By Matt Carroll -
A favorite of cross country and soccer programs alike, the interval run demands stamina, sprint speed, communication, and coordination. In addition to being a conditioning exercise, it is often used as a team bonding exercise as teams need to adjust their speed based on time constraints and the condition of the individual players. The run starts with all players in a straight line on one of the sidelines. The coach can set either a time constraint (x number of laps in x amount of time) or distance (x number of laps).
On the coach’s whistle players start in a jog around the outside of the field. The last player in the line must sprint to the front of the line, and when they reach the front they need to signal to the next player in the back to then begin their sprint. The whole time the rest of the players continue their jog.
For the Pass Back Interval run a ball is introduced. The ball starts with the player in the back. Once the jog starts that player with the ball starts sprinting towards the front of the line with the ball. Once they reach the front they should give themselves enough space to then pass the ball back to the player behind them with the sole of their foot. Players continue to pass the ball back with the sole of their feet until it reaches the final player in line who then repeats the motion by sprinting to the front of the line.
By Matt Carroll
