May 9, 2010
It’s a known fact that a soccer conditioning program provides a strong base for a team’s success. The result of following soccer exercises is strength, agility, and endurance which permit them to be called fit for the game, let alone winning it.
Nevertheless, situations may arise where you or your team don’t get sufficient time to practice before a match. This does not suggest you to cut back on your conditioning exercises. You don’t intend to see your players suffering injuries during or prior to the game.
If you design a good soccer fitness training program, your players can get fully conditioned even in as less as 3 days time. All you need to do is be honest in carrying out the plan based on some good homework. These are some guidelines that lead to short but useful conditioning plans.
Warming up: Tell the players to kick off with any of these; a five minute jog, heel flicks, high knees, or jumping. In the meanwhile, find time to rest to a minute or so. Then do some stretching for another 5 minutes that will tone up the muscles. These soccer workouts must include every important muscle group in it.
Running: Some coaches have the habit of making their players do continuously rounds of running. Though it’s absolutely ok, but in my opinion the players should be made to practice only soccer specific running. This leads to the fact that they do running, jogging, walking, and sprinting in no set order for half an hour.
This running at varying speeds builds stamina and also helps players control their body. And they do not feel exhausted since a walk after a sprint evens things out.
Just let the individual players decide on what they wish to do and when. If they want to do sprinting for a longer time but only limited jogging, even that is fine. As the kids develop more strength and energy, you can increase the length of the soccer conditioning program by 10 minutes.
Stretching: Instruct the players to do it religiously; both before and after the match or a training session. Focus on the whole body but lay emphasis on hamstrings, groins, quads, calves and lower back. Ensure that the stretching positions are of longer durations than the warm-up sessions. Generally, 20 to 30 seconds is a good duration.
Ask the kids to rest completely a day before the match. This will allow the muscles to recover and also prevent the possibility of an injury. It is also a time to discuss the strategy with them along with boosting their confidence.
Share some lighter moments as well so that they get into a great mental shape in addition to the physical one.
Trust me! As soon as you apply these techniques to your training sessions, your players will start benefitting from it. To know more on soccer conditioning, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community and benefit from its immense resources on youth soccer.
Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Drills For Kids.
