Help Open the app

TacticsPlay Help

Everything TacticsPlay can do, explained step by step with pictures of the app. Pick a subject, or search above.

Getting startedWhat TacticsPlay is, how to open it and your first drill in five minutes.The screenThe sidebar, the cards you can move, views and the status strip.Library114 ready drills, favourites, your own drills and sessions by match day.AI drillsDescribe, say or sketch a drill and the AI places it on the pitch.PlayersFormations, the squad, names, photos, bibs and how players look.OpponentsThe other team: their colours, names and formation.EquipmentEvery piece of kit at real size, the stopwatch and text.DrawPasses, runs, dribbles and plain lines, straight or freehand, and bent lines.Ground and zonesPainted lines, areas, shapes, fills and zones over the pitch.MeasureDistances, areas per player, ready-made sizes and the space of each player.Pitch and viewThe true-to-scale pitch, pitch sizes, 2D and 3D, zoom and turning.Selecting and editingPick one or many, line up, copy, paste and undo.AnimationSteps, play, curved runs, passes, dribbles, the ball in the air and the path.PresentThe board alone, for the big screen.Session and printingSave drills, build the session, minutes, load, kit and printing.Saving, files and exportPictures, videos, phone formats, PDF and drill files.Settings and coloursThe Settings window and the five colour sets.Account, plans and tokensYour account, the Coach plan, the free trial and AI tokens.Cloud and devicesSync between computer and tablet, offline work, iPad and touch.Keyboard shortcutsEvery key and mouse trick on one page.TroubleshootingSign-in problems, videos, the microphone and saving.Contact and rewardsQuestions, ideas and a free month for sharing.

Getting started

What TacticsPlay is, how to open it and your first drill in five minutes.

#What TacticsPlay is

TacticsPlay is a football drill designer and tactics board that runs in your browser. You build drills on a pitch drawn to real size, with your own players, the equipment you really use, lines for passes and runs, painted areas and measurements. You can animate the drill in steps, make it with AI, put several drills into a session, print it, present it on a big screen or export it as a picture, a video or a PDF.

There is nothing to install. Open the app in Chrome, Edge or Safari on a computer or a tablet.

The TacticsPlay app: the sidebar on the left, the Players and Opponents cards, a 4 v 4 + 4 rondo on the pitch and the tool bars at the foot

#Sign in or create your account

The app opens on a sign-in screen. Your drills, sessions and squad are kept in your account, so they are the same on every device you sign in to.

  1. Open the app.
  2. New here? Press Create account, type your email and a password of 8 letters or more, and press Create account.
  3. We send you an email. Press the link in it, then come back and sign in.
  4. Already have an account? Stay on Sign in, type your email and password and press Sign in.

Forgot your password? Type your email, press Forgot your password? and follow the link we email you. The link lets you choose a new password of 8 letters or more.

A new account starts the 7-day free trial: the whole app and 10 AI tokens, no card needed. See Plans and pricing.

The TacticsPlay sign-in screen with the Sign in and Create account tabs, the email and password boxes and Forgot your password

#Your first drill in five steps

  1. Put your players on: open Players, pick a formation and press the blue button, or drag single players from the list onto the pitch. See Placing players.
  2. Add the equipment: press a cone, a pole or a goal in Equipment, then press the pitch where it goes.
  3. Draw the actions: pick an arrow in Draw and drag on the grass from where the action starts to where it ends.
  4. Give it a name in the box above Drill / Session / Present at the foot of the sidebar.
  5. Press Save drill. The drill is kept on your clipboard with a picture, ready for a session.

Tip Short of time? Start from one of the 114 drills of the Library, or describe the drill to the AI.

A finished drill: blue and orange players with bibs, four cones, a pass, a run and a dribble drawn as arrows

The screen

The sidebar, the cards you can move, views and the status strip.

#Move the cards to the sides and the foot

Each section of the sidebar can stand out on the board as a card: Players and Opponents as columns at the left or right, Equipment, Draw, Ground and Measure as bars at the foot, the View controls at the right.

  1. Drag a section out of the sidebar (or a card by its dotted grip).
  2. While it is in your hand, the places it can go are shown. Drop it on one, or anywhere on the board to let it float.
  3. To send a card back into the sidebar, press its ×.

The app remembers where your cards stand on this device.

The Players card standing beside the sidebar, with its grip, Edit button and close cross

#The tool bars at the foot

When Equipment, Draw, Ground and Measure stand at the foot of the board they become slim bars, one above the other. They work exactly like the sections of the sidebar. A small number on a piece tells you how many of it are on the pitch.

The Draw bar: Straight and Freehand, then six pens: solid, dashed and wavy arrows and solid, dashed and dotted lines
Draw bar
The Ground bar: line, area, the ready shapes square, rectangle, triangle, diamond, hexagon, octagon, and clear
Ground bar
The Measure bar: line, rectangle, the distance in metres, Cones on A and B and Presets
Measure bar
The Equipment bar at the foot of the board: the More button, cone, marker, pole, mannequin, hurdle, ring, ladder, ball, mini goal, goal, coach, assistant coach, text, four bibs, take the bib off and clear equipment

#Views: your screen layouts in one press

Press the Views button (the small window icon at the foot of the sidebar) to switch the whole screen at once:

  • Sidebar: every tool inside the sidebar, the board clear.
  • Drawing: the sidebar as icons, Equipment and Draw at the foot.
  • Squad: Players at the left, Opponents at the right, Equipment at the foot.
  • Animation: the animation strip open and Draw at the foot.
  • Clean: just the board and the icons.

