Practicing on Your Own: The Manual

III. Setting your short-term goal
So, how do you design a good training program? When you hear the words "program" and "plan" your probably assume a weekly schedule, similar to this:

Monday:	shooting
Tuesday:	trapping
Wednesday:	dribbling
Thursday:	sprinting & agility
Friday:	weightlifting

A plan like the one above lacks specificity and is highly inefficient. Let say that you have poor stamina. In that case, there would be no reason to start a program that emphasizes on agility, weightlifting and technique. A good training program is focused on one aspect of your game and has a specific goal. So, what should your goal be? To answer that question, you need to look at the way you play, objectively. In competative matches, when do you feel out of your comfort zone? Which situations make you feel out of control? Examine the most common ways in which you err and try to pinpoint the source of the problem. For example:

Problem	(What is my most common error on the field?)
	I lose possession too often
Symptoms	(When am I most vulnerable on the field?)
	When I receive the ball, I get tackled unexpectedly
Cause	(Why am I vulnerable at that moment?)
	I take too long to settle the ball and I become vulnerable to enemy defenders
Solution
	I need to learn to handle the ball more effectively. This will give me more time to look around and be aware of enemy pressure
	I need to improve my shielding so that I can prevent enemies from tackling

Notice that one problem could have multiple solutions. Nevertheless, your body will adopt slower if you work on a number of things at the same time. In the short term, you should always focus on just one solution or aspect of your game.