What weekly planning really requires
You need to know how many are coming before you plan. A session designed for sixteen players does not work with nine. If you only count on the pitch, you rebuild groups while the first players are already waiting. RSVPs must therefore happen before planning, not after — and they need to be in one place, not across three chat groups.
Your coaching team needs to see the same plan. As soon as an assistant coach has their own version in mind, training moves in two directions. What matters is not that the plan was sent out, but that everyone sees the exact same current version — even if you change something on Tuesday morning.
The week needs an order. High-intensity content does not belong two days before a match. No tackling session follows a hard match. Technique tolerates fatigue worse than a scrimmage. Every coach knows these rules — but they only hold if the week is on paper beforehand and not created the night before. And they hold even more so only if someone tracks what was actually trained. Otherwise, at the end of the season, one focus accounts for forty percent of the time and another for four, without anyone noticing.
How we approach weekly planning
We consider weekly planning to be the wrong frame of reference. A good week that does not contribute to a season is just a good week and nothing more. That is why Coach OS does not plan the week, but the season — and the week falls out as a slice of it.
The basis is a setup you create once: age group, skill level, training frequency, available space, and equipment. From this, Coach OS distributes the main focuses periodized across the season, according to eleven main categories with six to fourteen subcategories each, weighted by age and skill level.
What comes out is a suggestion, not an order. You can reinforce main focuses, swap individual drills, insert your own drills, or build a session completely on your own. The sentence by which we measure ourselves: Coach OS suggests, the coach decides. Whoever wants it differently needs a different tool.
How Coach OS plans the week
Attendance first. Players accept or decline in Player OS with a single tap. The feedback flows directly into planning: the session calculates with the number of players who actually come, and groups are formed accordingly. Statistics show average attendance over 7, 30, and 60 days, over six months, or the season.
One single view for everyone. Assistant coaches join via code, link, or email and see the exact same session, the same groups, the same history — no forwarding, no asking which version applies. If something changes on Tuesday morning, everyone sees it.
The session itself. The generator leads in eight steps to the finished training session with warm-up, main part, and wrap-up, chosen from over 1,244 animated drills. Five training models are available: SUES, Classic, Groups, Station Training, Group Training. Each session can be exported as a PDF, and on the pitch it runs in live mode on your smartphone, where you adjust drills and groups in real time.
Afterwards, you see what happened. The statistics show the distribution of training content over the past 60 days, the average duration per session split into warm-up, main part, and wrap-up, and active time — separated into movement and standing time.
Who this is for and who it is not for
This way of planning is worth it if you are responsible over an entire season and train several times a week. Then periodization pays off, and the half-hour of preparation saved per session adds up to around one and a half hours per week.
It is not worth it if you coach a group once a week that has a different composition every week. Then you need good individual drills and not a season plan — a drill collection is enough for that, and there are good free ones available.
It is also not worth it if you have already fully developed your methodology and are only looking for a storage space. While Coach OS saves and structures your work, it also plans on its own — if you do not want that, you will disable a lot of features.
FAQ: Planning weekly training: structure, order, time budget
How long does it take to plan a week?
Planning a training week takes just a few minutes with a prepared system, saving you around 30 minutes of preparation per session. After the initial setup, sessions are generated as automatic suggestions. You only need to quickly review the content on Sunday evening or before training and adjust it if needed.
What happens if half the team cancels at short notice?
You adapt the groups and drills right before or during training based on the changed number of players. If players cancel at short notice, session planning calculates with actual attendance so drills meant for 16 players don't fail with 9 players. In live mode on the pitch, you can flexibly adjust the session flow to the remaining group size.
Can I add my own drills to the weekly plan?
Yes, you can easily integrate your own drills into the weekly plan. You create them yourself or draw them digitally, after which the plan draws on both your own exercises and the existing database. This allows you to combine your own tactical and technical focus with suggested sessions at any time.
Does my assistant coach see the plan automatically?
Yes, your assistant coach automatically sees the entire plan as soon as they join the team. They use their own joining method via code, link, or email and directly access the same sessions, groups, and changes. This ensures all coaches are always on the same page without having to forward plans manually.
What if I start mid-season?
You can start mid-season at any time, as the planning is flexibly built around the remaining time from your start date. In the setup, you specify training frequency and team level, after which the focus areas are distributed for the rest of the season. The existing history of a team you take over remains fully preserved.
Do I need a computer for this or is a phone enough?
A phone is completely sufficient, but you can also use a computer or browser. A larger screen is usually best for detailed weekly planning on Sunday evening, while on the pitch, using your smartphone in live mode is the norm. A single login works seamlessly across all devices.
After the one-time setup, sessions are generated as a suggestion for you to review and adjust. Coaches report about thirty minutes less preparation per session, which means about one and a half hours per week for three training sessions.
RSVPs come in right up until the session. You see the current count before training and adjust the groups — on the pitch in live mode, even during the session.
Yes. You can create your own drills or draw them in Sketch. Coach OS accesses both sources during planning: your own drills and the complete database.
Yes, as soon as they have joined. Important: The assistant coach goes through their own joining process and does not create a new team — otherwise they end up in an empty squad.
The setup asks for training frequency and skill level, not the start of the season. Coach OS plans from the day you start and distributes the main focuses over the remaining time. The history of an adopted team is preserved, provided the team was already in Coach OS.
Both work. Planning runs in the app, desktop version, and browser; one login works everywhere. On the pitch, the phone is the norm, while for weekly planning on Sunday evening, a larger screen is more common.
Frequently asked questions about weekly training planning
How do you coordinate the week's main focuses with your assistant coach?
Determine at the beginning of the week who takes on which tasks on the pitch and which drill formats you will use. Share your draft early so your team can provide feedback. Use a PDF export of each session or access the shared plan directly. With Coach OS for coaches you coordinate your sessions.
What criteria do you use to select suitable drill formats for specific days of the week?
Align your selection with the workload and your daily target. Use complex game forms on days with high freshness and simpler focuses after demanding matches. Filter drills specifically by category, age, player count, equipment, and difficulty. You access over 1,244 animated drills and choose between models such as SUES, Classic, Group, or Station Training.
How do you plan training weeks across an entire season?
Set up your season on a solid foundation at the start instead of reinventing every week. Record your age group, skill level, training frequency, as well as space and equipment. Based on this, you plan the entire season periodized and systematically build your weeks on top of one another. You use training planning for 19.90 euros per month and team, test 30 days for free, and have no minimum contract duration.