Like your own layout? Type a name and press Save. A view keeps where the cards stand, the sidebar, 2D or 3D and the animation strip. It does not change the drill.

The Views window: Sidebar, Drawing, Squad, Animation and Clean, and a box to save the current screen under a name

#The status strip

The thin strip at the very foot of the sidebar shows the pitch size, how many players are on it and how many steps the drill has. At the right a dot tells you whether the drill is Saved (green), Not saved since its last change (amber) or the board is empty.

The strip at the foot of the sidebar: 105 by 68 metres, 12 players, and a yellow dot with Not saved

#Everything 10% smaller

On a small laptop or a tablet, press Everything 10% smaller (the last small button of the sidebar, also in Settings > App > Size). All panels shrink so the pitch gets more space. Press it again to go back.

Library

114 ready drills, favourites, your own drills and sessions by match day.

#Browse the drill library

Press Library at the top of the sidebar. A big window opens with 114 drills: rondos, possession, small-sided games, pressing and transition, finishing and crossing, build-up, defending and duels, warm-ups, conditioning, goalkeepers and set pieces.

  • Search by words, for example rondo, 4 v 4 or pressing.
  • Filter by kind, number of players, intensity, time and more in the column on the left.
  • Switch between Cards and List, and make the cards bigger or smaller with the slider.
  • On each drill: Board puts it on the pitch, Session adds it to the Session Builder, Details shows the aim, set-up, rules, coaching points and progressions.
The Library window: filters on the left, drill cards with pictures in the middle, and the Session Builder on the right

#Drill details and the list view

In List view the drill you pick is shown large beside the list, with its players, area, minutes, intensity, aim, set-up, rules and coaching points. Press Put on the board to use it. Every library drill is placed at real size and stays fully editable: move anything, add steps, change the colours.

The Library in List view: drills in rows on the left and the picked drill shown large with its players, area, time, intensity, aim, set-up and rules

#Favourites and My drills

Press the star on any drill to add it to Favourites. My drills holds the drills you saved yourself. Both are in the Kind filter on the left of the Library, and both follow you to your other devices when you are signed in.

#Sessions by match day

The Sessions by match day tab offers a ready session for each day of the week around the game (strength, endurance, speed, activation and recovery). Press Make this session and TacticsPlay fills it with fitting drills from the library.

The Sessions by match day tab: recipes for strength day, endurance day, speed day, activation and set pieces, and recovery, each with Make this session

#The Session Builder

At the right of the Library the Session Builder collects the drills of today's session. Drag them by their grip to change the order, rename the session with the pencil, and read the total duration, the most players and the area used. Add drill from library, View & print and Download PDF are at its foot. Open takes you to the full Session page.

The Library with the Session Builder on the right: the training session with its drills, total duration, players, area, main focus, View and print, and Download PDF

AI drills

Describe, say or sketch a drill and the AI places it on the pitch.

#Make a drill from words

  1. Press AI drill in the sidebar, or tap the Space bar.
  2. Describe the drill: the size of the area, the players, the equipment and what they do. For example: Rondo 5 v 2 in a 12 x 12 square with cones, two touches, defenders in red bibs.
  3. Press Enter or Go.

The AI places the drill on the pitch as ordinary pieces: players, keepers, bibs, cones, goals and areas at real size. Everything can be moved and changed by hand, and one Undo takes the whole drill away again.

Tip Press the Up arrow in the empty box to bring back your last request and change it.

The AI box in the middle of the screen with a request typed in, the picture and microphone buttons, the Go button and the line Uses 1 token, 7 of 10 trial tokens left

#Say it with your voice

Press the microphone in the AI box, say the drill, and press it again. Your words appear in the box; press Enter to make the drill. The first time, your browser asks to use the microphone: allow it.

The microphone works only on a secure page (the app at its https address) and in a browser that allows speech input.

#Make a drill from a sketch or a photo

Drew the drill on paper or a whiteboard? Press the picture button in the AI box and choose a photo of your sketch (or any picture of a drill). Add a few words if you like, then press Enter. Remove takes the picture away again. Use a clear JPG or PNG; a very large picture may be too much for one request.

#Your AI history

Press History in the AI box to see your recent requests under it, each with a small picture of the drill. Click the words to ask again, or press Place to put that same drill back on the board without asking the AI again.

The AI box with the History open under it, listing two recent requests with a small pitch for each and how long ago

#My style: how you always set up drills

Press My style and write how you always work, for example: Supports always in yellow. Flat blue markers, never tall cones. The coach on the near touchline with 10 balls. Keepers in pink. The AI follows it in every drill it makes for you.

The AI box with the My style box open, where the coach writes how he always sets up drills

#AI tokens: how they work

  • 1 AI drill = 1 token. A drill that fails costs nothing.
  • The 7-day free trial includes 10 tokens in all.
  • The Coach plan brings 10 tokens every month. Unused monthly tokens do not carry over.
  • Need more? Extra packs of 60, 165 or 720 tokens can be bought only while a Coach plan is active. They never expire and are used after your monthly 10.
  • The line under the AI box always says how many tokens you have left.

See Extra AI tokens for the prices.

Players

Formations, the squad, names, photos, bibs and how players look.

#Placing players

Open Players. The list shows the players of your team who are not on the pitch yet.

