Football session planner
Plan your next training session on real boards: pick the drills, set out the players and cones on a grid drawn to scale, write the coaching points, then print it for the pitch. Free, in your browser, with no sign-up.
Print it or save a PDF
The whole session on A4, every board drawn to scale.
A picture of this block
Block 1, "Rondo 5 v 2", as a PNG for the team chat.
Make it move in the studio
Opens every block as a board in a folder called "Keep the ball, then break lines", on a free account, where you can add phases, press Play and share a link. On a studio board, cones, goals and other kit are part of Amateur. On a plan without them those boards open locked, and you can keep a copy without them.
A session plan in five minutes.
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01
Pick your drills
Start from a ready session or add blocks one at a time from sixteen drills: warm-ups, rondos, possession games, small-sided games, finishing and cool-downs. Up to eight blocks in a session.
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02
Set them out on the board
Size the grid in metres, add players, bibs, keepers, cones and goals, drag them where they stand and draw the passes and runs. Write the rules, coaching points and progression beside it.
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03
Print it for the pitch
Print the whole session on A4 or save it as a PDF, every board drawn to scale, or download one block as a picture for the team chat.
Three sessions, ready to run.
Open one as it is, or change every drill, grid and coaching point until it is yours.
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Keep the ball, then break lines
14 players, 75 minutes
Keep the ball under pressure, then use it to break lines: from a rondo to a positional game to a full game that starts with the keeper.
- 1. Rondo 5 v 2 15 min
- 2. Positional game 6 v 6 in six boxes 20 min
- 3. 7 v 7: build from the keeper 30 min
- 4. Passing in pairs, then stretch 10 min
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Small-sided games for U10s
12 players, 60 minutes
Lots of touches and lots of goals: a passing warm-up, then small-sided games that grow from 3 v 3 to 5 v 5.
- 1. Passing square 10 min
- 2. 3 v 3 to four mini goals 15 min
- 3. 5 v 5 with keepers 25 min
- 4. Passing in pairs, then stretch 10 min
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Finishing: wide and central
12 players, 70 minutes
Goals from both sides of the box: a combination finish in the middle, then a game where crosses are worth double.
- 1. Ladder, hurdles and go 10 min
- 2. Rondo 4 v 2 12 min
- 3. Lay-off and finish against a defender 18 min
- 4. 6 v 6 with wide channels 20 min
- 5. Passing in pairs, then stretch 10 min
Sixteen drills to start from.
Each one comes on its grid, with the players where they stand, the rules, the coaching points and a progression. Add it to your plan and change anything.
Warm-ups
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Passing square
15 x 15 m · 8 players · 10 min
Two players at each of four cones, 10 metres apart, with one ball.
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Ladder, hurdles and go
25 x 20 m · 8 players · 10 min
Two lanes of four: an agility ladder, three mini hurdles, then a sprint to the end cone.
Rondos
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Rondo 4 v 2
10 x 10 m · 6 players · 12 min
Four on the outside, one on each side of the square, against two defenders in the middle.
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Rondo 5 v 2
15 x 15 m · 7 players · 15 min
Five on the outside of the square against two defenders inside it.
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Rondo 6 v 3, three teams
25 x 25 m · 9 players · 15 min
Three teams of three. Two teams keep the ball together on the outside, one team defends in the middle.
Possession
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Possession 4 v 4 + 3
30 x 20 m · 11 players · 20 min
Four against four, with three floaters who always play for the team on the ball: one at each end and one in the middle.
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Positional game 6 v 6 in six boxes
40 x 30 m · 14 players · 20 min
Six against six. The team on the ball has one player in each of the six boxes, with a floater on each end line.
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4 v 4 to target players
30 x 25 m · 10 players · 20 min
Four against four, with a target player on each end line who plays for the team on the ball.
Games
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3 v 3 to four mini goals
25 x 20 m · 6 players · 15 min
Three against three, two mini goals at each end, no keepers.
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5 v 5 with keepers
37 x 27 m · 10 players · 20 min
Four outfield players and a keeper a side, on a pitch with a halfway line and a box at each end.
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6 v 6 with wide channels
45 x 30 m · 12 players · 20 min
Five outfield players and a keeper a side. Each team keeps one player in each wide channel.
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7 v 7: build from the keeper
55 x 37 m · 14 players · 25 min
Six outfield players and a keeper a side. Every restart starts with your keeper.
Finishing
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Lay-off and finish
30 x 25 m · 9 players · 15 min
Two lines of three, a server in front of each line and a keeper in goal.
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Cross and attack the box
40 x 30 m · 7 players · 15 min
A wide player on each side, two pairs of attackers in the middle and a keeper in goal.
Cool-downs
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Passing in pairs, then stretch
20 x 20 m · 8 players · 10 min
Four pairs, 10 metres apart, one ball between two.
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Foam roller and mobility
15 x 15 m · 6 players · 10 min
Each player with a foam roller, in a circle so the coach can lead it.
A session plan template that draws itself.
No boxes to fill in by hand and no diagrams to sketch. Every block you plan here prints as one row of the sheet, with its board beside the words.
- 01 The session title, date, team, players and total minutes
- 02 A timeline of the blocks, coloured warm-up, main, game and cool-down
- 03 Every block on its own grid, drawn to scale in metres
- 04 The organisation, rules, coaching points and progression
- 05 How many grids run at once, who waits, and the space each player has
Then make it move.
Open your session in the studio and every block becomes a moving board in its own folder, on a free account.
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Make it move
Add a phase to any block, move the players, and press Play. The studio works out the movement in between, so the drill runs on its own.
Read how -
Send it as a link
Seven characters that open on any phone, with no app and no account, so your players can see the session before they arrive.
Read how -
Export a video
The drill as an MP4 for the group chat or a story, every phase played in order.
Read how
About the session planner.
The drills, printing, privacy, and what happens in the studio.
All questions Is the session planner free?
Yes, and it needs no account, for the PDF too. Plan a session of up to eight blocks, print it or save it as a PDF, and download any block as a PNG. Up to ten plans are kept in your own browser, and the printed sheet and the picture carry the Total Football Studio mark.
Which drills are in the session planner?
Sixteen drills (two warm-ups, three rondos, three possession games, four small-sided games, two finishing drills and two cool-downs) and three ready sessions built from them. Each drill comes on its own grid with the players set out, the rules, the coaching points and a progression, and everything in it can be changed: the grid size, the players, the kit, the arrows and the words.
How do I get a PDF of my session plan?
Press Print or save as PDF and choose Save as PDF in the print dialog. The sheet is A4, in a compact layout or one with bigger boards, and lists every block with its board, its timing, the grid size, the rules, the coaching points and the progression. The boards are drawn rather than photographed, so they stay sharp when the PDF is zoomed.
What happens when I open a session in the studio?
Once you have signed in to a free account, every block is saved as a board in a folder named after your session, and the first one opens. There you can add phases and press Play, and send any board as a link. Cones, goals and other kit on a studio board are part of Amateur, and so are dribble arrows: on another plan those boards open locked, and you can keep a copy without them.
See what the studio does Do you see my session plans?
No. Your plans are built, drawn and printed in your browser and kept there, and nothing you type is sent to us. If you open a session in the studio, its boards are saved to your account like any other, where only you can see them.