Game Training (U13-17)

ABOUT THE GAME TRAINING PHASE

Game Training Phase sessions consist of 4 components: Warm up, Positioning Game, Game Training, Training Game.

The coach must also be mindful of the Growth Spurt. Players going through this stage of maturation will have varying energy levels and are injury-prone. Proper managing of training loads to avoid over-training is essential.

Therefore we consider 3 sessions of 75-90 minutes and one game a maximum safe weekly work load, with the following session planning guidelines:

Welcome/explanation: 5 minutes

Warm Up: 15-20 minutes

Positioning Games: 20 minutes

Game Training component: 25-30 minutes

Training Game: 20-25 minutes

Warm Down/wrap up 5-10 minutes

THE MAIN ‘TRAINABLE’ THEMES

In possession of the ball (BP):

•       Playing out from the back
•       Midfield play
•       Attacking

When the opponent is in possession of the ball (BPO):

•       Disturbing/pressuring
•       Defending/recapturing the ball

Transitioning (BP>BPO and BPO>BP)

•        Team and player actions when we lose the ball
•        Team and player actions when we win the ball

The Game Training Phase has two main objectives:

• Preparing players for senior football by teaching them to apply functional game skills in a team setting using 1-4-3-3 as the preferred formation
• Developing tactical awareness, perception and decision-making through a game-related approach to training.