  • Drag a player from the list onto the pitch, or click him and then click the pitch.
  • To take a player off, drag him off the pitch, or pick him and press Delete.
  • The list shows eleven players first; Show 11 more shows the rest of the squad.

Tip Players are drawn at real size (about 0.8 m across). On a full pitch make them bigger in Player look.

The Players section of the sidebar: the formation menu, the one-half and put-on-pitch buttons, and the list of available players

#Formations

Pick a formation in the menu of the Players section (4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2, 4-1-4-1, 3-5-2, 3-4-3, 5-3-2 and small-sided shapes such as 3-2-3, 3-3-2, 2-3-1 and 3-2-1) and press the blue button. The team takes its places; players already on the pitch walk to theirs.

  • The one half button pushes the team up into the other half, for an attack against a defence.
  • Save formation keeps where your team stands now as a formation of your own, with a name. Remove one of yours with its ×.
Both teams placed on a full pitch in a 4-3-3, my team in blue and the opponents in white

#Your squad: names, numbers, positions and photos

Press Edit on the Players section (or open Settings > Squad). For each player you can set the number, the position (GK, RB, CB, LB, DM, CM, AM, LW, RW, ST), the name and a photo.

  • Paste a list of players: number, name and position on each line, in any order. Add them to the team, or replace it.
  • Fill this team gives two goalkeepers and twenty players numbered 1 to 22. Add player adds one more.
  • Type the team name and add the team logo.
  • Pick the team colour and the goalkeepers' colour from the dots, or any colour with +.
  • Remove all players empties the squad (Undo brings it back).

Add a photo with the camera button on a row. The photo editor lets you zoom and centre the face before you save.

Settings, Squad: paste a list of players, Add player, Fill this team, the team name, the team and goalkeeper colours, and rows of number, position and name for 22 players

#A picked player: number, name, photo and size

Click a player on the pitch. A bar appears at the top of the board where you can change his number, type his name, add a photo, switch the names of all players on or off, change the size and his colour.

Player 4 picked on the pitch, with his red delete button and duplicate button
A picked player shows a red × to delete him and a button to duplicate him.
The bar of a picked player: his number, a name box, the photo button, the Names switch, his place on the pitch, size, and the colour dots

#Bibs

The four bibs (orange, yellow, blue, green) sit in the Equipment tools. Drag a bib onto a player, or press a bib and then click the players who wear it. The bib with a cross takes a bib off. Take all bibs off in the Players section clears every bib in both teams.

Tip Want another bib colour? Press a bib, then a colour dot (or + for any colour): the bib becomes that colour, and so does everyone wearing it.

Players wearing orange and yellow bibs in a rondo

#How the players look

Open Settings > Player look:

  • Size of all the players, with ready sizes for the space you use: Real 0.8 m, Small area 1.2 m, Medium 1.6 m, Half pitch 2.0 m and Full pitch 2.6 m (up to 3.2 m).
  • The look: magnets (Magnet, Flat, Shirt, Ring, Soft, Sash, Stripes, Dome, Bevel, Emboss, Jewel, Metal, Matte), two spheres (Shiny and Soft) and cards that show the name (Magnet, Keycap, Soft, Dark, Number + name, Puck and Glass card).
  • Number style: Russo One, Open Sans, College block, Lined, Solid block, Outlined block, Brush, Rounded, Italic speed and Track lines.
  • Numbers, Names and Shadows on the players, on or off.

The preview at the right shows the result before you leave.

Settings, Player look: the size slider with marks for Real, Small area, Medium, Half pitch and Full pitch, fifteen marker looks, seven card looks, ten number styles, a preview, and Numbers, Names and Shadows switches

Opponents

The other team: their colours, names and formation.

#Opponents

Open Opponents. It works like Players: drag players onto the pitch, or pick a formation and press the blue button. The one-half button puts them in one half only.

You can keep several opponent teams: press the team at the top of the section to switch to another, or + to add a new one. Press Edit (or Settings > Opponents) to set their name, logo, colours, numbers and names, just as for your squad.

The Opponents card standing at the right of the board
Opponents as a card at the right
The Opponents section: the opponent team badge, the formation menu and the list of available opponents

Equipment

Every piece of kit at real size, the stopwatch and text.

#Place equipment

  1. Open Equipment.
  2. Press a piece: cone, marker, pole, mannequin, hurdle, ring, ladder, ball, mini goal, goal, coach, assistant coach or text.
  3. Click the pitch where it goes. Click again to place another one. Or drag the piece straight onto the pitch.

Press the pointer (or Esc) when you are done. Press More (the three dots) for the rest of the kit.

The Equipment section of the sidebar: More, the pieces, the bibs and clear
Equipment in the sidebar
More equipment: pop-up mini goal, rebounder, tall cone, numbered cone, corner flag, flat marker line, hurdle poles, speed sledge, medicine ball, training band, gym mat, football tennis net, tactics board, water station and stopwatch
More equipment
Equipment on the pitch at real size: cones, a marker, a pole, a mannequin, a mini goal, a hurdle, a ladder, a ring and a ball

#Every piece, at real size

All equipment is drawn at its real size, so the drill on the screen is the drill on the grass.

