4 Stage Training
Coaching the Traditional Training Session
In keeping with the last two articles about Play-Practice-Play and WOLI, I decide to examine another training format that’s been used for decades: 4 Stage Training.
Overview of 4 Stage Training
The 4 Stage Training format is what most current coaches experienced as players and still use today. The training session is divided into four different phases that increase in pressure and tactical complexity to scaffold players’ learning.
The four components are Warm-Up/Technical Activity, Small-Sided Game/Technical Activity, Expanded Small-Sided Game, and Scrimmage.
Warm-up/Technical Activity
The warm-up is a crucial part of coaching. When I first wrote this article I ended up going down a rabbit hole about warm-ups: what their objectives are, the different kinds of warm-ups, common pitfalls to avoid, etc. It quickly became apparent that warm-ups need their own article to explain their use and application.
So for the time being, I’ll content myself by stating – generically and broadly – that a good warm-up prepares players physically, mentally, socially, technically, and reduces the risk of injury, all within the shortest time possible. It’s a crucial component that reveals, and builds, the character of the team and its leadership.
A warm-up phase can look like a traditional cone warm-up that incorporates dynamic stretching, agility exercises, balance work, etc. These warm-ups are fairly standard but can have a lot of variation within them. A simple YouTube search will show you the different kinds of dynamic warm-ups that coaches like to run.
The first exercise can also be a Technical Activity though, that has a high ball-to-player ratio. Players begin training by practicing the technical skills that relate to the session’s topic, and can have bouts of dynamic stretching and/or other physical movements interspersed throughout.
As an example, let’s say I have a U13 boys team. The session begins with a Technical Activity where every player has one ball and they dribble around a box. Every thirty seconds I give them a new dribbling technique or dribbling move to try (making sure to re-visit or focus on a dribbling technique that will be key to their success in the next stage). Every three minutes I stop them and give them a few dynamic stretches to do.
During this Technical Activity/Warm-up, to gradually warm them up and avoid pulling a muscle, the first few dribbling activities are low-intensity. I tell them to “jog lightly with the ball just using their left foot,” then do it again with just their right. Towards the end of the warm-up their heart rate should be up, and I urging them with my voice they should now be “dribble as fast as you can! Touch, touch, touch!”
Generally speaking, unless there’s a specific physical focus to the warm-up (power, agility, running form, etc.) younger players can hop straight into Technical Activities. For older players, coaches can choose whether to have a traditional warm-up or a Technical Activity based on players’ physical development, physical literacy, technical skills, playing environment, etc.
Technical Activity/Small-Sided Game
The second stage can be a Technical Activity — if a dynamic warm-up was the first stage — or a Small-Sided Game.
The key to a Small-Sided Game is to give players lots of repetitions for the specific skill you are trying to develop in them. The tactical and psychological pressures need to increase while simultaneously developing the session’s coaching topic.
Continuing the example: The Warm-up/Technical Activity had no directional element or defensive pressure; players were simply dribbling and stretching within a box. The second exercise will introduce these components by splitting the team into an attacking and defending group and go through a series of 1v1s where an attacking player tries to dribble across the far side of the box while the defender tries to stop them.
The coaching points are focused on certain physical and technical components that players have been primed to. If, during the Technical Activity, players were asked to practice feinting and accelerating in the opposite direction, now they need to be encouraged to try that skill and be taught when, where, and how to apply it.
Because the coaching focus is on the development of a physical skill, coaches should rely heavily on the Modeling Technique coaching tool during this stage of training.
Expanded Small-Sided Game
The pressure and tactical complexity should be constantly increasing. The easiest way to do this is by adding more defenders and attackers and expanding the playing area. However, similar to WOLI, it is possible to increase the difficulty by making the game unfair for one team.
Continuing the example: players can now participate in a 4v4 exercise. The tactical objective is given to the players to create clear 1v1 situations on the outside. Players must now focus on how two players can combine with each other in central areas so a teammate can have time and space to attack their counterpart on the outside.
