• 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

Individual Training For The Soccer (Football) Player

You are here: Home / Coaching / Individual Training For The Soccer (Football) Player
22
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

July 13, 2014 by Jimson Lee Leave a Comment

This article is guest blogged by Mat Herold, a former D-1 soccer player and certified strength and conditioning coach with a Masters of Science degree in Exercise Physiology.  Visit his website and his latest book Joga Strong: Becoming The Ultimate Soccer Athlete at www.empoweredathletes.com

Mat also wrote Lionel Messi’s 40 Yard Dash and Olympic Lifts for Soccer Players and Top 5 Weight Training Exercises for Sprinters

World Cup Football German Team

Individual Training For The Soccer (Football) Player

In soccer (or football), like other team sports, the success of the team is based upon the sum of individual performances.  If you are a soccer player or coach, the following are areas that when given proper attention, can quickly and dramatically improve outcomes across the board.

1. Play more small sided games

I know we’ve all heard about how the South Americans play street soccer for hours on end and well, there is something to learned there. When I was 15 I really started playing pickup soccer as much as I could. Anything from 8v8 to 1v1 and within no time my performance shot up drastically. It’s simple; as your skills continue to improve from so much time on the ball in game settings, and you become comfortable being in certain soccer situations (shielding the ball, finding a free player under pressure, etc.), those improvements will transfer over to games. In pickup soccer, we also have to freedom to try new things and play on the edge because “messing up” is not going to result in the coach yelling at you or subbing you out. You can laugh it off and forget about it quickly learning to play in the moment. This fact alone allows players to evolve rapidly by trying new things, and to add elements of relaxation into their game that the top players in the world have.

See also  Conversation with Kebba Tolbert and Latif Thomas (Part 2 of 4)

2. Work on specific skills relevant to your position

Shooting, passing, dribbling, long balls and individual defense all require time spent perfecting them. Europeans spend hours on passing with the right weight, at the correct angle, and to the correct foot. (Look at the way small countries like Holland and Germany always seem to play fantastic passing soccer)The outside players spend hours perfecting their service of the ball into the box. Strikers finish and defenders work on getting their long balls to resemble a laser beam. On TV in the top leagues around the world, they make it look easy because they put in the time when the cameras are off. Sorry to burst your bubble, but twice a week at club practice ain’t gonna cut it. You need reps.

3. Hit the weights

There are some soccer players out there who are strong (usually they are the fastest on the pitch), but for the most part, soccer players are far too weak. How does strength help? Well, strength is the foundation on which all other athletic attributes are built. Strength is highly related to power since the stronger you are, the faster you can move a significant load such as your body weight.

Hopefully, you realize the importance of getting strong so that you can generate a lot of force. Then it is a matter of getting good at developing that force in a short amount of time specific to the movements of your sport.

From famous sports scientist and Powerlifting champion Dr. Fred Hatfield:

“Elite athletes develop the ability to generate maximum tension in less than three-quarters of a second, perhaps even in as little as half a second. That’s one of the factors that make them so great. They’re able to reduce the amount of time it takes to generate maximum tension.”

It is important to keep in mind that if you don’t have the strength or force to begin with, you won’t have anything to apply in that short amount of time. Another benefit of strength training is that you will also be improving your body’s resistance to injury, and it’s ability to recover.

See also  Free Sports Analysis Software

4. Concentrate on improving your hip and ankle mobility

Soccer involves many movements over a long duration. Many of these movements do not require us players to get into deep stretch positions and over time tightness can develop if we don’t include mobility and flexibility in our training. The ability to perform deep squats, stable lunges where the knees don’t cave in, and proper landing mechanics are crucial not only for staying healthy, but being an efficient athlete that gets the most out of your body.

Too many players rely on ankle taping. Unless you are just coming back from an ankle injury, it might be a good idea to toss the ankle brace or tape. Your ankle is designed to be mobile, and if you take it away by restricting it there, you will have to compensate by finding mobility at the knee. Last time I checked, your knee is designed to hinge, so not a good thing when you increase the chances of your knee twisting and bending other ways.

Lift weights and get your glutes and hamstrings strong (hip thrusts, glute ham curls, good morning and RDL variations, back extensions done properly, etc.)

Do some barefoot work and realize that our feet are supposed to work and be mobile (think toes spread like fingers).

The feet contain 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Do some barefoot dynamic movements to improve on your foot stability, and balance (proprioception). Low-intensity plyos work great such as exercises where you are hopping around on one leg in different directions.

See also  Top 14 Ways to Improve your Start - with or without Starting Blocks

5. Add Recovery Work

I am always amazed at how many soccer players don’t know that the positive things that go along with training hard occur when you’re not training. You damage your body while training, and then rest in order to come back stronger, faster, and better. Rest is when your body repairs the damage, and in an attempt to better handle the stress it knows is coming in the near future, it super-compensates. Foam roll your quads, calfs, groin and adductors, tensor fascia latae, and IT Band. Do mobility exercises before each training session and stretch after training to reduce recovery time and restore tissue length. Sleeping enough in a pitch black room, eating properly, flexibility and mobility protocols, foam rolling, massage, and even yoga are all great tools to keep your body and mind in the right place.

About the Author

Mat Herold is a former D-1 soccer player and certified strength and conditioning coach with a Masters of Science degree in Exercise Physiology.  He is the author of Joga Strong: Becoming The Ultimate Soccer Athlete. Visit his website at www.empoweredathletes.com

Category iconCoaching,  Soccer,  Training Tag iconMat Herold

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

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

  • 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]
  • Pressure in Sports – Reflections from Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy 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