By Alex Trukan The following practice is aimed at improving body’s ability to recover quicker between high intensity efforts (i.e. sprint, tackle etc.). This will help players to maintain quantity of actions without feeling increasingly tired (aerobic power) towards the end of the game. This game also focuses on maintaining possession and choosing the right
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By Alex Trukan This practice is designed to develop players’ short sprinting endurance. This will allow them to produce high quality sprints more often during the game. One of the situations when acceleration over short distances is used is finishing in and around the penalty box. This is why, this practice uses shooting context to
Continue readingBy Justin Cresser
As your players advance and begin to play at higher levels, they will need some degree of Functional or Position-specific Soccer training. For example, wingers need to be good dribblers and crossers of the ball and should therefore devote time to perfecting these skills. In a similar fashion, central defenders need to be strong in the air and proficient in 1 v 1 situations. The same is true for conditioning. Players in the various positions will have specific conditioning needs and coaches should allocate some time to developing position-specific fitness needs.
Most of the exercises we present on this website are general fitness exercises, in that; they are suitable for every player on the team, regardless of position. This week and every so often however, we will look at position-specific conditioning exercises. Today’s activity is geared towards the central midfielder, but strikers and wingers can also benefit from the drill.
Center mids are often called upon to create space between themselves and their marker, check back to receive a pass played to their feet and in one motion, turn and attack the space in front of them. This sequence of movements is frequently seen with passing midfielders that play in front of the back four, such as Real Madrid’s Xavi Alonso, and requires good agility as well as proper turning and receiving technique.
Divide your players into groups of two. For each pair, set up 3 cones 12 yards apart in a straight line. Have yours players stand at each of the end cones facing each other. One of them should have a ball at their feet (Figure 1).
When ready, the player without the ball will run to the right of the cone in the centre. When they reach midway between this cone and their
By Justin Cresser
I was watching the El Classico game over the weekend and it was a fantastic game. Although we most frequently talk about Barcelona’s ability to pass and move, another thing the players do so well is to protect the ball from pressuring defenders in tight spaces. In today’s exercise we will work on improving the ability to shield the ball from an opponent while developing anaerobic endurance and repeated sprint ability.
Set up a 15 yard by 15 yard playing area (it may be smaller or larger depending on numbers). With the exception of 2 to 3 players, give each individual a ball and instruct them to dribble around inside the playing area using small touches. Have the players without a ball stand on the edge of the playing area wearing a different colour bib (Figure 1). These are your pressuring defenders. You will want a ratio of approximately 1:4 defenders to dribbling players.
When ready, the coach should direct the defenders to sprint inside the playing area and try to
By Justin Cresser During the competitive season, the main conditioning goal is maintenance of fitness levels established in the pre- and off-seasons. With technical and tactical exercises a top priority, it can sometimes be difficult to include activities for all the different fitness components. I like to include the following (and similar) exercises in my
Continue readingFew players enjoy sprints for conditioning. However, if you turn it into a soccer related activity you can get them to work even harder and enjoy themselves while doing so.
Start with a keeper in goal, two cones 15 yards from the midfield line, a player on the line between the cones and a player with a ball at midfield. There are a few players ready to replace the field players.
The player with the ball starts by passing to the