Training Session Parts by Paco Seirul.lo & Carlos Lago Peñas (Patreon)

The Training Session should have three fundamental parts: Activation (or warming up in more traditional terminology), Activity (or central part) and Theorization (or return to calm).

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Activation assumes the first contact between the coach and the player, and between the latter and the environment in which he/she will intervene. If we take as reference a session duration of one hour, this phase lasts 10-12 minutes and consists of two sub-phases that are not carried out successively, but are alternated: Information and Activation Exercises.

The Information Sub-Phase has as its main objective for the player to know the objective and to feel attracted to it, to enjoy and to desire to achieve it. The coach must activate the athlete and then make a proposal of the objective and inform what type of practice will be done for him/her. From this objective should arise an identification of what is to be achieved and develop a practice that centers the interest, not that disperses it. It also serves to develop and know the group interaction climate: what are we going to do, where are we going to be, what material, etc.

Activation Exercises relate the objective to the practice. They assume a first rehearsal of how to achieve the objective. It is a matter of achieving several things: stimulating interpersonal or intergroup relationships, awakening the player's interest in the session objective, preferably awakening the athlete's systems that will be required afterwards and recognizing the space. The methodology is never the same. It depends on the coach's observation of the players' moods.

Organization of tasks in the Activation of the Session:

• The tasks must be related to what will be presented afterwards. The objective of the activation is to selectively awaken the athlete's capabilities that will later be required: If the objective of today is decision-making, emphasis must be placed on warming up cognitive capabilities; if the session consists of working on individual technique, preference must be given to stimulating the coordination support. Each session must have its own specific warm-up.
• The warm-up is not just physical. Coordination and decision-making should also be required.
• The first task should be to animate the group and meet its movement needs.
• The same tasks cannot be repeated many times. The training potential of the exercises decreases as the exercise is more known by the players.
• The last task of the warm-up should be similar to the first of the central phase. Activation should prepare players to respond to the demands of the session. The goal is to be on point when the main tasks begin.
• It is very important to generate the ideal climate of interaction between the players and the coaches. You will have to know how to animate, play or demand depending on what is required. And that can also be prepared. Not all players accept a joke. Not all participate in training in the same way.
• At the beginning of the warm-up, many encouragement messages should be proposed to activate the players. When the activation is adequate, this intervention should be reduced to eliminate it. At this point, corrections and positive reinforcements must be introduced for doing things well. In short, the first thing is to adjust the activation of the athletes and later start working on the objective of the session. Making corrections or giving too much information when the players are not adequately activated will lead to the messages not arriving. First activation, then information.

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The Activity presents the tasks/experiences that will be put into practice to achieve the desired objective. This practice does not consist only in the physical execution of the player, it is also necessary to take into account the communication established between the coach and the players and between them. Basically, the activity consists of achieving the objective that has already been stimulated in the activation phase. The methodology proposed by the coach should be non-directive in order to involve the player. Throughout the session, different tasks with the same intention should be presented. The goal to be achieved is what marks the relationship between the exercises.

Each of the tasks must contain several moments:

• Moment 1 - Presentation of the task;
• Moment 2 - Practice Time;
• Moment 3 - Reflection.

Thanks to this methodology, the player should end up being responsible for his/her learning. The coach must propose the conditions of the tasks, but it is the athlete who must end with its execution and self-reflection self-improving. The reflection phase of the task must help to understand if the objective was covered, the reasons why it was achieved or not and the proposal of variants in the exercise or in the way of acting.

Organization of tasks in the Central Part of the Session:

• The most important task and the one that motivates the players the most should go to the end of the central part and occupy a large part of the session time.
• The succession of tasks in the central part must maintain the activation and motivation of the players. After an exercise that demanded a lot from the athletes, another one that reduces the intensity and the will to participate in the session cannot go. The players will move away from their best version and compromise the achievement of the session objectives. Therefore, the task a priori more motivating must go at the end of this phase.
• We must play a lot in this phase of the session. The players feel more comfortable, are more and better committed to what they do when they have fun. We must not forget that we train a game. Athletes need to compare themselves with others, compete with others, with themselves, feel ultimately that they are the ones who star in the tasks. Betting on very closed tasks, with rotations between stable positions, with little game usually provoke the apathy of those who do them and generate little enthusiasm in the players. Without a doubt, on certain occasions it will be necessary to propose very analytical tasks to draw the attention of our players to a very concrete aspect of the game. But perhaps this type of tasks should not be the most common. We must have empathy with the players.
• The final part of each task should be used for the exchange of information between the coach and the players.

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The Theorization should be carried out when the Session ends. The purpose of this phase is to achieve the goal of the session. It is not the goal proposed by the coach, but rather the meaning of the goal for the player, which involves a certain optimization of the athlete's systems. The coach knows that the goal has been achieved through the communication of the player. It is not only about quantifying what happened, but also the subjective perception of the athletes is very relevant.

With high-level players and a high sporting culture, the goal is for them to observe, optimize and see the need during the session. If players are able to identify possible areas for improvement, which activity should be reinforced, and what projection the behavior worked on has, then the goal of the session has been achieved. The coach's communication should allow for the participation of the athletes. With players in the early stages, the coach should guide the reflection phase more and help the players value their own behavior and that of their teammates and relate it to the goal of the session.

In a methodology that engages the player, the coach should propose practice conditions that help the athlete self-improve and reflect on practice.

Organization of tasks in the Cool-Down Phase of the Session:

• Whenever possible, tasks should relate to what was worked on in the session. The goal is to deactivate the structures that were most demanded in training.
• Cool-down is not just physical. Coordinative, cognitive, and affective aspects must also be taken into account.
• It is very important to finish the training with a smile. Players should go home with good feelings. A climate should be generated that improves athletes' predisposition for the next day. The session must end by preparing for the next one.
• In the first moments of the cool-down, some information or correction may be given to the players. As this phase of the session progresses, these should be avoided. It is not recommended to give encouragement that increases the activation of the players. The opposite of what is done in the warm-up must be done
• The cool-down should end with control questions or situations that players must resolve to verify if they achieved the session's goals.

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REFERENCE: "La dirección del entrenamiento y del partido en el Fútbol y los Deportes de Equipo": https://amzn.to/3SC1X5z