| Soccer is an explosive sport where your body needs | | | | to make sure that your athletes are performing the |
| to be running at 100% in order to get the most out of | | | | exercises correctly. You compete like you practice. If |
| your performance. Before you even think about | | | | athletes are not performing the drills correctly they are |
| running speed workouts you must first devise a warm | | | | going increase the likelihood of injury by adding |
| up plan that will help you prepare to compete at high | | | | unnecessary stress to joints, muscles, ligaments and |
| speeds and intensities. | | | | tendons. |
| An effective warm up must consist of a series of | | | | Drills are designed to be done a certain way for a |
| dynamic and active movements that start with low | | | | specific reason. If your athletes are not technically |
| impact, low intensity exercises and progress naturally | | | | sound during the warm up they will not be technically |
| to high intensity, full speed exercises that simulate the | | | | sound in games and competitions when it counts. The |
| intensity of the upcoming practice or competition. | | | | warm up is not a time for goofing off. It is the |
| As you know, in order for your soccer athletes to be | | | | foundation of the day's activities and sets the tempo |
| ready to perform speed work or compete at high | | | | for all that is to follow it. |
| intensities, they must get warmed up properly. | | | | So now that you know what types of activities must |
| We often find that there is some confusion as to what | | | | be done and how to approach them, let us take a look |
| constitutes a proper warm up. For example, some | | | | at an actual dynamic warm up that top athletes and |
| coaches are still using static stretching to get athletes | | | | coaches use to get ready each day. |
| loose before practices and competitions. Unfortunately, | | | | Before trying this out with your athletes, be sure to |
| this outdated method actually reduces speed and | | | | have them jog and/or skip for about 5 minutes. |
| power. | | | | Here is a sample warm up: |
| Think about it: How often during a practice or soccer | | | | - High knee walk - x10 each leg |
| match does an athlete hold a stretch position as part | | | | - Jog 50 yards |
| of their sport? That is right, not very often. So if you | | | | - Lateral lunge walk (both legs) x10 each leg |
| are still using this method to get your athletes ready to | | | | - Jog 50 yards |
| compete, you are not getting the most out of their | | | | - Front leg swings - x10 each leg |
| ability. | | | | - Jog 50 yards |
| Instead, have your soccer players perform dynamic | | | | - Lateral Leg Swings - x 10 each leg |
| exercises that are similar to the types of movements | | | | - Jog 50 yards |
| they will be going through during practice and | | | | - Iron Cross - x 10 each leg |
| competitions. Keep athletes moving and gradually | | | | - Jog 50 yards |
| increase the intensity of their activity. That way you | | | | - Scorpion - x 10 each leg |
| can get the blood flowing into the muscles through a | | | | - Jog 50 yards |
| natural progression. | | | | - Backwards Run - 2 x 30 yards |
| Remember, a good warm up should take at least 20 | | | | - 'A' Skip - 3x15 yards |
| to 25 minutes to complete. This will reduce the | | | | - 'A' Run - 2x20 yards |
| likelihood of injury by ensuring that they do not try to | | | | - Fast Leg - 2x30 yards (each leg) |
| go too fast too soon. In addition, athletes will get the | | | | - Accelerations - 4 x 40 yards |
| most out of their muscles because they followed a | | | | By performing this type of warm up every day, your |
| thought out progression of movements that went from | | | | athletes will be loose, powerful and fast. Be sure that |
| low intensity jogging and skipping to high intensity | | | | your soccer team is performing a dynamic warm up |
| speed development drills and exercises. | | | | before each practice and game; otherwise the |
| By the time they are done warming up, they will be | | | | athletes you train are not competing to the best of |
| lightly sweating, fired up and ready compete! | | | | their ability and the likelihood of sustaining an injury is |
| Another issue to note when doing any type of drills is | | | | increased. |
