Developing a Long-Term, Medium-Term and Short-Term Plan

Our planning provides us with the direction of travel to support our participants to achieve their ambitions and goals. Whether you are helping an individual prepare for a charity run, coaching a team playing in a competitive league, or working with a recreational group, we need to have a plan.

Why have a long-term plan?

Any planning begins with the vision, which may be established by you and your coaching team (with your participants); your organisation (school, sports club, employer); or environment (talent pathway, sports programme, or curriculum).

It is very important that the phases, sessions, and activities that you plan are holistic in nature and develop the whole person (socially, emotionally, psychologically, physically, technically and tactically). These phases should be integrated across all your planning, rather than focusing on a single context or theme at any one time.

The benefits are numerous. It helps us share our vision and communicate with participants and their support network (parents/carers, other coaches, teachers) why we are ‘doing stuff’.

It also ensures we maintain a holistic approach and consider the wider developmental needs of the participant. This in turn allows us to consider the sequencing or order of how and when we develop techniques, movement patterns, skills, tactics and the supporting behaviours and qualities within our practice environment and sessions – so that the participant has the opportunity to develop and ‘groove’ them before they need them in a competition.