Tag Archives for " conditioning "

8 Technical Work – The Faster the Better

This week's post comes from our Soccer Conditioning Experts at Soccer FIT. This article struck a cord with me because I think that as coaches we are sometimes guilty of the single-minded focus on technique especially for our youngest players. The post makes the point that we are in danger of obsessing over perfect technique to the point that we lose functional speed.

When it comes to “technical work,” can we be TOO technical?

Interesting question…and in my opinion the answer is “YES!” I understand that foot angle & toe placement when touching the ball is extremely important. But as coaches, we must ask ourselves “how much technique is

13 Early Specialization in Youth Soccer – A “Catch 22″

Today’s post is from our Soccer Conditioning Experts at Soccer F.I.T Academy and looks at whether or not having our kids specialize in soccer at an early age is beneficial or harmful.

As a fitness professional, youth club staff member, and soccer dad, I hear ALL sides of the discussions about “early specialization in youth sports across the U.S.” While this trend affects many youth sports, this dilemma as it pertains to the American soccer landscape is the most interesting in my opinion. FACT- The U.S. is behind the rest of the world in technical ability, tactical competency, and situational soccer awareness compared to our competition across the world. FACT – The ONLY way to narrow this gap is for our youth..our children… the future of U.S. Men’s & Women’s Soccer is to play…and play more. FACT – The U.S has highest rate of youth

1 Conditioning With Technical Training

Adding technical training into conditioning is a great way to ‘kill 2 birds with 1 stone”.  This activity will first show you an example of this and then add a second bit of technical work to really challenge the players.

Start with some low hurdles 1 yard apart starting 40 yards from goal.  There is a keeper in goal and the field players are in a line each with a ball.  The server (or a resting field player) is to the side of the hurdle closest to the goal.

The first player in line passes to the server and then goes over each of the hurdles as fast as he can.  He then

2 Technical Conditioning With a Ball

Today's article is from Dr. Mouwafak Majeed Mola of the Aspire Academy, Qatar.

Players distribute as in the figure and each group met a second group with a ball and separates by a distance of 10-20 yards according to the age and efficiency of the players.

1^st activity:

1-Player1 passes to player2 and sprint the middle distance(75% effort) To end up behind the other group.

2- Player 2 receives the ball behind the line and executes fast dribble all the

6 Transitional Possession Game

This is my favorite possession game because it includes so many aspects of the game as well as a great fitness component. It's also very scalable to the number of players you have as well as the ability level of the players.

Two teams of players are assigned one half of the field. They're also numbered

1 Integrate Conditioning Into Small-Sided Games

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

2 Soccer Speed – Running Form Video

This weeks post is from Scott Moody, our Conditioning Experts at Soccer F.I.T. Academy.

I seem to get questions regarding teaching running (sprinting) mechanics (form) to young soccer players every week. Parents and coaches are continuously asking me to work with an athletes sprint form, and they bring up Ronaldo as being a player they would like to emulate. They mention his form and technique, his explosiveness and his speed on the pitch as key aspects that they would like to see developed in their young players. In this 15 minute video, Ronaldo’s form is broken down in sprinting and jumping exercises and compared with champion sprinters. I think you will enjoy this…

11 Our Game - Immersion v Submersion

Today’s post is by our Conditioning Experts at SoccerFIT and their partner Tristan Tillette. Tillette serves as Director of Performance at Elite Sports in Birmingham, AL and On-Line Training Director of AthleteFIT.com

This is the second post of the OUR GAME series – discussing the physical, technical, and psychological development of our youth as it pertains to the rest of the world.

The date is May 30th, 2011 and Barcelona is king of the futbol world.  They “el rondo”ed Man U and Sir Alex on their home turf.  The Catalans have become rock stars on the world's stage of the world’s game . Soccer Ga Ga’s if you will . Their style, flair, and creativity gives every second on the pitch a “what will they do next” type of feel. While their talent and skill is to die for, their passion joy is to LIVE for!  What makes Barca BARCA isn’t their skill and flash but their love for the game and a deep commitment to the club and each other. Every player – from “the Flea” to the U9 keeper – is submerged in the culture of FC Barcelona .

That brings me to this point – What will it take for this unconditional love for the game,  for the club, and for each other to swim it’s way across the Atlantic and infiltrate our soccer landscape?

1 Soccer Conditioning With a Ball

“Everyone on the line, it’s time for conditioning” “Time to get in shape, go run 4 laps” “Go run 2 miles and we will start when you return” How many times have you heard these statements from coaches (or something similar)?  Is it really that difficult to build some, or all, of a teams fitness

3 Ways that Sports Nutrition Should be Different for Youth Athletes

In addition to being a youth soccer coach I'm also an avid runner. I listen to a lot podcasts and review blogs from a number of sources in a search for the latest training information. A recent post by Ben Greenfield of BenGreenfieldFitness.com focuseds on the different nutritional needs of young athletes as opposed to

0 Setting the Charge, Ignition and the Launch of Skill Development…

I think most of us who coach are fascinated by what motivates players and how we can use this to draw the very best out of them. Today's post if from our Soccer Conditioning Experts at Soccer F.I.T Academy and looks at this topic in a way that I thought you'd find interesting. What motivated

0 Is working hard the best way to get in shape?

Is working hard the best way to get in shape? There is a lot of talk by coaches about working hard.  The thought is the harder you work the better shape you will be in.  The problem with this is when you have a long season or you have a short season with a lot

2 Rhythm and Soccer

This post comes from our official Soccer Conditioning experts at SoccerFIT Academy. I found it interesting and thought you might too. Rhythm and Soccer: a theoretical coaching approach to effective movement February 17, 2011 By Scott Today’s post is written by John Lytton, a sports performance coach and former pro-soccer player with a facility in

1 Ball or No Ball-THAT is the Question

This thought provoking post about whether or not you always need to have a ball included in every aspect of training is from our friends at Soccer Fit. The folks at Soccer Fit are on the cutting edge of the latest soccer conditioning science so their perspective is worth listening to. Today’s post is by

3 RESEARCH: SOCCER TRAINING DRILLS FOR ENDURANCE TRAINING

This is a post from Scott Moody of the Soccer Fit Academy. I thought you would find it interesting because it follows on from the discussion that was generated by the post where I discussed the preseason running program I used with one of my teams. I was recently forwarded a soccer conditioning research article

7 Preseason Conditioning

As August approaches many teams in the Midwest United States are starting their preseason program, including my U12 girls. At this age I think it’s important for the kids to have a break during the summer months and have time to just be a kid. This makes preseason even more important because I need to

7 The Importance of Team Chemistry

Over the years, I have begun to realize the importance of "team chemistry" as being a major component of a successful team.  Over the weekend, I saw an article about William Gallas of Arsenal and the conflicts he has with some of the Arsenal players.  Teammate Samir Nasri, says that there are 4-5 Arsenal players