Main barSizeMoreSize
Cone0.23 mPop-up mini goal1.2 m
Marker0.2 mRebounder1 m
Pole1.7 m tallTall cone0.3 m
Mannequin1.8 m tallNumbered cone0.25 m
Hurdle0.46 mCorner flag0.5 m
Ring0.45 mFlat marker line1 m
Ladder4.5 x 0.5 mHurdle poles1.2 m
Ball0.22 mSpeed sledge0.8 m
Mini goal2 x 1 mMedicine ball0.3 m
Goal7.32 x 2.44 mTraining band0.8 m
CoachGym mat1.8 m
Assistant coachFootball tennis net3 m
TextTactics board0.9 m
Water station0.6 m
Stopwatch6.5 m

Tip Want to see everything at once? Settings > Board > Test board lays out every piece, line and player in rows (it clears the board first, Undo brings it back).

The test board: every piece of equipment, every kind of line and area and every kind of player, in labelled rows on a full pitch

#Size, turn and colour

Click a piece to pick it. The bar at the top lets you make it smaller or bigger, change all pieces of that kind at once (All), Rotate it 45 degrees and pick its colour.

  • + and -: bigger and smaller.
  • R: turn 45 degrees.
  • D: duplicate.
  • Arrow keys: move it 0.5 m (Shift for 0.1 m).
  • Delete: remove it.

Equipment stands still in the animation: a cone moved in one step moves in all of them, and it never slides while the steps play.

The bar of a picked mannequin: its place, the size in percent, All mannequins, Rotate, and the colour dots

#The stopwatch

The stopwatch is in Equipment > More. Put it on the pitch and it works: tap it to start, tap again to pause, double-tap to set it back to zero. It counts minutes, seconds and tenths. A picture or a video shows the time it has at that moment. Its time is not saved with the drill.

A stopwatch on the pitch showing 00:00.7

#Text on the pitch

Press Text (the T) and click the pitch, then type. Click the text later to change the words or their style in the bar: bigger or smaller words, bold, italic, left, middle or right, and a dark or light box behind the words.

  • Ctrl + Shift + > and Ctrl + Shift + <: bigger and smaller words while typing.
  • Ctrl + Enter: finish typing.
The bar of a picked text: size, bold, italic, alignment and a box behind the words
The bar of a picked text
The words Two touches written on the pitch inside a text box

#Clear the equipment

The brush at the end of the Equipment tools takes every piece of equipment off the board; the players stay. Press it twice to be sure. Undo brings everything back.

Draw

Passes, runs, dribbles and plain lines, straight or freehand, and bent lines.

#Draw passes, runs and dribbles

  1. Open Draw.
  2. Pick Straight (from where you press to where you let go) or Freehand (the line follows your hand).
  3. Pick a pen: solid arrow (pass), dashed arrow (run), wavy arrow (dribble), or a solid, dashed or dotted line.
  4. Drag on the grass.

Start the line a little away from a player: a drag that starts on a player moves the player.

Lines come in six colours: yellow, white, red, blue, black and orange. A pen or colour you pick also changes the line that is picked.

The Draw section: Straight and Freehand and the six pens
Draw in the sidebar
The six pens drawn on the pitch: solid arrow, dashed arrow, wavy arrow, solid line, dashed line and dotted line

#Bend a line

Click a line to pick it. Drag its middle dot to bend it into a curve; drag the end dots to move its ends. The bar at the top changes how thick it is, solid or dashed, and its colour. Straighten makes it straight again. Delete (or the red ×) removes it.

The bar of a picked line: colour, thickness, solid or dashed, Straighten and Delete
The bar of a picked line
A picked line bent into a curve by its middle dot, with its two end dots and the red delete button

Ground and zones

Painted lines, areas, shapes, fills and zones over the pitch.

#Paint lines and areas

  1. Open Ground.
  2. Press Line or Area and drag on the pitch, or drag the button straight onto the pitch.
  3. Or press a ready shape: square, rectangle, triangle, diamond, hexagon or octagon.

Pull the dots to change the size. The size can be written on lines and areas. Lines can also be tape, with its length.

The Ground section: line, area, the ready shapes and clear
Ground in the sidebar
A blue area with diagonal stripes and a white line with its length, 9.0 m, painted on the grass

#Size, fill and colour of an area

Click an area to pick it. In its bar you can type the exact width and height in metres (the area in m² is shown), choose a fill (solid, diagonal stripes, hexagons, cross-hatch, lanes or outline only), set the opacity, pick the colour, Duplicate or Delete it.

For a picked line you can type its length and angle. Hold Shift while dragging an end to turn it in steps of 15 degrees.

The bar of a picked area: its name, width and height in metres, the area in square metres, six fills, the opacity slider, Duplicate, Delete and the colour dots

#Zones over the pitch

Open View and pick the Zones: off, thirds, lanes, 18 zones, thirds and lanes, or halves. You can also number the zones, shade the half-spaces and set how strong the zone lines are.

The View section of the sidebar with 2D and 3D, zoom, the view controls, Space and the six Zones buttons
The zone buttons in View
A full pitch with thirds and lanes drawn as thin dashed lines

#A drawn space suggests drills

Draw a rectangle area and TacticsPlay suggests drills that fit its size, with the players and the space each player gets. Pick one and press Build it: players, bibs, cones and a ball are set up at real size. One Undo takes it away.

The 20 by 15 metre space after Build it: four orange players at the corners, two blue players in the middle and cones at the corners
After Build it

When players already stand in a space, Save this as my pattern keeps them as a pattern of your own; a space of that size will offer it first next time.

The card for a 20 by 15 metre space: This space fits Hunting in pairs 4 v 2, 2 v 2 press and cover, Y passing pattern and Wall pass and run, with Build it and Not now

Measure

Distances, areas per player, ready-made sizes and the space of each player.

