Aspects that need to be considered when designing a training session for individual and group sports

There are many elements to be considered when designing a training session. The first consideration is always safety. This considers the safety of the equipment, facilities and training being designed to meet the levels of the athlete/s. Other elements to be considered when designing a training session include how much time will be allocated to each activity, what the goals or aims of the session will be, how warm up and cool down will be done and making sure you leave room at the end to evaluate the session. 

Health and Safety Considerations

As one of the elements to be considered when planning a training session, health and safety is the most important consideration. The training session needs to suit the athlete being trained. This means, if it is a child with low levels of fitness, then the training session should match their fitness and skill levels. This also applies for the adult, training should be done at a level that extends the athlete and develops them for the sport, but not set at a level that could be harmful to them.

Other safety aspects include, having an adequate warm up before each session and ensuring that all equipment is available and in working order. This includes, bats, pads, balls, posts and fields/courts. It is important that the field or court is examined prior to training to ensure it is safe. Pot holes, uneven surfaces, water, rocks all should be dealt with before training. An appropriate venue should be chosen that caters for the specific training session.

Health and safety considerations also includes the athlete’s state of health and whether they are ready for training. This can be both mental and physical health. If an athlete is sick, suffering an injury, or is not in the right state of mind for training, then they should not train because it places their health at risk.

Providing an overview of the session to athletes is an important aspect of any training session. When an athlete knows what the aims are of the training session and how these aims are going to be achieved, it improves the results of training. This is because the athlete understands the purpose of each activity, why they are doing it and how it should help them in competition.

A session overview is not normally a lengthy process, but helps get the athletes on side with the coach and allows for more effective feedback and session evaluations. Providing an overview of the session to the athletes will also allow the athletes to know that the coach has thought through and prepared the training session, seeking to improve their performance in a particular area.

Often a session overview will be completed just prior to a warm up, or even during the warm up. Session overviews outline what is happening in the training session and links the activities with specific outcomes or goals for the athletes. Providing an overview of the session to athletes also allows the athletes to have input and provides a chance to conduct the more formal aspects of training. This includes: marking roles, checking on player injuries, reviewing the latest competitions, and tactical discussions. However, the usual focus is always on the specific goals of the session and how the coach, with the athletes, intends to achieve the goals.

Within a training session the warm up should be specific to the activities that are going to be completed in the session and the muscles being used. Often a warm up will begin with general whole body low intensity movements and become more specific throughout the warm up. This includes warming up before a strength training session. Here the warm up will move to the specific muscles being used and progress to include specific movements that will be used during training along with similar intensities.

Often a warm up will include some form/s of stretching. The type of stretching used should be specific to the training, so that similar types of muscle stretching is occurring. However, static stretching does not have to be used in a warm up as it has been shown to make little difference and may impair some types of performance. The most commonly used type of stretching in a warm up today is dynamic stretching. 

The cool down occurs after the training session and needs to be included in order to speed up recovery and help ensure good physiological adaptations occur. A cool down generally consists of low intensity movements using the same muscle groups and body systems as were used during the training session. The goal is to help remove waste products, and fluid in order to decrease post exercise oedema (swelling). A cool down is a physiological recovery strategy that helps the athlete recover and adapt to training.

All sports require conditioning training. Conditioning is the base work required for the sport and varies form sport to sport. It is NOT just cardiovascular endurance, what is often termed fitness training. 

It is about bringing the body to the desired state for use in the particular sport. As expected this type of training largely occurs during the pre-season in the preparation phase of competition.

Conditioning of the athlete should be sport specific and mostly be developed during the pre-season, before competition begins. If the sport has a long competition phase, then reconditioning and maintenance of conditioning needs to occur. The timing, intensity and volume of this type of training is vital. If any aspect is done wrong it will decrease athlete performance and leave them at risk of injury.

An athlete’s condition relates to injury and performance. A good condition will help to prevent injury and improve performance, while a poor condition leaves the athlete vulnerable to injury and leads to poor performance. Conditioning covers ALL of the components of fitness, both health and skill related. An athlete that is weak in one aspect relevant for their sport, has a higher risk of injury and will not perform as well as the athlete who has all the components covered well.

When considering a training session, the amount of time spent on conditioning should match the requirements during competition and the need of the athletes. Generally 20+ minutes is set aside during a training session. The effects of this training should be considered by the coach, as fatigue will affect the rest of the training session. If the focus of training is the end of the game and the coach wants the athletes to perform well when fatigued, then conditioning should be done at the beginning. But if focus is on skill development, conditioning should be left until the end of the training session.

Skill instruction and practice often makes up the greater portion of any team training session or individual training session closer to/during competition. When considering how to design a training session the allocation of time to specific skill related activities needs to be decided, along with how the activities will flow together for best development of the skill.

The selection of skill instruction and practice activities should be determined by the athletes’ stage of skill acquisition. Skill instruction usually includes demonstration of the skill, which may be broken down into its various parts before being combined to perform the entire complex skill.

The provision of skill instruction should be short and to the point. The coach needs to be clear in its delivery giving both specific and useful instruction. This instruction for practice should be timed appropriately during the session and where possible include demonstration.

Often the best method for practicing skills relevant for a particular sport is to play the sport. Modified games are used frequently to practice and teach skills as well as a love of a sport to children, and can become one of the best ways to continue to develop athletes who are autonomous. Various drills are also used in sport to develop specific skills that an athlete may need to develop. These drills can be done using both massed or distributed practice. Whichever is chosen the most important thing for skill development is frequent use.

Strategy is basically laying down the goals and making a plan to get there. In sport, this is something like, having the goal to win the season or win the match as well as making a plan to achieve this, such as developing an athlete’s power, working on comradery and selecting the right players. When designing a training session, the coach must analyse their athlete or team and plan to capitalise on strengths and develop weaknesses. They may also analyse the opposition to identify and refine strategies and tactics that can be used in competition.

Tactics are the simple day to day steps or actions taken to achieve the goal of the strategy. So if an athlete needs to develop power, weight training and plyometrics may be incorporated into a training session. If a team needs to develop comradery, specific team-building activities may be incorporated. Set plays may be refined in order to target weaknesses in the opposition or to determine interchanges in the event of an injury.

Evaluation of the training session must happen at the end of the training session. During this time the coach should re-address the goals or aims of the training session that were discussed in the overview of the session. Athletes should be given a chance to provide feedback to the coach on the training session, as well as the coach providing feedback to the athletes. During the evaluation the athlete’s feedback should be welcomed and if needed have follow up for the next training session.

An evaluation of a training session will also include some planning for the next session and checking in with the athletes. It is a time to review the training session, but also to have further discussions with individual or groups of athletes who need further attention, or further instructions.

After the training session has completed, further evaluation should occur. This is completed by the coach and training staff in order to determine if the session was effective in achieving the desired goals and to plan for the next training session. This review is more formal, and may also include the team captain or the athlete if it was an individual session.

The key point to the evaluation is that it focuses on the achievement of goals and if further actions are needed in order to achieve them.

Designing effective training sessions requires an understanding of the sport's context. Individual sports benefit from personalisation and technical precision, while group sports require planning that promotes team cohesion, communication and shared tactical execution. Both approaches are guided by common training principles but adapted to suit the athlete’s or team’s needs.