A full soccer season can be a grueling physical challenge. Every player needs a break after the season has ended, but fitness levels should not be allowed to decline too much. Pre-season training is vital for regaining match fitness and sharpening up your soccer skills before the competitive season kicks off once again.
Duration
A soccer club's pre-season training normally begins 6 to 10 weeks before the season starts. This training period often includes fitness training sessions, practice matches between team members and friendly matches against other clubs. The official English Football Association (FA) website recommends a further three weeks of independent pre-season training for players who want to get a head start before the club training program begins. This will help to give a player "a potentially crucial head start over possible rivals for their place in the starting lineup."
Fitness
Pre-season training begins with light exercises designed to help players regain their fitness levels after the between season break. As highlighted by the Ultimate Soccer Coaching website, the aim here is to build a fitness base, so intense training should be avoided. Light jogging and cardio exercises are ideal. Fartlek training, a combination of continuous and interval running exercises, is also recommended by the Ultimate Soccer Coaching website. This system helps to develop both aerobic and anaerobic fitness at controlled levels of intensity.
Speed and Agility
A player needs to develop more than just his base fitness to be prepared for competitive matches. As stated by Brad Moser, M.D. in a report featured on the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association website, each player must be prepared for games "that will include high kicks, cuts, springs and jumps." Sprint drills and agility drills, therefore, are an important part of pre-season training. As with basic fitness drills, these speed and agility exercises should be started at a low level before increasing intensity as the pre-season progresses.
Skills
Eamonn Dolan, manager of the Reading Football Club soccer academy, highlights some important aspects of pre-season soccer skills training in an article for the BBC Sport Football website. Some basic fitness and speed routines, such as circuits and short sprints, should incorporate the use of the ball. According to Dolan, players find it more enjoyable to train with the ball and work harder as a result. Combining fitness routines with ball work also helps a player to regain his touch and ball control before the season begins. Dolan also highlights the importance of a pre-season skills program that encompasses all of the main ball control areas, most notably the feet, knees, chest and head.
Injury Prevention
The FA website warns players about the potential injury risks involved with pre-season training. An FA study, carried out over two seasons with the help of 91 medical staff from professional clubs, found that soccer players are "at a far greater risk of lower leg injuries, especially Achilles injuries, during pre-season." The final conclusions were based on a total of 2,376 injury reports on individual players. The study claims that hard playing surfaces, high training intensity, sudden changes in training intensity and short pre-season preparation are the main causes of pre-season injury. This highlights the importance of a progressive and balanced pre-season training program.
Member Comments