Today I’m going to show an other interesting way to integrate soccer fitness into small sided games and activities. There are many other options shown in the DVD Modern Soccer Conditioning: Fitness with a Technical and Tactical Element.
This is a 7 v 5 game plus keepers on half a field. There are two fill sized goals and one team is working on attacking and the other team is working on defensive shape and counter attacks.
The players start on the field and each of the attackers is assigned a number from 1-7. There are 7 balls on the sidelines.
To start the game player 1 on the attacking team sprints to the sideline gets a ball and dribbles it into play.
All of the players on the field (offensively and defensively have to react accordingly. If the defensive team wins the ball they quickly counter attack and try to score in the opposing goal.
As soon as a ball goes out of play player 2 sprints to get another ball and play resumes. While the player is sprinting for the ball, all other players are moving to appropriate space (the attackers to spread the field and the defenders to provide proper coverage and support).
This game continues non stop until all 7 balls have been used. It’s a quick reaction game because as soon as a ball goes out of play the players must react to the next ball. When all 7 balls have been played, the balls are retrieved and players would switch roles (attacking to defending etc).
To add even more running into this game you could require the player who is retrieving the ball to go get the furthest ball. This will force them to run further and for others to react during this time period.
This is just one example of how to incorporate additional fitness into your training sessions. There are many other options shown in the DVD Modern Soccer Conditioning: Fitness with a Technical and Tactical Element.
Have a great day!
Lawrence
