Soccer conditioning is something which has become a hot topic today with almost everyone you chat with. It takes a lot of money to hire certified trainers to further teach the players. The purpose of hiring them is to bring in new energy, latest soccer techniques, and exercises. And it’s done in the anticipation that kids will be better prepared to compete at a higher level.
I have been a part of various soccer fitness sessions where I observed the approach in which they are performed. The players are instructed to take a few rounds of the field.
After some time, they are divided in half and are made to perform a “drill”, where one half is required to dribble along the cones and second half runs in something know as “suicides”.
Normally, this is how the trainers prefer to progress in their training sessions.
At this point, the players run towards a marked area, come back running to the point of start, run back again to another marked area, come back, and so on. The thing that must not go unnoticed here is that half of the players are yet to get in contact with the soccer ball. How silly is that? Just 50% of the players get a chance to contribute wherein the full team should have been employed.
After a few minutes, the two groups of players switch activities. Time and again it has been seen that soccer exercises are not taken very seriously by the soccer coaches. It does not consider any innovation. For example, how ingenious would it be to make the players do the field rounds with soccer balls? Almost all coaches ignore this feature.
Also, the goal keeper could be carrying a ball, throwing it up in the air and rebounding it while he runs. It is now common knowledge that during early days of soccer, the kids should spend maximum time with the ball and if possible, even sleep with it. It helps the kids in gelling with the ball.
And then as time grows, soccer conditioning and fitness training should become priorities.
There is a specific skill to carry out soccer workouts. A few exercises can be simply cardiovascular. You can do this using a predetermined cycle; put your leading foot forward and then use both the feet. Draw out your legs as far as you can, bend down with face towards the floor. Balance the ball towards the back of your neck. If it isn’t hard to do, strike your hands.
Then you can perform a turtle walk with the ball struck between your thighs. Rest flat on your back, put a ball below your back and move your feet so that you are rotating around in a circle.
Another form of exercising is stretching the muscles in your stomach and back. Throw the ball up so that it strikes with your chest. Once you’ve become good at that, catch the ball with your hands or feet, then try to have the ball hit your chest twice.
Take advantage of these tips for great soccer conditioning. Our youth soccer coaching community is a treasure of such useful tips and techniques on youth soccer.
Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Soccer Drills.