I’m not sure about yours but it’s my belief that Soccer conditioning is possible the best method of building and maintaining team’s fitness levels. In relation to soccer fitness, the term conditioning is understood by the inexperienced as a fitness series aimed at improving the player’s physical capacity.
Every serious coach should include group as well as individual training program to give a boost to the performance of the players. There are 5 factors which must be considered upon which conditioning is based; like endurance, strength, speed, and agility. The nitty-gritty of any training program comprise of these factors. Here are quick takes on each of these:
Warm up: It has 3 phases that affect conditioning. First and foremost, it readies the body to take the further tough sessions. Next, it eliminates the possibility of muscle pulls and sprains. Lastly, it helps the players improve their flexibility which is of such paramount importance in soccer.
Strength: It is an undisputed fact that only those players who have a great body and scores of energy win matches for the team. In soccer conditioning, include considerable weight training to aid the players in building muscles and endurance which leads to developing tough players. When players are strong, it significantly affects the speed, balance, shielding, headers, balance and shooting abilities.
Endurance: It allows a player to take charge of the match till it’s completion. If they do not have enough endurance, fatigue will set in and that will spell doom for your team’s prospects. What is so nice about this is that there is no need to create any particular soccer exercises. All aerobic exercises, for example, sprints, forward runs, long passes etc aid in strength building. Make sure that the players concentrate on the exercises and run a lot.
Agility: This goes a long way in helping the players attack as well as defend. If the players are quick, they can really make a difference between good dribbling and a turnover. It also helps in a decisive successful tackle and a penalty kick against the opposing team. Though, as a supplement to dribbling and tackling, working on your quickness also helps with finishing, receiving, shielding and jumping.
Speed: It is vital in soccer but it is a mistake to consider it everything. As they say, it is not the players but the ball that should do the maximum running. However, keep in mind that players who are both quick and fast runners ultimately become the favorites to win matches. So it makes sense to include drills and exercises in soccer workouts that help the players develop their speed.
Have faith and apply these tips to your soccer conditioning program to make your players more confident about winning matches. Our youth soccer coaching community is a pool of several tips and techniques on youth soccer. There are tons of valuable soccer resources in the form of articles, newsletters, and videos to help you become an expert coach. Register for it and gain from these resources.
Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Soccer conditioning.
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