How to use the STEP principle to adapt your sessions

If you aren’t already a convert to the STEP principle, you have probably heard people talk about it.

But what is it? And how can it aid your coaching?

The STEP principle is a tool you can use to adapt or progress training sessions, either during the planning process, or when you identify the need for something to change during the session itself.

STEP stands for: Space, Task, Equipment and People (or can be Players).

Here’s our handy guide to getting the most out of it.

Space - adjusting the size or shape of the playing area

To achieve the aims of your session, you can choose to make the area smaller, larger, longer, shorter, narrower or wider.

Sometimes, you might notice that the practice area isn’t fit for purpose – maybe you’d planned for a certain number of players, yet more came. In that instance, you may just want to make the area bigger.

At other times, it may be that you want to make things harder for your players. 

Let’s say it’s a dribbling practice, and each player has a ball at their feet. If you want to increase the challenge, and get your players to work more on close ball control, you might make the area smaller.

You can also tweak pitch sizes during small-sided games to help you achieve certain objectives.

A small pitch, for example, will increase the intensity of a game and mean less time on the ball. 

A longer, more narrow area, could replicate the centre of the pitch, encouraging players to think about playing forwards more; whereas, a shorter, wider pitch would allow for more of a focus on wing play.

When it comes to the ‘S’ of the STEP principle, most coaches only think about changing the size of a standard rectangular or square practice area, but changing the shape is an option, too.

It’s probably not going to be beneficial to change it to a circle or a triangle, but there are lots of warm-ups and technical practices that could derive benefit from being run in a different shape to the norm.

Task - changing the objectives or rules of the activity

You can change the task to increase or decrease difficulty, speed things up or slow things down, or offer players a different challenge.

As an example, the way you score in a particular activity may be by running a ball into an end zone. 

But, should you wish for your players to focus more on combination play, rather than individual play, you could consider making the way to score one player passing for another to receive in the end zone.

Other examples could include limiting players to a certain number of touches, introducing areas or zones that players may be bound to, or asking players to use only their weaker foot during a particular technical drill. 

In a rondo, you might set five passes as a target to get a point. If you notice your players are really effective at meeting the challenge, you could increase the target number of passes.

Using the same space, but changing the task, can also be really helpful for organisation – it means that you don’t have to use up valuable time setting out various different activities.

Equipment - changing the objects used in the practice

Don’t forget, this is practice, not a game. You can change the ball size, or even the ball type.

A smaller ball may be used to help players improve their technical ability – many professional players often describe using much smaller balls, or even golf or tennis balls, in their formative years, to develop control – while a rugby ball could be used in a warm-up for a bit of fun.

You could change goal sizes – from full-sized goals to mini goals, or the other way. 

Smaller goals may be used to improve shooting accuracy, while larger goals may be used to increase the likelihood of scoring and build player confidence.

Sometimes, changing equipment is a purely practical decision. You might have marked out areas on the pitch, and then realised that the cones you’ve used to do it are getting in the way. 

Switching these cones for flat markers will mean the zone boundaries are less obtrusive for the players.

People - adjust the number of players involved, or their roles

To shake things up in a session or activity, you can add or remove players or change team sizes.

Smaller-sided games allow for more touches on the ball, while larger-sided games are more realistic to actual matches. 

Consider using neutral players that play for the team in possession, or using uneven teams. Both allow for underloads and overloads, giving players different challenges.

You can even add in game rules that result in a change in player numbers – for example, every time a team scores, they gain or lose a player. 

You can use the ’task’ element of STEP on an individual basis, to give players specific roles, tasks, or responsibilities.