In short, the Technical Activity introduced the 1v1 skill, the Small-Sided game focused on its application, and the Expanded Small-Sided Game will teach players how to create 1v1 situations.
Expanded Small-Sided games need to have a tactical component where players consider their positioning relative to each other and the opposition. Coaches must have a clear tactical solution to present to players if they fail to achieve the tactical objective on their own.
Because the pressure and tactical complexity has increased, players are forced to refine their technical abilities to be successful. During this stage, because the exercise involves more players and addresses positional issues, coaches should rely on the Freeze tool, Coaching in the Flow techniques, and Pull Asides.
Scrimmage
This is the final component of training where players compete in a game-like environment and apply what’s been taught. Similar to a warm-up, running a successful scrimmage deserves its own article, but for now we’ll keep it simply and say let the kids and play and use whatever coaching tool that best fits the situation.
Designing a 4 Stage Training Session
When designing a 4 Stage Training session it’s helpful to start with the end in mind. What change in behavior do you want to see in your team by the end of the session? Having a clear picture of the desired outcome helps break down the topic into specific components and layer the learning objectives.
Let’s say my U13 team needs to work on switching the play in the midfield third. Already there are two terms (“switching the play” and “midfield third”) that I need to define, give examples of, explain their purpose, then review with Check for Understanding questions.
After identifying the topic, I create an ideal image of what switching the play looks like for my team. In this case, a winger passes to a center midfielder, the center midfielders work a give-and-go with each moving horizontally across the field, the center forward makes a diagonal run to push the defensive line back, then the center midfielder makes long range pass to the far-side winger.
Same as before, we use this image to identify terminology and compare it to what players already know. The team may already know what “give-and-go” means, but they might not know “diagonal run.” This gives me one thing to review (“give-and-go”) and one more thing to teach (“diagonal run.”) All of these terms give me a framework to base my questions on: What does “diagonal run” mean? Why does it work? Who makes the run? Where do they run? Etc.
This image also presents the technical and physical skills needed. There’s short one-touch passing for the give-and-go, a driven long range pass to the far-side winger, and the shape of the run being made by the center forward.
I can review short-range passing during the Technical Activity and link it to their use in give-and-go’s. I can also teach the technique for long-range passing in the Technical Activity as well.
During the Small-Sided Game we discuss the topic of “switching the play” and the role that give-and-go’s and long-range passes have in it. Once players have enough successful repetitions of short passing combinations and long-range passing we’ll move to the Expanded Small-Sided Game.
In this stage, players must figure out how to switch the play in the midfield third. They must take the building blocks from the Small-Sided Game and adapt to the higher pressure as they figure out the positioning, player movements, and timing of how to achieve the given tactical objective.
Finally, players scrimmage and apply these concepts in a game-like environment.
4 Stage Training as a Learning Tool
Similar to Play-Practice-Play and WOLI training, the 4 Stage Training is not just a prescription to follow. The main teaching thrust comes from the gradual increase in complexity and demands placed upon the players. 4 Stage Training could easily become 5 Stage Training (Warm-up, Technical Activity, Small-Sided Game, Expanded Small-Sided Game, Scrimmage) or even 3 Stage Training (Technical Activity, Expanded Small-Sided Game, Scrimmage). It doesn’t matter how many “stages” your training session has. The important part is structuring the session so players are being asked to solve increasingly difficult situations while being given the guidance and support to do so.
Wrapping up 4 Stage Training
Warm-up, Technical Activity, Small-Sided Game, Expanded Small-Sided Game, Scrimmage) or even 3 Stage Training (Technical Activity, Expanded Small-Sided Game, Scrimmage). It doesn’t matter how many “stages” your training session has. The important part is structuring the session so players are being asked to solve increasingly difficult situations while being given the guidance and support to do so.
“Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Apply what is uniquely your own.” — Bruce Lee