Guidelines for your Pre-Season Preparation
- July 09, 2014
- Jon Royce
* This pre-season plan was written by former international coach Jon Royce for hockey coaches, but it can easily be tailored for other team sports, including football, rugby and basketball - read on for your pre-season plan:
Getting started:
Your start point planning for the new season is to review the last campaign. This must involve face to face conversations with a meaningful cross section of the squad. An agenda is useful to ensure the conversation stays on track. Aside from an obvious analysis of results and scorers, discussions need to be initiated regarding the effectiveness of:
Attack: Outletting, midfield retention of possession, creation of chances (including penalty corners) and finishing.
Defence: Pressing, dictating the direction of opposition attacks, trapping the ball in areas of strength, stepping in front, marking and covering in deep defence and finally ability to defend set pieces.
Plan as a team
Other important issues are the physical performance of the squad and the psychological strengths and areas of potential growth.
You will notice there is no mention of selection, recruitment or individual contribution per se; this is best left to a small inner group probably including Manager, Coach and Captain.
From the meetings a plan of action needs to be developed. Who will take responsibility for planning the programme, arranging fixtures and indeed recruitment.
How to use your pre-season trainings:
Most school or club sides meet a couple of times per week for training. In my view the time the squad has on a pitch together should be used for technical and tactical development. If running without stick and ball is an area you feel is critical in preparation for the new season, do it before or after the session off the pitch. A great deal of fitness work can be covered with the bonus of skill development in high intensity training drills.
Make your trainings count
About a month to six weeks away from your first game players are usually itching to pick up a stick and play. This is an ideal time for individual player development. They can work on a weakness, add a new technique or develop one of their strengths further. Inevitably, players will cycle in and out of sessions as much needed vacations are taken. This may not necessarily be a barrier to development, indeed it may be an opportunity to work intensively with a smaller group.
The off-season presents the very best opportunity to introduce new concepts or change a formation by altering player's roles. At this point in pre-season, time is on the coach's side and if possible to arrange, a training weekend with plenty of on and off pitch time is a great opportunity to work tactically with the group.
Objectives for your team meeting:
As soon as the whole squad is back together convene a meeting to discuss the aims and objectives for the season.
Get your team on board
The objective of the meeting should be:
- To make a brief statement regarding the aim for the season
- To ensure all members of the squad contribute to a discussion that:
- States (re-states) your team's strategy
- Analyses and sets objectives
- Sets performance (process) goals that individuals can relate to and achieve
(if they are measurable so much the better)
Once the playing season begins development rather than results can be your key focus; this is particularly true with early matches. Players should have the freedom to try and add freshly developed techniques to their match play. A new tactical approach can be tried, assessed and further modified.
So where should the emphasis lie from a team viewpoint when the squad are back together? The emphasis should initially be strategic.
- Lay out the way you see the team playing (basic default formation)
- Explain how you see the team attacking (emphasis on building pressure or counter attack?)
- Explain how you expect the team to defend from its attacking shape (at the point of or prior to the moment when possession is lost)
- Ensure roles are clear in deep defence
- Finally set a structure at penalty corner attack and defence
From this start point, to use a modern expression you can "drill down" into each area adding layers of detail to achieve key objectives.
My favourite drill for the start of the season:
There are countless drills that can be used to develop each area. There are no magic solutions. What I would encourage coaches to do is to research and indeed develop drills that solve specific problems (log into Sportplan and use the search bar to start finding drill ideas).
The types of work I might conduct with a team at the start of a season will depend on the age of the squad and its level of experience, but here's one I always use:
Description
Put the whole team out on the pitch (using interchange players as well) and then have them bring the ball down the pitch is an unopposed drill.
To ensure the passes are realistic I set conditions such as:
"I want ten passes before a shot on goal" - "all ten outfield players must touch the ball" or "the ball must pass within five metres of each sideline"
In my experience this practice helps build rhythm in the team and build players confidence in where they will find a teammate. In these scenarios I can explain the relationship in terms of angle and distance I want between players and outline their role in attack and defence, the way the team swings across the pitch to support and attack, where players should be when the ball is transferred, who is responsible for providing support when the ball is played forward and how the team retains its defensive shape.
Progression
The next stage is to section off a part of the pitch, an attacking half, a wing area and play attack and defence drills giving both teams an objective. It is most important to ensure that players understand that not every attack will end in success, set realistic objectives "From the next ten attacks I want one goal, one shot and one penalty corner".
Development
From these drills certain problem areas will emerge. With a junior team it might be the speed of transfer of the ball in which case technical work on a slap pass might be a solution. In a more experienced teams a dominant centre midfield roams the entire pitch, a problem is left defensively in their absence. Will the team cover the space by altering other players roles or will they ask for more discipline from the central midfield player, both solutions have strengths and weaknesses, the important thing is to ensure everyone knows their role and is singing from the same hymn sheet.
Once the team is set up in its basic shape the coach can then work on detail adding layers of complexity within the context of the basic methodology.If players ask questions of where they should be - encourage it at the breaks in play or after the session. During a session especially when dealing with the whole squad and necessarily throwing your voice to all points of the compass keep the instructions short and "be boss". After the session is the time for discussion and answering questions and setting the agenda for the next session.
Your pre-season checklist
Before you set foot on the training ground read my checklist of key considerations.
Prepare for success
1. Preparation
2. Pre match routine
3. Performance Area Checklist
Thanks for reading -I hope this advice helps you plan with your team for the forthcoming season.
This post was written by Jon Royce, a head coach with over 30 years coaching experience at the highest level:
- FIH Grade 1 Coach (30+ years hockey experience)
- England Men's Head Coach (1997)
- England U21 Men's Coach (1995-97)
- GB Women's Head Coach, Sydney Olympics (2000)
- Head of Hockey at Bede's School and Brighton and Hove HC
Jon Royce - Coaching Credentials
Liked this blog? Share it with a friend using the links below or click the print button!
Image credit to dion gillard on Flickr