A seven-field record for planning the next session

Make the next decision easier

Write the record while the session is still clear, but keep it small enough to use next week. The aim is a better coaching decision, not an impressive diary.

FIFA’s coach-mentoring example pairs agreed learning objectives with observation and a subsequent debrief. The suggested record below adapts that planning-and-reflection idea into seven practical fields; FIFA has not validated this particular template. FIFA: Student-Coach mentoring.

1. The decision players were practising

Record a behaviour you could actually see: “When the central route was blocked, did the ball carrier look for another route?” Avoid “improve awareness,” which gives the next observer very little to identify. Use the same sentence before and after the session.

2. The version you actually ran

Write attendance, team numbers, playing area and special rules. If you planned two games but ran one because six players were absent, preserve that detail. Otherwise you may repeat the written plan while expecting the result of a different activity.

3. One successful moment

Describe the sequence, not a personality: “The receiver moved away from the defender before the pass.” Add a timestamp if footage exists. A useful success identifies something worth repeating without claiming the whole squad has mastered it.

4. One unresolved moment

Use neutral language. “The ball carrier had no visible short option” leaves room to examine positioning. “Nobody wanted the ball” makes an assumption about motivation. Record what you saw and put your explanation in a separate sentence.

5. A player explanation

Ask a brief question such as, “What made that option difficult to use?” Note whether the answer came from one player or several. Treat it as their account, not proof of what every player perceived. If you did not ask, leave the field blank.

6. Your intervention and what followed

Record the instruction or rule change, then the observable response. “Added a neutral player; the next three possessions lasted longer” is a descriptive note. It does not establish that learning improved, or that the extra player caused every change.

7. One thing to revisit

End with an action you can check: keep the setup, remove a constraint, or watch the same behaviour again. State what would change your mind. If the next activity has no resemblance to the original problem, do not call the comparison a test.

Keep the record honest

A practical page might contain seven short lines and one clip reference. Add “unclear” when the angle was poor or you were managing another group. A gap in the record is more useful than a confident reconstruction. Next week, start with the unresolved question and retain the successful example as something players can recognise.

For a session with distinct baseline and test rounds, use the scrimmage planning example and record which version actually ran.