A plan of your team's objectives is a vital part of rugby coaching

As a rugby coach it is well worth your time drawing up a plan for where your team has come from, where it is going and how it is going to get there. This will help you and your team focus on objectives and how to achieve them.

Reasons to create a plan

1. Focus: It helps you, as the coach, focus on the goals and aspirations for the team. This may be more illuminating than you think when you sit down to do it!

2. Selling the team message: With a reference point, the team can be told and sold the ideas more effectively. The best plans will have been discussed with the players and support staff (stakeholders) and to a certain extent agreed. Policies are easier to implement based on the objectives laid out in your plan.

3. The pressure is off: Many coaching headaches are not about playing the game, but getting the required number of players onto the pitch at the right time, in the right gear and in the right mind. Passing and catching the ball seem like a bonus at times. The plan goes someway to answering those questions, giving you more time to focus on the game.

Don't worry about...

1. The length of your plan: Small is beautiful. Players and support staff won't want to wade through pages and pages of ramblings. Keep it simple and short. You can always fill in the gaps later.

The plan is the starting point. It cannot play the game for you.

2. The language: Have a clear message that will be understood by everyone. Make it practical, not inspirational.

3. Getting started: This is a classic "leave it until a long winter's evening" project and one sheet of A4 is as good as a weighty manual. Remember the thinking process is as important to you as getting it down on paper.

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