#Measure a distance

Open Measure, choose the line and drag on the pitch from A to B. The distance shows on the line and in the panel. Drag A or B to change it, or type the distance. Cones on A and B puts a cone on each end.

The Measure section: line, rectangle, Cones on A and B, Presets and the distance
Measure in the sidebar
A measuring line from A to B across the pitch reading 16.5 metres

#Measure an area and the space per player

Choose the rectangle and drag on the pitch, or type the size, for example 40x30. Type how many players play in it (without goalkeepers) and you get the area per player.

The Measure section with the rectangle picked, Players 8, and the size 16.5 by 0.0 metres
The Measure section
A 30 by 20 metre rectangle on the pitch: 600 square metres, 8 players, 75 square metres per player

#Ready-made distances and areas

Press Presets in Measure for ready sizes:

  • Distances: 5 m, 9.15 m (wall), 10 m, 11 m (penalty), 15 m, 16.5 m (box), 20 m (beep / Yo-Yo), 30 m and 40 m (30-15 IFT).
  • Jump a point to the centre, the penalty marks, the corners and the corners of the boxes.
  • Areas on the pitch lines (penalty area, double penalty area, half pitch, between the areas), areas by match load for adults with keepers, possession and youth (they use your number of players), research pitches for 5 v 5, official formats (FA, DFB, futsal) and a rondo.
The Presets window: set the distance to 5 m, 9.15 m wall, 10 m, 11 m penalty, 15 m, 16.5 m box, 20 m beep or Yo-Yo, 30 m and 40 m 30-15 IFT

#Space: the area each player owns

Press Space in the View card. Every spot of the pitch is given to the nearest player; each player's area is drawn in his colour with its square metres, and a small card gives each team's share of the pitch in percent. It updates while you drag and while the steps play, in 2D and 3D. It is also in the animation strip.

Space switched on: the pitch split into the area nearest to each player, with square metres written on them

Pitch and view

The true-to-scale pitch, pitch sizes, 2D and 3D, zoom and turning.

#A pitch at true scale

Everything in TacticsPlay is in metres: the pitch, its markings, the players and every piece of kit. In 2D, from straight above, every distance you see is true. Where the pointer is on the pitch is shown in metres in the small box at the foot of the board, with the pitch size.

#Change the pitch size

Open Settings > Pitch and type the length (90 to 120 m) and width (45 to 90 m), or pick a ready size. The size is kept with the drill. You can also show the dimension labels on the pitch, and read the true sizes of every marking in the reference table.

Settings, Pitch: length 105 and width 68 metres, ready sizes 105 by 68 and 106 by 68, dimension labels and a reference table of the pitch markings

#2D, 3D, zoom and turning

  • 2D is from straight above; 3D leans the pitch back, as seen from the stand.
  • Zoom with − and + or the mouse wheel, or type the zoom in percent (100 to 600). Zoomed in, drag the grass to move around.
  • Turn the pitch a quarter, or use the arrows to lean it more or less and turn it left or right. Reset puts the view back.
  • Ready views: the whole pitch, the left or right half, the left or right penalty area and the centre circle.

Press V to show or put away the View card. The view angle and turn are also in Settings > Board > Camera.

The View section of the sidebar: 2D and 3D, zoom, turning, ready views and Space
View in the sidebar
The View card: 2D and 3D, zoom, whole pitch, turn a quarter, reset, the lean and turn arrows, six ready views of parts of the pitch, and Space

#The 3D view

In 3D the players stand up as discs, poles and mannequins rise from the grass and the ball can fly above it. Everything still works in 3D: drag, draw and animate as usual.

The pitch leaning back in 3D, as seen from the stand, with the rondo in the centre circle

#Grid and snapping

In Settings > Board you can show a 5 m grid, let pieces snap to the pitch markings or the grid and set how strongly.

Settings, Board: the 5 metre grid, measuring line, View card, the ball look and how it moves, snapping to pitch markings and the grid with its sensitivity, camera view angle and turn, and the test board

Selecting and editing

Pick one or many, line up, copy, paste and undo.

#Pick, move and remove

  • Drag anything to move it. Click it to pick it and show its bar.
  • Drag anything off the pitch to remove it, or pick it and press Delete.
  • Alt + click picks the one underneath when pieces overlap.
  • Press the pointer or Esc to let go of a tool and of what is picked.
A picked player with his delete and duplicate buttons

#Pick several and line them up

Drag a box on the grass with the right mouse button, Shift + click one piece after another, or press Ctrl + A for everything. The bar then lets you:

  • Line up left, centre, right, top, middle or bottom, and space them out evenly.
  • Make every piece of equipment a step smaller or bigger, Rotate them, take Bibs off.
  • Duplicate, Delete or Clear the pick.
  • Pick a player and the ball together and choose Dribble or Pass for the animation.
Every player and cone of the rondo picked together, each with a blue glow
Everything picked with Ctrl + A
The bar of a group: 17 selected, align buttons, Bibs off, Duplicate, Delete and Clear, and the colour dots

#Copy and paste

Ctrl + C copies what is picked: one piece, a line, an area or a group. Ctrl + V puts a copy 2 m beside it and picks it, so the next paste goes 2 m further. On a Mac use Cmd. D duplicates a picked piece straight away.

