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How to plan a 1‑to‑1 football session

Plan a 1-to-1 football session for one to three players: one need or one aim, your job in each drill, effort that builds, and planned breathers.

Last updated: 9 October 2026

Why a 1-to-1 is its own kind of session

A private session, or an hour in the garden with your own child, is not a small team session. Nobody waits in a queue, you are part of every drill, and a child who is fearless against a parent can still hold back against children their own age. The plan has to allow for all three.

  1. Decide what the session is for

    Either one player's need, in your own words (a weaker left foot, looking up before the ball arrives, being braver in the tackle against children their own age), or one aim for everyone, like passing, with progressions. Both are a good session. What matters is that there is one.

  2. Decide your job in each activity

    With one to three children you are part of the drill. Feed the ball in for finishing, play on their side for passing, keep goal, or be the defender they go past. Change the job across the session so they meet different problems.

  3. Turn your effort up slowly

    Start at walking pace with loose touches they can win, then half pace, then a real contest at their level. Win it when they are careless and let them win it back when they do the right thing. A child who is brave against a parent often is not yet against their own age; the steps in between are the session.

  4. Plan the rest a lone child never gets

    Nobody queues in a 1-to-1, so a child works flat out. Keep goes short, take a breather while the ball is fetched, and have a drink every ten minutes. Half an hour is plenty up to U8, three quarters from U9.

  5. Bring in a friend when they are ready

    Two or three players can face each other while you feed or keep goal. It is the step between playing you and playing a match, and the one most worth planning.

  6. Keep it safe

    If a player is not your own child, keep their parent or carer there or in sight, and do not be alone and out of view with them.

A fictional 24-minute example

For one U9 child working on changing direction: use a ball, six cones and a clear 10 metre square. Four cones mark the corners; two make a two metre gate. Leave clear space beyond the gate. Treat these times as a starting point and pause or shorten the session when the child needs it.

  1. Minutes 0 to 4: explore with the ball. You are a feeder and partner, offering simple passes and asking the child to turn into space.
  2. Minutes 4 to 10: beat you at the gate. Defend at walking pace and let the child try a change of direction. Walk back together with the ball between attempts; this is the breather.
  3. Minutes 10 to 12: stop for a drink and talk about which turn helped.
  4. Minutes 12 to 20: repeat the gate game. Move to half pace only if the child is ready; change the gate width if they need more room. Keep the walk back between attempts.
  5. Minutes 20 to 24: let the child choose a favourite challenge, then finish with what they noticed. A real contest is optional, not a requirement to finish the plan.

One child against the adult

This authored example uses the same diagram compiler and player as a private plan. P1 is the child; You is the adult. The moving picture shows one attempt, not the full 24 minutes.

Set up

One child and the adult use a 10 metre square with a two metre cone gate. The adult defends at walking pace. Take a breather while retrieving the ball.

Adapt it for two or three children

With two, let them play against each other for part of the practice while you feed and observe. With three, use two attackers against one defender and rotate roles after each short go. Keep the same aim, shorten turns and give the resting child a useful observation task rather than a long queue.

Check supervision before coaching

An adult drawn in a drill does not establish that the supervision is sufficient. For organised football with children, the FA guidance requires a minimum of two FA-DBS-checked adults and an appropriate risk assessment; the activity and children's needs can require more. Follow your club's safeguarding arrangements. FA guidance: ratios of adults to children

How Bibs On plans one

Choose one to three players, then either write what each one needs or pick one aim for them all. Every activity says what you do in it and how hard to try, the diagram draws you in, and the plan builds in the breathers. It works on every plan. With Pro you can save the players you coach every week, so their notes are there next time.

Saved names and notes stay in your private account. Generated plans use Player 1 and Player 2, with names kept out of shared plans. Privacy

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Plan a 1-to-1 session