Coaching guide · Pre-training
Twenty movements between two cones, in three parts, with nobody standing in a queue. Built on the RAMP sequence and FIFA 11+, condensed for a session that has to start on time. Every movement carries the coaching cue, so an assistant can run it without a briefing.
Raise the heart rate and open the joints. One length out, one length back, straight into the next movement. Nobody stops moving.
Easy jog to the far cone, backpedal home. Sets the channel and gets everyone breathing.
Big forward circles out, reverse coming back. Progress to one arm forward and one back. The coordination is the point.
Heel to glute, knee stays under the hip. Quick feet, not big steps.
Same tempo as butt kicks, but the heel comes up in front. Touch it inside the standing leg going out, outside coming back.
Knee to hip height, tall posture, land under the body. Don't lean back.
Walk on the inside edges of the feet going out, outside edges coming back. Cheap ankle insurance.
Alternating legs the whole length, not a fixed count. Knee up, swing it out and away going out; swing it in across the body coming back.
Low, chest up, back flat. Right shoulder leading out, left leading back. Feet never cross.
Trail leg in front, then behind. Hips do the work, shoulders stay square down the channel.
Jog, plant, jump and attack an imaginary ball. Two-footed take-off, land soft.
Same channel, slower tempo, biggest range you can control. Every one of these is moving. Nothing is held. Static stretching belongs after the session, not here.
Straight leg kicks up to the opposite hand, leg stays locked. Hamstrings and posterior chain.
Step long, back knee low, then rotate the torso over the front leg. Hip flexors and thoracic spine in one movement.
Wide step sideways, sink into one hip, other leg straight. Adductors. The ones that tear when you stretch for a ball.
Step back, drop the knee, reach both arms overhead. Opens the front of the hip.
At the cone, hand on a partner. Front-to-back first, then side-to-side. Start small and build the amplitude. Never force the end range.
Walking. Pull the knee up, hold half a second, roll the free ankle, step through. Glutes and ankle mobility.
Nervous system, not conditioning. Full effort, full recovery between reps: walk back, don't jog. If they're blowing, you've turned it into fitness.
Hop cone to cone on one leg, hold every landing for a full second. Knee tracks over the toe. The freeze is the exercise.
Drive the knee as high as it goes and cover ground. Long, powerful, airborne. Not fast little steps.
Fast feet on the spot, low. On the clap, sprint. Second clap, change direction. Run one rep facing backwards.
60%, then 80%, then 95%. Never 100% off a cold start. The last one is the bridge into the session.
After the warm-up
22 players · two groups of 11
The warm-up is the session's first eight minutes, not the session. Two groups, both working at once, nobody queuing. With 20 players it is 4v4 + 2 and a straight 5v5.
Two teams of four, three neutrals who always play with whoever has the ball. Possession only. No goals.
Progression Neutrals to one touch, then drop to two neutrals.
Two teams of five plus a rolling sub. Free game.
Progression Two-touch limit.
Rotation Swap the groups halfway.
Generate your own warm-up for your headcount, your minutes and the kit you actually have — free, no sign-up, printable.
Not part of the eight minutes. Run it as a separate block after the warm-up on training days. These are the highest-value injury-prevention exercises in the sport, and most amateur sessions skip all three.
3 sets of 5. Kneel, partner pins the ankles, lower under control as slowly as possible, catch with the hands. Hamstring strain is the most common injury in soccer, and Nordics roughly halve the rate.
3 × 15 seconds each side. Side plank with the top leg resting on a partner's shoulder or a bench. Adductors. The second most common strain in the sport.
20 seconds each side, eyes closed to progress. Straight out of FIFA 11+, and it protects the knee.
Common in amateur warm-ups. Each one costs more than it returns before a session.
Crossed-leg toe touches, seated hamstring holds, anything held for 30 seconds or more. Holding a stretch before activity measurably reduces power output. Move it to the cool-down where it belongs.
Lumbar hyperextension in mid-air. No transfer to anything that happens in a match, and a real risk to the lower back.
Full bodyweight through maximum knee flexion. Heavy load on the kneecap for mobility the Cossack squat already gives you.
A line of players holding a plank while each one jumps the whole line. By the tenth rep a fatigued player is clearing bodies, with hands and wrists under the landing foot. Preseason game at most. Never before a match. Hurdle hops over cones give the same intensity safely.
Names that travel. Useful when you are calling a drill across a pitch to a squad that has heard it from three different coaches.
EasyChamp handles fixtures, standings, registration and payments for clubs and leagues, so the time you spend on a laptop goes back into sessions like this one.