Engine Room

January engines built inside ball work — repeat sprints, strong landings and honest legs, without one soul-destroying lap of the pitch.

Ladies football
Adult
75 min
16–26 players
2 coaches
Effort 4/5
Half pitch
adult
preseason
conditioning
games-based fitness
landing mechanics

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: 12 footballs (size 4 — the adult ladies ball), 30 cones, 20 bibs (2 colours)

Warm-up12 min

RAMP With the Ball

Setup: Pods of four, one ball per pod, each pod in its own 15×15m grid. Coach works the middle, watching landings.

How it works: Raise: three minutes of pod hand-passing on the move, building from walk to three-quarter pace. Activate and mobilise: between possessions, hip openers, walking lunges with a twist, and inchworms — pod keeps the ball moving while one girl at a time does her reps. Potentiate and protect: hop-and-stick landings — two-footed bound forward, stick the landing soft for a full second, then single-leg hop-and-stick each side, five each. Knees track over toes, chest tall; this landing work is the cheapest knee insurance in the women's game, so it lives in every preseason warm-up. Finish with two rising sprints across the grid chasing a rolled ball and a clean pick-up.

What to say

“Land soft — knee over the middle toe, hips back, no wobble.”
“Stick it silent — if I hear the landing, do it again.”
“Build the pace, don't jump to it — last sprint is the fastest thing so far tonight.”

Easier

Two-footed landings only; sprints become strides.

Harder

Single-leg landings off a lateral hop; pick-ups on the sprint at full pace.

Activity16 min

Tempo Triangles

Setup: Triangles of three cones, 25m a side, three players per triangle, one ball. Enough triangles that everyone works at once. A rest zone marked beside each triangle.

How it works: Kick-pass around the triangle and sprint to follow your kick — arrive at the next cone as the ball arrives at the one beyond it. That's one rep of honest running with a purpose on the end of it. Work in waves: 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off, six rounds, then two minutes of easy hand-passing recovery, then a second set the opposite direction. The kick must be worth chasing — flat, firm, to the chest. Count completed passes per triangle per round; the score keeps the pace honest deep into the set when legs get chatty.

What to say

“Sprint the follow — the jog version is a different, worse session.”
“Kick it flat and firm; a floaty ball lets everyone rest.”
“Breathe in the 20 seconds, don't talk in it.”

Easier

20m sides, hand-passes instead of kicks, 30 on 30 off.

Harder

STEPR: 30m sides; weak foot on the second set; last round is 60 seconds straight.

Activity16 min

Repeat the Run

Setup: A 60×30m channel with a gate goal at the far end. Attacking waves of four start on the end line; three defenders hold the channel. Spare balls at the start line.

How it works: Wave one: the four attack 4v3, finish through the gate, then turn and jog back down the outside — and go again immediately as wave two, and again as wave three. Three attacks back-to-back is the set; that third run on heavy legs is the whole point, because that's the run that wins March league games. Defenders play live but stay on for two full sets before rotating, so their repeat efforts count too. Score attacks converted out of nine per group. Rotate groups through attack, defence and rest.

What to say

“Third run, same width — tired teams get narrow.”
“Talk gets quiet when legs get heavy; force the calls out.”
“Finish every attack — a turnover means sprint back and defend it.”

Easier

Two attacks per set; passive defenders on the final run.

Harder

STEPR: four attacks per set; a turnover anywhere sends the wave back to attack again from halfway.

The rest of this session is free — along with 3 more this week.

PitchPlans coaching team

Free on PitchPlans — new sessions weekly.