You’ve probably heard it a hundred times that a basic soccer conditioning program is at the core of 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. It’s not an imply that you to make changes and curtail your conditioning exercises. You would not want to see your players down with injuries either previous to the match or in the match.
If you design a good soccer fitness training program, your players can get fully conditioned even in as less as 3 days time. It only needs some good quality planning, and sincerity in its execution. There are one or two tips which work well with short but successful training plans.
Warming up: Instruct the players to start with any of the following; a five minute jog, high knees, jumping, or heel flicks. Take adequate rest for a few seconds in between. Then do a few stretching exercises for about 5 minutes to tone up the muscles. These soccer workouts must include every important muscle group in it.
Running: Some coaches have a tendency to make the players do constant running. Although there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s advisable that players strictly do some soccer specific running only. It means that for 20 to 30 minutes, they do a mix of running, jogging, walking, and sprinting in no set order.
Running in this manner enables the players to get strong and control their bodies better. Also, they do not get fatigued since a walk after a sprint balances things out.
Just let the individual players make a decision as to what they want to do and when. If they enjoy doing sprints more than jogging, that is OK. As the players get fitter and their stamina increases, you can increase the duration of your soccer conditioning program by another 5 to 10 minutes.
Stretching: Impress upon the kids to do stretching after the match as well as a training session. Focus on the whole body but lay emphasis on hamstrings, groins, quads, calves and lower back. Keep in mind that the stretching positions should be longer than the warm-up sessions. Normally, 20 to 30 seconds is fine.
Instruct the players to take adequate rest a day before the match. This will make the muscles build up strength as well as negate the possibility of injuries. Also, this is a great time to talk to the players and giving them a high.
Share some lighter moments as well so that they get into a great mental shape in addition to the physical one.
Have faith in 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.