Most coaches I know plan their sessions one of two ways.

Either they spend too long on it - opening three tabs, copying exercises from a PDF they downloaded years ago, trying to make it look organized in a Word document nobody will ever see.

Or they don't plan at all. They arrive at training with a vague idea and improvise. Which works, until it doesn't.

There's a better middle ground: a simple soccer practice plan template you can fill in quickly, reuse, and adapt. That's what this post is about.

What a good soccer practice plan actually needs

Before the template, a quick note on what matters and what doesn't.

A good session plan doesn't need to be beautiful. It doesn't need to cover six different concepts. It needs four things:

• A clear objective - one thing you want players to improve today
• A logical structure - phases that build on each other
• Active time - minimal waiting, maximum touches
• Coaching points - two or three things you'll actually say during the session

That's it. If your template captures these four things, you're ahead of most coaches.

The soccer practice plan template

Here's the structure I use. Below I'll give you both a 60-minute and a 90-minute version.

Session header

Field	Your notes
Date
Team / age group
Number of players
Session objective
Equipment needed

60-minute soccer practice plan template

Phase	Duration	Activity	Coaching points
Warm-up	8-10 min	Light movement, dynamic stretching, ball touches	Keep it active - no static stretching in a circle
Activation game	10 min	Rondo or small possession game	One or two touches, high intensity
Main drill / SSG	25-30 min	Small-sided game focused on the session objective	Two or three focused cues, stop and coach when needed
Cool-down	5 min	Lower intensity, group together, short feedback	One key takeaway from the session

90-minute soccer practice plan template

Phase	Duration	Activity	Coaching points
Warm-up	10-12 min	Dynamic warm-up with ball	Progressive intensity
Activation game	10-15 min	Rondo or positional game	High touches, light pressure
Technical / tactical drill	20 min	Isolated drill focused on the session objective	One concept, clear constraint
Main SSG	25-30 min	Small-sided game where the concept appears naturally	Guided discovery - ask, don't just tell
Cool-down + debrief	8-10 min	Lower intensity, group conversation	What did they learn? Let them answer

How to fill it in (without overthinking it)

Start with the objective, not the drills. Ask yourself: what's the one thing I want players to do better by the end of this session? Write that down first. Everything else follows.

Pick drills that match the objective. If your objective is pressing coordination, your main SSG should force players to press together - not just be a free small-sided game where pressing happens by accident.

Write your coaching points before training, not during. If you arrive without knowing what you're going to say, you'll either say nothing or say too much. Two or three specific cues is enough.

Use the same warm-up rotation. Players don't need a new warm-up every session. Find two or three that work for your group and rotate between them. It saves planning time and players know what to do without you explaining.

Common mistakes with session templates

Not having an objective beyond "we'll do some possession work today." That's a theme, not an objective. An objective sounds like: "I want our centre-backs to receive with an open body and play forward in two touches."

Putting too many drills in the session. More drills means less time on each one, which means less learning. One strong main drill, coached well, beats four drills rushed through.

Ignoring the transition between phases. How you move from warm-up to activation to the main session matters. If players are standing around for three minutes while you set up cones, you've lost them.

A note on PDF exports

If you're planning sessions digitally, the template above works well as a starting point. But if you want something you can print and take to the pitch - or share with an assistant coach - you'll want a clean PDF version.

That's one of the things we built at CoachPage: choose your players' age and the focus of the session, get a first draft instantly, then adjust the drills and export a clean PDF ready for the field. See CoachPage pricing - build your first session in minutes and take it to the pitch.

What does your session planning process look like right now? Notes app, whiteboard, or something else?