Foundation: Planning & Periodisation - On Demand
Player availability and performance are built on planning and periodisation.
The Fit For Every Game decision-making framework for football coaches.
Injured players, inconsistent performances, and reduced availability are usually rooted in how the training week is organised. The Foundation Course gives you a structured way to think about planning and periodisation, built on 30 years of applied practice.
Get the course - £15 / $201.5 hours · 90-day access · Certificate of completion
Why planning structure matters
Effective planning is the key to successful periodisation.
Planning structure combined with a well-understood periodisation model is the key to getting the best out of your players. When both are in place, you can optimise player availability, performance readiness, and the fitness levels of your squad. When either is missing, achieving those outcomes becomes far more difficult.
Injury
Injury rates rise when training load has no structure.
When sessions are planned in isolation, cumulative load goes unmanaged. The body absorbs more than it can adapt to, and injury risk rises.
Inconsistency
Inconsistent performances follow inconsistent preparation.
When the training week lacks a clear organising logic, players arrive at matches underprepared or carrying unnecessary fatigue. Performance reflects preparation.
Availability
Player availability is a product of effective planning.
Coaches who understand and apply the right periodisation model for their environment consistently get better results.
Methodology Author
Damian
Roden
Performance Director · UEFA Pro Licence Holder & Instructor
The Foundation Course is built on the planning methodology Damian Roden developed and applied to periodisation models across three decades at the highest levels of professional football. Formalised into a teachable decision-making framework through Fit For Every Game.
What you will learn
A framework for effective planning.
The Foundation Course covers planning and periodisation from first principles through to practical application.
- 1You’ll understand why periodisation models exist, what problems they are designed to solve, and when each is appropriate in your environment.
- 2You’ll learn how to structure a training week that supports player availability, performance readiness, and physical preparation.
- 3You’ll begin to build a planning framework you can apply in your own environment.
The Fit For Every Game methodology
Periodisation as a decision-making tool.
Periodisation is the organisation of training across time to maximise player availability and performance. The Foundation Course introduces it as a practical decision-making framework. A structured way to think about what your players need, when they need it, and how your training week should be organised to deliver it, within what works in your particular training environment.
What’s inside
From first principles to personal application.
The Problem We’re Solving
Why injuries, inconsistency, and availability problems are usually rooted in planning structure.
Understanding Periodisation
A clear understanding of the key periodisation models, what they are designed to achieve, and their advantages and disadvantages.
Football Actions & Training Aims
How the demands of football inform the aims of every training session and how that shapes your planning decisions.
Periodisation Models & Q&A
How to identify which periodisation model is most appropriate for your coaching environment and why.
Your Training Week Jigsaw
Map every component of your current training week and step back to see which pieces have a clear purpose, where load is stacking up, and what might be missing.
Certificate of Completion
A knowledge check to consolidate key concepts, and a certificate of completion recognising your Foundation level in planning and periodisation.
"Under Damian's management, I played 37 out of 38 Premier League games, something I have not been able to achieve since. I am a big believer in his methodology and the energy he brings."
Vincent Kompany
Manchester City, Anderlecht, Bayern Munich and Belgium
"Damian has had a huge impact on the success of Coach Education in Wales over the years and we still draw upon his knowledge and pay reference to his approach to training on all of our courses."
Osian Roberts
Technical Director, FA Wales & Morocco · Head of Development, Como 1907
"Damian introduced his 'blueprint' of how we should train that kept every player injury-free and feeling fantastic. Our performances reflected that, particularly at the end of the season. As soon as we moved away from that it started to go wrong."
Ryan Shawcross
Former Stoke City Captain
Get started today
Foundation Planning & Periodisation.
On Demand.
The Foundation Course gives you a clear approach to planning and periodisation.
The practical decision-making framework behind every well-organised training week.
£15 / $20
90-day access · Self-paced · Start today
Get the course - £15 / $20Instant access. Start today.