#Undo and redo

Ctrl + Z undoes the last change and Ctrl + Y (or Ctrl + Shift + Z) does it again. Undo takes back every change: moves, lines, areas, the squad, the steps of the animation and a whole drill placed by the AI or the library. The undo and redo arrows are also in the small bar at the foot of the board.

Animation

Steps, play, curved runs, passes, dribbles, the ball in the air and the path.

#Steps and the animation strip

  1. Press Animation in the sidebar. The animation strip opens under the board with step 1.
  2. Press + to add a step. It starts as a copy of the step before.
  3. Move the players and the ball to where they are in this step.
  4. Add more steps the same way, then press Play (the TacticsPlay mark).

Click a step in the strip to go to it; hover over a step to see it large. The speed buttons play at 0.3×, 0.5×, 1×, 1.5×, 2× or 3×. The bin deletes the step you are on.

The animation strip: play, back to the first step, step 2 of 3, three step pictures, add a step, the speeds 0.3 to 3 times, and the path, playback, distance, space and delete buttons

#Curved runs

In a step, pick a player: a faint line shows his run from where he was in the step before, with a small dot in the middle. Drag the dot to bend the run. New dots appear either side, so you can bend it again in another place (up to 8 points). Double-click a point to take it away. An arrow you draw for him in that step is followed first.

Player 6 picked in a step: his faint run from where he was, with a small dot in its middle to bend it, and the distance 4 m

#Passes, the ball in the air and bent balls

  • Move the ball to another player in a step and it is passed to him when the steps play. The ball is quicker than a runner and arrives together with a player who runs onto it.
  • The ball's faint line has a dot: drag it to bend the pass. Double-click it to make it straight.
  • Over the dot sits a small arrow: drag it up and the pass goes in the air, its height written beside it (up to 15 m). Drag it back down, or double-click it, and it is on the grass again. In 3D the line becomes the arc of the ball with its shadow.
  • Dribble or pass: pick a player and the ball together. Choose Dribble and the ball goes with him along his run; choose Pass and it goes its own way.
The ball's faint line from player 2 to player 10, with a dot in its middle to bend it and a small arrow to lift it into the air

#The whole path of a player

Pick a player and press P (or the path button in the strip) to see his whole path through every step. Press it again to hide it.

The path of a player shown through all the steps of the drill

#Playback options

  • Time for each step: 0.6, 1, 1.5, 2 or 3 seconds.
  • Play again and again (loop).
  • Stop for a moment at each step.
  • Show where things were: faint copies of the step before.
Playback: time for each step 1.5 seconds, Play again and again, Stop for a moment at each step, Show where things were

#How far each player runs

The Distance button in the strip shows how far each player runs through all the steps, and the total. The Space button shows the area each player owns, step by step.

Present

The board alone, for the big screen.

#Present mode

Press Present at the foot of the sidebar. The board fills the screen with the name of the drill, its coaching points and the play controls: perfect for the screen in the meeting room or a TV in the dressing room.

  • → next step, ← the step before.
  • Space play or pause.
  • Esc back to the drill.
Present mode: the drill name at the top, the pitch leaning in 3D with the drill, the coaching points in a box and the play controls

Session and printing

Save drills, build the session, minutes, load, kit and printing.

#Save a drill

  1. Press Save drill.
  2. A red frame shows the picture of the drill. Drag it or a corner to frame it, or press Fit to the drill or Whole pitch.
  3. Press Save drill (or Enter).

The drill is kept on the clipboard with its picture, its steps, the figures, the kit and the coaching points.

  • Arrow keys move the frame (with Shift 5 times further), + and - make it bigger or smaller.
  • New drill (+) keeps the board on the clipboard and empties it for the next drill. Your squad stays.
The red frame of the drill's picture over the pitch, with Fit to the drill, Whole pitch, Cancel and Save drill

#The drill clipboard

Press the Clipboard button at the foot of the sidebar to see the drills you saved. Press a drill to open it on the board; the tick takes it into the session; the bin deletes it. Make a session builds the session from the ticked drills.

The drill clipboard: one drill, 4 v 4 + 4 outside, 12 minutes, 12 players, intensity 4 of 5, on the board now, with Make a session, Open file and New drill

#The session page

Press Session at the foot of the sidebar. On the left fill in the session details: title, team, date, day of the week, match day (MD-4 to MD+1), start time, players, focus and coach. The duration is added up from the drills.

  • Each drill shows its picture, minutes, intensity (1 to 5), players, kit and coaching points. The first 5 lines of points go on the printed sheet.
  • Change the order of the drills, open one on the board, or leave it out.
  • The load of each drill is minutes × intensity, added up for the whole session, with the average intensity.
  • Kit to bring adds up the kit of all drills.
The Session page: session details on the left (title, team, date, day, match day, start, players, duration, focus, coach, kit to bring) and the drills with their pictures, minutes, intensity, load and coaching points

#Kit to bring and coaching points

The What to bring button shows the kit of the drill on the board (cones, balls, bibs and the rest) and its coaching points, one point on each line. The points also show in Present.

The Kit to bring window: 5 items, 12 players, 4 cones and 1 ball, and the coaching points of the drill

#Print the session or save it as a PDF

On the Session page press Print to print the session on A4, two drills side by side with their pictures, minutes, players, kit and points, and the kit to bring. Or choose Download PDF (in the Session Builder of the Library) to save it straight to a PDF file, with sharp text you can search.

Saving, files and export

Pictures, videos, phone formats, PDF and drill files.

