The Season Plan

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

A key component to any coach’s toolkit is a season plan. It outlines the path the coach will take in developing his players and takes into consideration the physical, mental, technical, & tactical aspects of the game. By using a season plan, you can avoid neglecting different components of both the individual’s and the team’s development.

When you coach by “the seat of your pants”, those things that you know best or those skills and tactics that the team is worst at, take the lion’s share of time in practice. While being flexible is important, not having a plan is a sure fire way to spend an entire season putting out fires (e.g., spending practice after practice working only on fixing the powerplay) and not making any progress in other areas of the game.

You can check out my season plan template by signing up to the Hockey Sense email list here. Feedback is always welcome and if you have any questions please drop it in the comments below or email me.