April 25, 2010
Soccer Conditioning : 3 Sure-fire Tips To Basic Conditioning
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 don't want your players to get injured before or during 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. It only needs some good quality planning, and sincerity in its execution. Here are some tips that work fine with short but efficient training programs.
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 tone the muscles up by doing some stretching exercises for 5 minutes. Be sure to include all the major muscle groups in these soccer workouts.
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 about 30 minutes, they do a combination of running, jogging, walking, and sprinting in no set order.
Running like this at different levels helps the players build stamina and exercise control over their body. And they do not feel tired since a walk after a sprint keeps the heart rate normal.
Leave the decision making to the individual players about what to do and when. If they have a liking for sprinting more than jogging, so be it. 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. Concentrate on working out the whole body specially the hamstrings, groins, quads, calves and lower back. Ensure that the stretching postures are longer than the warm-up sessions. Generally, 20 to 30 seconds is a good duration.
Make the players rest a day before the match. This will make the muscles build up strength as well as negate the possibility of injuries. It is also a good time to have a discussion with them and boost their confidence.
Make them laugh a lot so that they start getting positive.
Have faith in me! When you apply this to your sessions, your players shall improve dramatically. If you wish to know more about soccer conditioning, subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community and equip yourself with loads of relevant information.
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.
Filed under Kids and Teens by ama