shape 1v1/2v1 Defending
principles
Deny, Delay, Dictate,
restraint and cover
1st
, 2nd
and 3rd
defender
roles
Small group defending –
Compactness, cut off
passing lanes
Game play elements – 7v7 max
Decision making at the forefront of all
exercises, players should be constantly
asked ‘what if’ to help paint a picture of
the possibilities of a given situation.
Distance
Shielding the ball
Receiving to turn
Pressing –How to and when to press

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Gary Devenney – September 2017

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Gary Devenney – September 2017

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Gary Devenney – September 2017