#Export and share

Press Export at the foot of the sidebar. The window has four tabs. On Quick you just say where it is going and TacticsPlay makes the right thing:

  • A story: Instagram, TikTok, Reels, upright 9 : 16.
  • A post: Instagram feed, upright 4 : 5.
  • To the players: WhatsApp, wide and a small file.
  • Projector or TV: wide, Full HD.
  • Print: a sharp 4K picture.
  • Keep as a file: the drill or session as a file that opens in TacticsPlay.

Then a red frame shows what goes in the picture: drag it or its corners and press Enter.

The Export and Share window on the Quick tab: where is it going? A story, A post, To the players, Projector or TV, Print, Keep as a file, and Drill name and logo on it

#Pictures and videos

  • PNG: sharp, for sharing and print. JPG: for places that do not take a PNG. Picture 4K: 3840 wide, the sharpest.
  • Video of the steps (MP4): needs a drill with at least two steps. Choose 30, 60 or 120 frames a second and 1080p (Full HD) or 4K. 4K is a bigger file and slower to make.
  • Tick Drill name and logo on it to add them.
The Picture and video tab: PNG, JPG, Picture 4K, frames a second 30, 60 or 120, 1080p HD and 4K Ultra HD videos, and Drill name and logo on it

#For phones: 9 : 16 and 4 : 5

On the Phone tab choose Story 9 : 16 or Feed 4 : 5, then a 4K picture (PNG), a 4K video or a quicker 1080 video (MP4). The pitch is stood up for you, with your goal at the foot, and turned back afterwards.

The Phone tab: shape Story 9:16 or Feed 4:5, Drill name and logo on it, Picture 4K PNG, Video 4K and Video 1080

#Drill and session files

On the Files tab save the drill as a file (with every step and note) or the whole session (all the drills on the clipboard with the session details). Send the file to another coach or keep it as a copy; it opens in TacticsPlay.

To open a file, press Open a file (also on the clipboard), or simply drop the file on the board.

The Files tab: Drill file, Session file, and Open a file

#What about GIFs?

The app makes MP4 videos, PNG and JPG pictures, PDF sessions and drill files. MP4 plays everywhere a GIF would (WhatsApp, Instagram, slides) and is much sharper.

Settings and colours

The Settings window and the five colour sets.

#The Settings window

Press Settings in the sidebar. The window has six pages:

  • Squad: names, numbers, photos and colours of your team.
  • Opponents: their colours and names.
  • Player look: size, look and numbers.
  • Pitch: size, grass, lines and zones.
  • Board: grid, snapping, the ball, the camera and the test board.
  • App: colours, cloud, size, help and about.

Close it with the × or Esc.

Settings, App: the cloud, the five colour sets, Everything 10 percent smaller, the size of the step pictures, Help and About

#Colour sets

In Settings > App > Colours pick the look of the panels: Graphite (dark, the default), Navy, Light, Ioakim (the IOAKIM.TRAINING colours) or Grass. The pitch stays green in every set.

TacticsPlay in the Graphite colour set
Graphite
TacticsPlay in the Light colour set
Light
TacticsPlay in the Ioakim colour set
Ioakim
TacticsPlay in the Grass colour set
Grass
TacticsPlay in the Navy colour set: navy panels around the green pitch

#The ball: look and roll

In Settings > Board > Ball choose the ball: Classic, Match, Hi-vis, Seams or Winter. And how it moves: Still, Spin, Roll (the default: it turns over the way it goes, quick on a pass, slow on a dribble) or Roll + pace (a short streak behind a hard pass, and a dribble done in touches).

Players hop over hurdles on their way when the steps play.

Account, plans and tokens

Your account, the Coach plan, the free trial and AI tokens.

#Your account in the app

Press your name at the foot of the sidebar. The small window shows your plan, your AI tokens this month and your extra tokens.

  • Type your name at the top; press the picture to change your photo (with no photo you are a figure made of dots).
  • Choose a plan and Add tokens open the plan and token windows.
  • Your account opens the account page on the web.
  • Sign out.
The account at the foot of the sidebar: Coach Alex, his email and the chip Trial, 6 days left
Your name, email and plan at the foot of the sidebar
The account window: Coach Alex, his email, Plan free trial 6 days left, AI tokens 7 of 10, Extra tokens none, Choose a plan, Your account, Change photo, Sign out

#Plans and pricing

PlanPriceWhat you get
Free trial€0 for 7 daysThe whole app and 10 AI tokens. No card. Ends on its own, nothing is charged.
Coach, monthly€9.99 + VAT a monthEverything, 10 AI tokens every month, can buy extra tokens. Stop any time.
Coach, yearly€99 + VAT a yearEverything in monthly, 2 months free, 120 AI tokens a year (10 a month).

The final price with VAT for your country is shown before you pay.

Payments open soon. Until then the buttons say so. Write to hello@tacticsplay.com if you want to be told first.

The Coach plan window: Monthly or Yearly, EUR 9.99 plus VAT a month, 10 AI tokens every month, your drills sessions and squad in your account, and Continue

#Extra AI tokens

PackPrice
60 tokens€19.90 + VAT
165 tokens€49.90 + VAT+10% extra
720 tokens€199 + VAT+20% extra

Packs are paid once, never expire and are used after your monthly 10. You need an active Coach plan to buy them.

