Planning a Football Training and Competition Season Planning a Training Session Principles of Effective Training Sessions Keep all active Athlete needs to be an active listener. Learning improves when athletes know what is expected of them. Demonstrate – increase accuracy of instruction. You and your athletes chart progress together. Emphasize and reward things the athlete is doing well. Vary exercises – prevent boredom. Training and competition is fun; help keep it this way for you and your athletes. Learning is increased when information progresses from: • • • Known to unknown – discovering new things successfully Simple to complex – seeing that “I” can do it General to specific – this is why “I” am working so hard Create clear, concise goals Give clear, concise instructions Record progress Give positive feedback Provide variety Encourage enjoyment Create progressions Plan maximum use of resources Allow for individual differences Use what you have, and improvise for equipment that you do not have – think creatively. Different athletes, different learning rates, different capacities. Special Olympics Football Coaching Guide Created: February 2004 13