The Playbook Series · No. 05 Coaches' edition
The Set-Piece Playbook
Every restart, attacked and defended: corners, free kicks, throw-ins, kick-offs, goal kicks and penalties.
More than a quarter of the goals. None of them from open play.
Instant PDF download · All five languages included · Your price is applied at checkout
What is inside
More than a quarter of the goals. None of them from open play.
A set piece is the only moment in football you can rehearse exactly. This playbook gives your staff a system for every restart at both ends: who delivers, where it lands, who blocks and who attacks it, how to defend it zonal, man-to-man or mixed, and who stays back. Every board is drawn to scale and checked against the Laws of the Game.
- 01 What set pieces are worth, and the Laws that shape them
- 02 Roles, target zones and signals: a system, not a trick
- 03 Corner delivery: inswing, outswing, driven and short
- 04 Corner routines: stacks, screens, decoys and the far post
- 05 Free kicks direct, wide and quick, and the long throw
- 06 Kick-offs, goal kicks and penalties
- 07 Defending zonal, man-to-man and mixed, the wall and the line
- 08 20 sessions, from delivery to 11 v 11
The impact
What you will be able to do after reading it.
Read it well and this is what changes for you, your staff and your players. Each point is a chapter of the book, not a promise on top of it.
- Your staff 2
- Training ground 2
- Match day 2
- Your staff Ch. 02
Use the Laws, not guess them
Every restart on one page: when the ball is in play, how far the opponents must stand, where a screen becomes a foul and when offside applies.
- Your staff Ch. 03
Run a system, not a trick
A role for every player, six numbered target zones in the box, the signals that call a routine and who on your staff runs set pieces.
- Training ground Ch. 04 · 05
Deliver it where your runner arrives
Inswing, outswing, driven and short, and where to aim each one. Then the routines that free the target: stacks, screens and decoys.
- Match day Ch. 06 · 07
Plan the restarts nobody plans
Free kicks direct, wide and quick, the long throw, and a plan for throw-ins, kick-offs and goal kicks.
- Match day Ch. 09 · 10
Defend them your way
Zonal, man-to-man or mixed at corners and who stands where, then the wall, the line and the long throw at free kicks and throw-ins.
- Training ground Ch. 11 · 12
Win the second ball, then train it
Who stays back, who attacks the rebound and the counter. Then 20 sessions, picked in the session finder by the problem you saw.
20 sessions and over 70 boards drawn to scale turn every point into something you can show your players, then train.
Buy from €9.99 Free samplePages from the book
Every board drawn to scale.
Read a 13-page sample
The front matter and introduction, the start of chapter 1, the first session and the back cover. PDF, 1.2 MB.
Five languages
One book, five languages, one price.
The whole book is translated, the boards and the index too. Buy it once and every edition is in your account: download the one you need, or all five for a staff that works in more than one language.
- EN English The Set-Piece Playbook Free sample
- DE Deutsch Das Standards-Playbook Free sample
- FR Français Le Playbook des coups arrêtés Free sample
- ES Español El Playbook del balón parado Free sample
- IT Italiano Il Playbook dei calci piazzati Free sample
Contents
12 chapters, then the index.
Each chapter is a bookmark in the PDF, and every row of the contents page is a link to it.
- 01 Why set pieces What a dead ball is worth, and why it is worth more every season
- 02 The Laws, used well Every restart, its distances, and what they let you do
- 03 Plan: the set-piece system Roles, target zones, signals and who runs it
- 04 Deliver: the corner kick Inswing, outswing, driven and short, and where to aim
- 05 Move: corner routines Stacks, screens and decoys that free the target
- 06 Free kicks: direct, wide and quick Beating the wall, the line and the clock
- 07 Throw-ins, kick-offs and goal kicks The restarts nobody plans, and how to plan them
- 08 Finish: first contact and the penalty Attacking the ball, the rebound and the spot kick
- 09 Guard: defending corners Zonal, man-to-man and mixed, and who stands where
- 10 Defending free kicks and throw-ins The wall, the line and the long throw
- 11 Recover: second balls and rest defence Who stays, who attacks the rebound, and the counter
- 12 The training ground 20 sessions, from delivery to 11 v 11
Get The Set-Piece Playbook
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This book
The Set-Piece Playbook
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- 97 pages, 74 boards, 20 sessions
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Best value
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The set · Nos. 02 to 05
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- 390 pages and 80 sessions
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- Read the free 13-page sample first
- Affiliates earn 20% to 30% of every copy
The format
A PDF built to be used on the training ground.
