The 16-Week Structure

Course: Use The 360TFT Game Model Section: The Curriculum

TLDR

If we want players to learn deeply, we must teach intentionally. This course follows a repeating 16-week model because it creates a structured learning environment built around long-term retention, technical growth, and game understanding. You don’t need 100 drills to develop players. You need a clear plan and the discipline to revisit what matters most.

The structure works by spiralling topics, building depth not just coverage, encouraging retrieval, and stressing transfer not just execution. Revisiting topics isn’t failure, it’s purposeful. When players retrieve and reapply something they’ve learned before in a slightly new form, that learning becomes stronger and more durable.

If your team trains twice a week, don’t repeat the same session, move to the next one in the sequence. You’ll complete the 16-session curriculum in 8 weeks instead of 16, which is perfectly fine because the learning principles remain the same.

The 16-week model flexes depending on age and stage. Ages 1-6 master the ball foundations, ages 7-12 master the opponent, ages 11-18 master the game, ages 15-21 master the position, and ages 17-21 master the performance. Every week should include a core skill focus, contextual game scenario, small-sided game, match-related play, and reflection.

Forgetting is part of learning. Each time players retrieve a skill they thought they’d lost, they strengthen the neural pathway. Great coaching doesn’t race ahead, it circles back. This 16-week structure gives you a plan, the sessions give you the tools, your coaching brings the learning to life.

If we want players to learn deeply, we must teach intentionally.

This course follows a repeating 16-week model, not because it fits neatly into a term or a season, but because it creates a structured learning environment built around long-term retention, technical growth, and game understanding.

The structure works. But how you use it is what makes the difference.

Why a 16-Week Plan Works

You don’t need 100 drills to develop players. You need a clear plan and the discipline to revisit what matters most.

A 16-week block works when it:

• Spirals topics (return to them often, in different forms)
• Builds depth, not just coverage
• Encourages retrieval (recalling old learning strengthens memory)
• Stresses transfer, not just execution (can they do it in a game?)

“But didn’t we already do this?” Yes, and we’re doing it again, on purpose.

Revisiting topics is not failure. In fact, forgetting is part of the learning process. When players retrieve and reapply something they’ve learned before, especially in a slightly new form, that learning becomes stronger and more durable.

This is how we develop decision-makers, not just drill repeaters.

Training Twice a Week? Move to the Next Session

If your team trains twice a week, don’t repeat the same session. Move to the next one in the sequence.

This means you’ll complete the 16-session curriculum in 8 weeks instead of 16. This is perfectly fine because the learning principles remain the same:

• Players still get progressive skill development
• Each session builds on the previous one
• The spiral learning approach still applies when you restart the cycle

The key is maintaining the session order and progression, regardless of how quickly you move through it.

How the Core Topics Fit In

Throughout this course, you’ll see references to specific Core Topics.

These are the technical, tactical, and physical building blocks we want players to return to again and again, not in isolation, but in meaningful, match-relevant ways.

You’ll see them show up in your 16-week plans, your small-sided games, and your player challenges, each time with a new level of complexity, realism, or decision-making.

Core Topics don’t get “ticked off.”

They get layered and refined through experience, pressure, and feedback.

This is where the Moment, Slice, Situation framework plays its part.

We don’t just coach techniques. We coach where and when they matter in the game.

Structure by Age Group

The 16-week model flexes depending on the age and stage of the players. Here’s how the structure evolves across development phases:

Ages 1–6: Master the Ball Foundations

• Introduce basic ball contact and movement skills
• Build rhythm, coordination, and love for the ball
• Prioritise fun, exploration, and expression
• Minimal pressure, maximum touches

Ages 7–12: Master the Opponent

• Introduce pressure, 1v1 decisions, and physical duels
• Begin combining technical actions with game context
• Introduce the concept of slices and moments (middle third, attacking third, etc.)
• Revisit 1–6 topics with greater complexity and intent

Ages 11–18: Master the Game

• Expand focus to game understanding: in-possession, out-of-possession, transition
• Add scanning, pattern recognition, and tactical shape
• Use full-pitch decision-making to build context
• Prepare for system flexibility and match constraints

Ages 15–21: Master the Position

• Layer in position-specific responsibilities
• Develop tactical discipline within roles
• Zoom in on the “when” and “why” of technical choices
• Start shaping player identity (e.g., “I’m a left-footed centre-back who can build and break”)

Ages 17–21: Master the Performance

• Manage fatigue, pressure, and expectation
• Use mental, tactical, and physical stressors to stretch performance
• Apply game intelligence under competition demands
• Prepare for high-stakes environments

A Simple, Spiralling Breakdown

Here’s how a single 16-week cycle can be structured:

Weeks 1–8: First Exposure

• Introduce key technical skills
• Build confidence, coordination, and comfort
• Focus on reps, challenge, and fun

Weeks 9–16: Reinforcement & Transfer

• Revisit the same topics with more game pressure
• Add decisions, constraints, and opponents
• Focus on clarity, decision-making, and game application

One cycle lays the foundation. The next cycle strengthens it. Future cycles elevate it.

Weekly Structure Example

Every week should include:

• Core Skill Focus: A specific technical action or micro-skill (e.g. turns, receiving, inside-outside dribble)
• Contextual Game Scenario: Match-related challenge (e.g. 1v1 vs side pressure, movement to create space)
• Small Sided Game (SSG): Use a rule tweak or condition to draw out that week’s skill focus in a game
• Match-Related Play: Free play with minimal constraints, a chance for players to try what they’ve learned
• Reflection & Reinforcement: Use questions or a quick review to link back to previous weeks

Troubleshooting: What If Players Aren’t Retaining Skills Between Cycles?

If players seem to have forgotten skills when you return to them, don’t panic. This is normal and fixable.

Check These First:

• Complexity overload: Were you trying to teach too much at once? Strip back to one key element per session.
• Insufficient repetition: Most players need 8-12 quality repetitions of a skill before it starts to stick.
• Missing context: Skills learned in isolation don’t transfer. Always connect technique to game situations.
• Wrong developmental stage: Are you teaching 11-year-old concepts to 8-year-olds? Match the complexity to the player’s capacity.

Quick Fixes:

• Extend the cycle: Instead of 16 weeks, run 20-24 weeks for younger players who need more time.
• Increase frequency: Add 5-minute skill sessions at the start of every training.
• Simplify first: Go back to easier versions before adding pressure or complexity.
• Check individual readiness: Some players may need individual support to catch up with group level.

Remember: Forgetting is part of learning. Each time players retrieve a skill they thought they’d lost, they strengthen the neural pathway. What feels like going backwards is actually building forwards.

Why This Model Matters

If the goal is to help players retain, recall, and apply, we must coach with that in mind.

• Learning doesn’t stick after one try
• Randomness confuses, structure clarifies
• Drills are not the outcome, transfer is

Our sessions are built to loop back. Each time a player repeats something, they deepen the mental model behind it.

This is how you grow footballers who read the game, not just run drills. Technical skills without game context create players who perform in training but struggle in matches.

Final Thought

Great coaching doesn’t race ahead, it circles back.

This 16-week structure gives you a plan. The sessions give you the tools. Your coaching brings the learning to life.

Let’s get started.

This content is part of the 360TFT Football Coaching Academy - Use The 360TFT Game Model