• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

Soccer Speed Training – Only During the Season?

You are here: Home / 40 Yard Dash / Soccer Speed Training – Only During the Season?
2
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

February 5, 2011 by Jimson Lee 1 Comment

This article is guest blogged by Jonas Forsberg of YouthSoccerSpeed.com

Quite often I get emails from readers regarding the whole concept on when to perform speed training, and how often it should be implemented in the season schedule.

A rather common phrase I get from readers is something like "we are planning on starting with the speed training later this Spring".

To me, this is not a good way of doing it.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to criticize you for the way you currently are doing things. I admire that you guys have a plan to follow, but I simply don’t agree with the plan.

And I am very well aware that other factors are involved, such as the number of days you train, time on the field, etc, but in a lot of cases I believe that with a slightly better plan, you can solve this problem.

The philosophy (at least in Sweden), has been that you should build an aerobic base at the beginning of pre-season, and when the real season approaches, you start going into more of high-intensity runs with shorter rest period. Here’s where a lot of coaches believe that soccer speed training should be added as well.

Today, we know there are better ways of doing it.

Since soccer speed is a lot about reaction, it means that the central nervous system is highly involved when it comes to improving soccer speed (or in any other sport for that matter).

In order to train this together with stimulating your fast twitch muscle fibers, you simply can’t perform speed training only during 1/4 of the year.

See also  Sprinting for Soccer Speed

The solution: Soccer Speed Training should be performed year round!

However, that doesn’t mean you should perform 12 sets of acceleration drills – 3 times/week – year round. Not at all!

You could increase the volume during some parts of the year, and decrease the volume during other parts of the year, but no matter what, speed training should be included almost during the whole year.

During season, speed training should be performed 2-3 times/week, and it doesn’t have to take more than 5-10 minutes to perform. And after that, you could take a break after the season, and then start again after a few weeks.

A pretty good rule of thumb to follow is to perform speed training regularly for 3-5 weeks, and after that you take 1 week off from just the speed training portion (you train soccer just like you normally do during this week). After 1 week off from the speed training, you start again for another 3-5 weeks, take 1 week off, and continue like that.

By following that setup you make sure to train your body for speed and reaction, without overtraining or wearing yourself out.

With younger players, speed training can, according to my philosophy, include coordination drills performed in the agility ladder, line drills, short acceleration contests, etc.

Speed and movement training should just like any other quality in soccer (technical skills, passing, receiving, shooting, etc.) be trained regularly. Training for speed and reaction only during March or April is not going to improve your players speed very much.

See also  How to Decrease Your 40 Yard Dash Time in the Weight Room

Speed during soccer today is a critical factor for how long a player will go in his career.

But remember, soccer speed is not about straight ahead speed for 60 meters. Soccer speed is about reaction, 10-20 meters accelerations, deceleration, change of direction, etc. Therefore you need to expose your players to that type of training if you want them to improve their speed and performance on the soccer field.

If you enjoyed this article and want more tips on how to improve your players soccer specific speed without making it too complicated, then sign up for Jonas Forsberg’s mini-course Truth About Soccer Speed over at YouthSoccerSpeed.com

Category icon40 Yard Dash,  Soccer Tag iconJonas Forsberg

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lee Powell says

    February 7, 2011 at 11:32 am

    Very good article. I agree that speed training for soccer players can be done year round. With my players we train some aspect of speed at each session. Sometimes it is only for 5 minutes. Some days we will work on acceleration, deceleration, multi-directional speed, power/balance, flexibility, strength or something else. Each of these are skills in their own right and it just take a few minutes each practice and it can make all the difference on the soccer field.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • Oregon22 Coaches Club now Online
  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}