The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between the quality of lesson planning and its successful implementation. A longitudinal study, it was conducted over semester two 2004 to semester one 2006, involving 309 pre-service students in a physical education class. It is also a correlational study in that it attempts to establish if there is nexus between two variables. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS v.17) was used to analyse data in which the Pearson Correlation and Regression Analysis were conducted. It was found that there is a positive relationship between the quality of lesson planning and the quality of delivery. This substantiates the important place lesson planning should have in teacher education, considering it as a crucial area of prospective teachers' professional development. Quality lesson planning will, however, not necessarily mean automatic translation into successful implementation, making it imperative that teacher education provides support to student teachers to make informed transition from a lesson plan to its delivery.