Andre Botelho’s Soccer Coaching Blog

We all know that a basic soccer conditioning program is the central point of a team’s success. Without strength, quickness, and stamina, all of which are built as a result of soccer exercises, the players cannot become, and remain fit for a tournament, forget about winning it.

It is a well known fact that kids in their formative years, should be allowed to spend maximum time with the ball, even if it calls for sleeping with it. The idea is that kids should get one with the ball.

Over and over again, it has been observed that soccer coaches tend to take a very moderate view of soccer exercises. It lacks any uniqueness. For example, isn’t it a good idea to use soccer balls if you are so adamant on laps? Sadly, most of the coaches tend to neglect this aspect.

There’s always a technique that is followed to perform soccer conditioning workouts.

Some of the exercises can be light cardio. You can do this in a sequence; using your dominant foot first followed by both feet. Stretch your legs out to the greatest extent that you can, lean down with face down towards the floor. Balance the ball at the back of your neck. If this gets too simple, tap your hands.

Then you can do a turtle walk with the ball between your knees. 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 great exercise is stretching stomach muscles 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.

However, there may be situations when you and your team do not get enough days to train before a match. It does not mean that you must cut down on conditioning exercises. You don’t want your players to get injured before or during the game.

Your players can get fully conditioned even in as less as 3 days time if you focus on designing a good soccer fitness training program. All that is required is seriousness, good plan, and its implementation.

Here are a few tips to work with short but efficient conditioning programs.

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 some stretching for another 5 minutes that will tone up the muscles. Be sure to include all the major muscle groups in these soccer workouts.

Stretching: Encourage the players to do it whenever they can; after a training session and after the match. Concentrate on including the whole body but emphasize on hamstrings, groins, quads, calves and lower back. Keep the stretching positions longer than in the warm-up sessions. Generally, 20 to 30 seconds is a good duration.

Drills for Warm-up and Stretch:

One of the most interesting and effective warm-up drills is “running in formation” . This uses the entire team and is a great way to build teamwork. The players get an opportunity to learn to stay in step with your guidance.

Use the “roll over” drill for helping the players learn balance, agility, and a touch on the ball. This drill is a lot of fun. The players may feel a little awkward at first because it may be difficult to keep the ball moving and going in a straight line. But it will go away with time and practice.

Your soccer conditioning drills should cover just about everything that a soccer player must learn. This is best served by the “Karaoke” drill. It teaches all soccer players to run, handle the ball, and keep their balance along with building cardiac endurance.

Running: Some coaches tend to make their players do nonstop running. While that is not bad, I suggest that you make the players do soccer-specific running. It means that for 20 to 30 minutes, they do a mix of running, jogging, walking, and sprinting in no set order. This running at varying speeds builds stamina and also helps players control their body. Also, they do not get exhausted since a walk after a sprint balances things out.

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.

Most importantly, a day before the match, make the players rest. This will give their muscles sufficient time to recover and also override the possibility of an injury before the big day.

It is also a time to discuss the strategy with them along with enhancing their confidence.

Do not forget to share some lighter moments as well so that they get into a great mental shape as well, in addition to the physical one.

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Yours in soccer,

Andre Botelho

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