The Extra AI tokens window: 60 tokens EUR 19.90, 165 tokens EUR 49.90 (+10 percent), 720 tokens EUR 199 (+20 percent), and a note that an active Coach plan is needed

#The account page on the web

At tacticsplay.com/account sign in with the same email and password as the app. There you can:

  • See and change your plan, and your AI tokens with the extra packs.
  • Payments: card, billing details for companies (VAT number), receipts and discount codes (opening soon).
  • You and your team: your name, photo, club, role, age group, level and country, and change your password.
  • Your work: how many drills, sessions and players you have, Download everything, or delete your account.
  • Rewards and Emails and help.

Open your account

Cloud and devices

Sync between computer and tablet, offline work, iPad and touch.

#Your work on every device

When you are signed in, your work is kept in your account and follows you to every device you sign in to: the drills on your clipboard and their pictures, the squad, the opponents, the bibs, your formations and patterns, your favourites, the session and the board as it stands, your name and photo.

  • Settings of a screen (card places, sizes, colours of the panels) stay on each device.
  • The newest copy of each thing wins. The first time a device joins, anything it had that the cloud also had is kept aside on the device, never lost.
  • When you change something on another device you see New from your other device · Reload.
  • Signed out, your work stays on this computer only.

#Working without internet

Lost the connection while the app is open? Keep working. Your changes wait on this device (the app says No internet: your work waits on this device) and go to your account when the internet is back. The AI needs the internet, and so does signing in.

#iPad and touch

  • Open the app in Safari or Chrome on your iPad or tablet. A screen of tablet size or larger gives the best picture; phones are fine for viewing.
  • One finger works as the mouse: tap to pick, drag to move or draw.
  • Two fingers zoom and move the board.
  • Use the Drawing or Clean view and Everything 10% smaller for more pitch.
  • Your drills arrive from your computer when you sign in with the same account.
TacticsPlay on a tablet-sized screen with the sidebar folded to icons and the Draw and Equipment bars at the foot

Keyboard shortcuts

Every key and mouse trick on one page.

#Keyboard shortcuts

KeyWhat it does
Ctrl + ZUndo
Ctrl + Y or Ctrl + Shift + ZRedo
Ctrl + C / Ctrl + VCopy and paste (2 m beside)
Ctrl + APick everything
Delete or BackspaceRemove what is picked
DDuplicate what is picked
RTurn 45 degrees
+ / -Bigger / smaller (equipment)
Arrow keysMove the picked piece 0.5 m (Shift 0.1 m)
EscLet go, close a window, leave Present or Session
Space (tap)Open the AI box
Space (hold) + dragMove a zoomed board
VShow or put away the View card
PWhole path of the picked player
Ctrl + Shift + > / <Bigger / smaller words in a text
EnterMake the AI drill; save the frame of a picture

In Present

→ / ←Next step / step before
SpacePlay or pause
EscBack to the drill

With the mouse

DragMove anything
Drag off the pitchRemove it
Right button drag, or Shift + clickPick several
Alt + clickPick the one underneath
WheelZoom
Middle button dragMove a zoomed board
Double-click a bend dotMake the line or run straight again

On a Mac use Cmd instead of Ctrl.

Troubleshooting

Sign-in problems, videos, the microphone and saving.

#I cannot sign in

  • That email and password do not match an account: check the email, or use Forgot your password?
  • Press the link in the email we sent you first: open the email from TacticsPlay and press its link, then sign in. Look in your spam folder too.
  • That email link has expired or was used already: sign in, or ask for a new link.
  • Too many emails in a short time: wait an hour and try again.
  • There is already an account with that email: use Sign in instead of Create account.

#The video is slow, uneven or will not make 4K

TacticsPlay makes videos with the video maker built into your browser. Use a recent Chrome, Edge or Safari and open the app at its normal https address. If the browser keeps its video maker back (an old browser, or an address that is not secure), the Export window says Slow way only: the film is then recorded in real time, may be uneven, and 4K is not worth making.

  • A video needs a drill with at least two steps.
  • Keep the tab in front while the video is made.
  • 1080p is quicker and smaller than 4K.

#The microphone does not work

Allow the microphone when the browser asks (or in the site settings of your browser), and use the app at its https address. If your browser cannot turn speech into words, type the drill instead.

#The AI drill did not work

  • Sign in to make AI drills or Choose a plan: the AI needs an account with a trial or a Coach plan.
  • No AI tokens left: wait for next month's 10, or add an extra pack (with a Coach plan).
  • The AI did not answer or Something went wrong: nothing was used, try again.
  • Too many AI drills in one hour: try again a little later.
  • That is too much for one request: use fewer words or a smaller picture.

#My drill or my changes are missing

  • Check that you are signed in with the same account on both devices (your name at the foot of the sidebar).
  • Saw New from your other device · Reload? Press Reload.
  • A private or incognito window forgets everything when it closes, and some browsers block storage there.
  • Remember to press Save drill: the board is kept as it is, but only saved drills go on the clipboard and into sessions.
  • This browser would not keep the photo: the browser storage is full; use a smaller photo.

#The pitch is too small or the cards are in the way

Pick another view (Drawing or Clean), fold the sidebar to icons, send cards back into the sidebar with their ×, or press Everything 10% smaller. Press Show the whole pitch in the View card if you are lost.

Contact and rewards

Questions, ideas and a free month for sharing.

#Share and win a free month

  1. Post a drill made with TacticsPlay on your social media.
  2. Take a screenshot of your post.
  3. Send it to hello@tacticsplay.com with your account email.

We add a free month to your account by hand.