What it is
The Annual Planner is the season-long macro view: you pick a periodization model, mark the phases of the year, load the competitions and fixtures, and break the season into microcycles (weeks) — optionally grouped into mesocycles — each anchored to its matches.
When you use it
At pre-season setup and throughout the year for strategic planning: define the season, its phases and calendar, then generate and shape the weekly structure. From here you jump into the Calendar to detail a given week and into Daily Planning to build each session.
How it works
Create the season. Give it a name and start/end dates, and choose a planning model (see Key concepts). The model decides what the rest of the screen offers — notably whether you plan in blocks (macrocycles/mesocycles) and whether microcycles are typed.
Mark the phases. Add season phases (e.g. pre-season, competitive, transition, off-season) with a color, dates, and a "counts for availability" flag — phases that don't count are drawn with a striped pattern and excluded from availability/load tracking.
Add competitions and matches. Register the competitions (league, cup, international, friendly, supercup — each with a color), then add matches manually or import fixtures by dragging a file (CSV, Excel, PDF) or pasting text; a preview lets you check them before importing.
Add periodization blocks (block models only). With a block model, create macrocycles and, nested inside them, mesocycles — each mesocycle carries a load model (Structured, Tactical, Verheijen, ATR or Integral).
Build the microcycles. Add a week manually or Generate weeks from matches to lay Mon–Sun microcycles across the fixture list, auto-embedding the match in its week. In edit mode, open a microcycle to set its name, dates, color, its mesocycle (block models) or its micro type (Structured model), and a week plan: for each day, an MD label and a day type. Reset to morphocycle clears a custom day plan back to the auto structure. Open in Calendar takes that week to the Calendar.
Read the timeline. A big timeline view stacks phases, macro/mesocycles (block models), microcycles and matches on a zoomable track (full season → 6 months → 3 months → 6 weeks), with KPI panels for the current microcycle, next match, season progress and active phase.
Key concepts
Periodization models. The season's model shapes how you plan:
| Model | School | Blocks? | Typed micros? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tactical Periodization | Frade — morphocycle | no | no |
| Structured Microcycle | Seirul·lo — typed micros | no | yes |
| ATR (block) | Issurin — 4–6 wk macrocycles | yes | no |
| Verheijen | football — 6-week blocks | yes | no |
- Tactical Periodization (Frade) organizes the week as a morphocycle around the match — no macro/meso blocks; the day types repeat weekly relative to MD.
- Structured Microcycle (Seirul·lo) types each week by its role: Adjustment, Load, Impact or Competitive.
- ATR (Issurin) and Verheijen are block models: the year is built from macrocycles → mesocycles, each mesocycle carrying a load emphasis.
Season phases. Phases segment the year (pre-season, competitive, transition, off-season, breaks) with their own color and dates. The "counts for availability" flag decides whether time in the phase feeds availability and load tracking — off-season/break phases are typically set not to count.
Mesocycle → microcycle. In block models a mesocycle groups several microcycles and sets the block's load model; it doesn't define daily structure. The microcycle is the atomic unit — a week (usually Mon–Sun) with an optional embedded match, an optional micro type, a color, and a day-by-day plan.
How MD- is derived. Each day's match-day-minus label comes from the week's match date: the match day is MD, the days before it count back MD-1 … MD-6, and the days after count up MD+1 …. The model maps each MD to a default day type — for example MD-1 → activation, MD-2 → speed, MD-3 → duration, MD-4 → muscle tension, MD-5 → recovery, MD+1/MD+2 → recovery, MD+3 → off. You can override any day, or reset the week back to this morphocycle default. This is the same MD- structure the Calendar and Daily Planning show.
FAQ
Which model should I pick? Whichever matches your methodology — Tactical Periodization and Structured Microcycle plan week-by-week (no blocks); ATR and Verheijen add macro/meso blocks. Only the Structured model types each microcycle (Adjustment/Load/Impact/Competitive).
How do I fill a season quickly? Import the fixtures (CSV, Excel, PDF or pasted text), then Generate weeks from matches to create the microcycles automatically, each with its match embedded.
Where do the day types on a week come from? From the MD- structure of the model — each day gets a default type from its match-day label, which you can override per day and reset back with "Reset to morphocycle".
What's the difference between a phase and a mesocycle? A phase is a broad season segment (e.g. pre-season) with an availability flag; a mesocycle is a periodization block (block models only) that groups weeks and sets their load model.
Related
- Calendar — detail a microcycle's week; matches and MD- labels are shared.
- Daily Planning — build each session within the week the model shapes.