April 12, 2010
Kids Soccer Drills: 4 Tips To Warm-up
It’s amazing to see that the value of warming up in kids soccer drills is underestimated. It is obligatory for me as a coach to highlight the fact that warm up sessions before practice is compulsory and helps players begin their day at a brilliant note. This issue is conveniently ignored as unimportant by the coaches in youth soccer drills. The consequences are then faced by the players when they suffer injuries in training.
This article gives you some nice tips on how to get the team warmed up. Teach the kids to include all the body movements that allow all muscles in the body to get worked up. This is the correct method of stirring up all the body parts. Rigorous sessions can result in stiffness and cramping of the muscles.
Tip 1: Have the players jog for about 5-7 minutes initially. It’s advisable to begin with a light jog and then move on to sprinting. Check that the pulse rate in this reaches 120 beats per minute. Yet, the rate should increase gradually. Then make them swing their legs forward cross-body for about 10 times each. Players should then finish by energetically stretching their body greater than 20 yards.
Tip 2: But make sure that this active stretching over 20 yards goes with a few warm up exercises of its own. For example, have your players skip back and forth. Teach the players cross stepping as well. Players must also be trained on high-knee carioca. These must be executed as if sprinting.
Running towards the back also accounts a very efficient warm up drill in soccer drills for kids. Yet, the correct method of doing it is to rise up the heels to the butt. No matter how difficult it may be to practice this but it’s the sole method or performing it accurately.
Tip 3: There are other essential warm up exercises in kids soccer drills that build up the momentum to the actual session. You can direct your players to play with circles and hoops. These give an extra dimension to the skipping exercises. You can also make them cross-over skip. Quick Hip Swings is somewhat difficult to practice but it highly useful and a tried and tested technique to warm up the body.
Subsequently the players can be made to do long shuffle with spins midway. The players should be made to practice moving their legs backward and forward. It’s a very efficient activity and helps in toning the body. In the same way, high leg forwards and backwards is also very effective.
Tip 4: Stretching must be appropriately and effectively performed. The legs benefit the most out of stretch hinge. Ensure that every kid works out hamstring, quadriceps, groin and calf without exceptions. The players not only avoid injuries but also get to increase their muscle range by stretching.
In soccer drills for youth, another important thing to ensure is that kids don’t do too much of anything. They tend to get carried over by enthusiasm and injure themselves unnecessarily.
In kids soccer drills, it’s for you now to make sure that kids do the warm up exercises before practice sessions as you’ve got all the knowledge on this. Our youth soccer coaching community is the place where you’ll many related news and articles. Sign up now to benefit from it.
Andre Botelho is known online as "The Expert Youth Soccer Coach" and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players' skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills.
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