- Format
- PDF, A4 portrait
- Length
- 97 pages, 74 boards, 20 sessions
- File size
- 4.4 MB
- Navigation
- Bookmarks for every chapter, a clickable contents page and cross-references
- Index
- Terms, people and teams
- Printing
- Laid out for A4, so every page prints as it looks on screen
- Languages
- English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. Translated in full, boards and index included
- Price
- €9.99 on any paying Studio plan, €14.99 without one. One payment, instant download.
- Edition
- First edition, version 1.0, October 2026.
- Licence
- This copy is licensed to the buyer for personal and club coaching use. You may print pages for your own players and staff. Please do not share the file publicly, upload it or resell it. For a licence that covers a whole club or academy, write to us.
Questions
About The Set-Piece Playbook
What does it cost?
€9.99 if your account is on a paying Studio plan, alone or in a team, and €14.99 without one. The four paid books together are €33.97 with a plan, or €50.97 without (€59.96 bought one by one). One payment, no subscription, and the right price is applied at checkout.
See the prices How do I get it after paying?
You pay on our secure checkout with a free Total Football account. The PDF is in your account straight away, under Your e-books, to download whenever you need it, and the link comes by email too.
Your e-books Can I read some of it first?
Yes. The free sample is 13 pages of the real book: the front matter and introduction, the start of chapter 1, the first session and the back cover.
Who is it for?
Coaches, analysts and staff who want one shared language for this part of the game, with the cost of every choice and a session for every idea.
Can I print it and share it with my players?
This copy is licensed to the buyer for personal and club coaching use. You may print pages for your own players and staff. Please do not share the file publicly, upload it or resell it. For a licence that covers a whole club or academy, write to us.
Can I get a refund?
A download is delivered the moment you pay, so at checkout you ask for it straight away and the 14-day right to cancel ends when it arrives. Read the free sample first. If a file is faulty or will not open, write to us and we fix it or refund you.
E-book terms Can I earn by recommending it?
Yes. In the Total Football Studio affiliate programme, on an Amateur or Pro plan, you earn 20% or 30% of every Playbook Series e-book bought by someone you referred, for 12 months from the day they signed up through your link. They pay the same price either way.
The affiliate programme Which languages is it in?
English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. One purchase includes all five: download whichever you need from Your e-books, as often as you like. The whole book is translated, the boards and the index too, and the free sample is in all five.
What format is it in?
A 97-page A4 PDF of 4.4 MB, with bookmarks for every chapter, a clickable contents page and an index. It opens on any phone, tablet or computer that reads a PDF, and prints on A4.
Do I need Total Football Studio to use it?
No. The book is a PDF and stands on its own. Every diagram in it was built in Total Football Studio, so you can draw the same shapes on your own board if you want to.
Open the StudioThe Playbook Series
The other four books
-
No. 01 · Free edition The 4-3-3 Playbook Variations, attacking positions and defensive shape. 24 pages · 15 boards · 3 sessions
Free -
No. 02 · Coaches' edition Playing Out From the Back Building up against every press: count it, shape for it, bait it, beat it. 101 pages · 84 boards · 20 sessions
€9.99 with a Studio plan · €14.99 without -
No. 03 · Coaches' edition The 4-2-3-1 Playbook One shape, many systems: how football's most-used formation builds, creates, presses and protects. 99 pages · 80 boards · 20 sessions
€9.99 with a Studio plan · €14.99 without -
No. 04 · Coaches' edition The Pressing Playbook When to jump, where to trap and how to win it back: the high press, the counter-press and the block. 93 pages · 87 boards · 20 sessions
€9.99 with a Studio plan · €14.99 without
