Also known as football, soccer is one of the popular sports in the world in terms of fans. It’s not only an entertaining way of utilizing talent, but also a lucrative sport, especially for professional players. Typically, a single match has an average of 90 minutes allotted to it, which is broken down into first and second halves of 45-minutes each. However, the game of football is more of science than it is talent or skills. It involves periods of rigorous skill and performance tests that are done through various soccer training methods.
As with other forms of sports, training is an integral component in player’s skills and talent development. Training also helps players to effectively cope with the physical demands of soccer and become very competitive on the field. Modern soccer training programs involve a set of techniques that not only focus on endurance and skill development, but also other vital features of fitness. For a holistic player development, the following fitness elements have to be addressed by any given soccer training method.
Endurance
Soccer is a tough game, to say the least. For 90 full minutes, players engage in a range of activities such as running, walking, sprinting, jogging and jumping. According to some research done on football match physiological demands, depending on position, players cover roughly 7 kilometers per game. This shows how significant is endurance is when it comes to soccer. And the only way to boost endurance is by engaging your muscles in various activities like walking, jogging, running and squatting exercises. These activities could vary in intensity and they should be conducted under the guidance of fitness coach.
Strength
This is another vital fitness element as it defines athletes players’ agility, speed and power. Football players need strength too especially when making tackles and holding off challenges. However, outfield players have different levels of strength and most times it depends on the player’s position on the field. Other importance of strength includes great responsiveness, faster metabolism, better energy utilization, minimum injury and faster recovery time.
A good strength soccer program should include varying intensity on activities such as pushups, chin ups, squats, step ups among others. Apart from training with machines, players are also advised on the effective ground-based training exercises that often involve the use of free weights. Ultimately, strength exercises are designed to improve your overall performance as a player.
Speed and Agility
Although strength and endurance are essential in modern football where games are played at high tempo, players with speed have an advantage over others. You might be strong in tackles, but if you are unable to make it to the ball in time, then a faster opponent will beat you to it. Professional soccer training exercises on speed and agility involve activities such as plyometric drills, high pulls. jump squats, wall drives, sprint drills, stride and hamstring exercises. With the assistance of soccer coaches, these drills should be incorporated with other forms of training in order to develop a speed endurance.
Flexibility
As a player, you should be able to maintain a range of body motions that allow easy movement and maneuvering. Stretching is one of the essential soccer training methods that can improve your flexibility. Some of the soccer training exercises include squats, sit-ups, arm circles and lunges. Stretching exercises reduces anxiety, stress, improves circulation, mental alertness as well as reduces the risk of developing injuries. In fact, to prevent injuries, training and fitness experts advise players engage in light aerobic and dynamic stretching exercises before workouts and games.
Lastly, what you eat as sports personality will greatly impact on your performance on the field. Therefore, it’s important to develop a healthy eating habit and diet that ensures your energy levels are always optimum. Avoid sugary food and instead, take more protein-rich foods. Since there is no soccer training method that is 100% efficient, combining these exercise with the right diet can yeild significant results.
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