4 pieces of advice - How to make football practice fun and motivating

How do you secure that your players will enjoy your practice session? What is a fun practice? SportMember gives you the answer.

August 22nd, 2017

It has happened to every football player at some point. Tired and disengaged, you force yourself to practice late in the evening. Without any energy. The coach is actually a nice guy, but if the past has proven to be an indicator of anything, it is that the training sessions are repetitive. It stopped being fun a long time ago.

As a coach it’s not fun either to watch your own sluggish and demotivated team. But dont worry. SportMember presents 4 small pieces of advice to make football practice fun and motivating for the players.

Advice number 1 - Team up with another coach

With practice a couple of times a week and a match in the weekend the time for preparing the actual training session just isn’t there. Get an assistant coach - if anything just take on a part time assistant. It will improve the quality of the training session, as you each can have fewer players to concentrate on. Furthermore, it might also contribute to some new ideas and thoughts, while being an inspiration as to how you could manage the practice next time.

Advice number 2 - Variation and specialized training

Change the exercises from time to time. If the players don't know, what exactly to do at the next session, your team training can never be dull and boring! No matter if you coach children, teenager or adults, try to adjust parts of the practice for specialized training. A physical focus this week, a tactical focus that week etc. As long as these self-chosen training exercises are varied. Attacking exercises are not only shots on goal for that matter, but also positioning, movement without the ball and staying onside.

Advice number 3 - Make it a competition

Whether you manage kids or adults, it's important to spice up the the daily training session with some competition. It improves overall intensity and winning mentality, because no one wants to lose to their friends. It doesn’t have to be ranked in a crazy Excel spreadsheet with lists containing trophies for winners and punishment for losers. You can start out by making the players compete to avoid cleaning up the pitch after practice. As long as there is something at stake. In line with the rest of this article you should strive to variate the competitions from time to time. That way it doesn’t get boring.

Advice number 4 - Be serious during the session

Unless your team consists of small children - whom with a ball at their feet practically never would think, your training can be boring - you should try to behave in a professional and serious manner towards your players. We don't doubt, that you are. But a lot of coaches has a tendency to socialize and take the situation light, when the team include friends or maybe a son or a daughter. If the team's ambitions are a little bit higher than playing for pure fun, you are guaranteed a motivating session by keeping a distance and standing by the sidelide during the run of play. Perhaps you can restrict the small talk. Though this advice remains for teams, who’s purpose is not focused on the social activity of a team sport.

With these 4 pieces of advice you can make sure your team is focused, happy and engaged at the next training session.