Soccer 6 Week Summer Preseason Conditioning/Skill work Program
During your summer conditioning/skill work sessions you should be focusing on building stamina in order to be at your best throughout each practice session and game. You should also be focusing on working on your change of pace during your conditioning drills. Lastly, your skill work should focus on getting as many touches on the ball as possible, improving your off foot, improving your first touch, and working on becoming comfortable and confident with the ball at your feet. Remember to always do dynamic stretching before you begin any workout.
CONDITIONING
Twice a week run 2 miles with an 8 minute pace (your goal is to finish under 16 minutes).
Choose 2-3 of following to do each training day:
*Build-up Sprints
Jog to the 18, increase speed to midfield, sprint from midfield to opposite 18, jog from 18 to end line (6 reps resting 45 seconds in between reps)
After 6 reps do 30 pushups & 50 sit-ups
*Sprint 100 yards under 20 seconds (6 reps resting 45 seconds in between reps)
After 6 reps do 30 pushups & 50 sit-ups
*10x-20, 40, 60 yard sprints (you are doing 10 reps for each distance) (rest 1 minute before going to next distance)
After 10 reps of each distance do 30 pushups & 50 sit-ups
*4x-300 yard shuttle (50 & back 3x) (you are doing this 4 times, rest 1 minute)
After 4 reps do 30 pushups & 50 sit-ups
*5x-Shuttle Run 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 (under 35 seconds each time) (rest 1 minute in between reps)
After 5 reps do 30 pushups & 50 sit-ups
*10 minutes-Jog the endline, sprint touchline all around field (rest 2 minutes)
After 10 minutes do 30 pushups & 50 sit-ups
*10 minutes-15 yard sprint, jog 15 yards, back peddle 15 yards, sprint 15 yards (rest 2 minutes)
After 10 minutes do 30 pushups & 50 sit-ups
TECHNICAL/SKILL WORK
Remember to focus on working on your off foot and being comfortable & confident with the ball at your feet. The more time spent on the ball the better you will be in game like situations.
Watch the video on this link & do at least 2-3 of these exercises each day for 15-20 minutes, www.chambleesoccer.com/training.
Set up cones a few yards apart for 20 yards. Work on dribbling through the cones with both feet, inside & outside of both feet, single foot. Do this for 15-20 minutes each day.
If you have access to a goal, shoot as long as possible with both feet from various distances.
If you have someone to pass with or a wall, work on passing with both feet, inside & outside of the foot, one & two touches, & changing your pace & attacking new space after receiving a pass.
These conditioning & training exercises should have you prepared for tryouts if you do them for at least 4-5 days for 1- 1 ½ hours each session. You will notice a huge difference when you put your fitness & technical work to the test on tryout day. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Have fun,
Coach Megan Adkins
coachmeganfdhs@gmail.com 859 576-5047
With the New Year upon us and Spring well on its way it is time to start thinking about the 2019 soccer season. The key to a successful season is for the players to come in prepared. The better the baseline technical skills and fitness level the less practice time is taken up by those things. By default this means we can spend our limited time together working on more advanced tactical work and game planning rather than getting you in shape. But with the demands placed on today's players the "Off-season" is virtually nonexistent. So how do we balance Club Season, Player Showcases and the High School Soccer Season with the need to improve our baseline strength and conditioning? With these 3 easy steps:
Athletes, particularly those who have specialized in a single sport, often pursue short term success over long term development. This leads to muscular imbalances and/or inefficient movement patterns which ultimately lead to injury. The off-season is a time to rewire your movement patterns to create a default to the most stable and powerful positions. To accomplish this we need to focus on basic movement patterns.
Until we can execute each of these movements with flawless technique there is no need to add load. Practice these with your own body weight daily. Can you squat deeply (the crease of your hip below your knee) with a neutral spine? Can you perform a single perfect push up? Can you achieve maximal hip bend while maintaining minimal knee bend? If not work on these everyday to improve your basic movement patterns.
A weak athlete is an injury prone athlete. There is simply no other way to put it. So after you've mastered the basic movement patterns you should gradually add load. But remember; Our goal is to become champions on the field, not champions in the weight room. So add load slowly and responsibly with maintaining perfect form always taking precedence over the weight you are lifting.
Just as we did with learning the movement patterns we will keep our strength workouts simple. It can be and in fact should be as simple as selecting a single exercise from each of the basic movement patterns and performing them as a circuit with 10 to 15 repetitions for each exercise.
We also don't want to spend anymore time in the gym than necessary. While it is important to get strong our focus should remain on improving our ball skills. To maximize efficiency I like to keep my selection to a single tool (I generally opt for a single kettlebell or dumbbell) and perform timed circuits, rotating movements at the top of each minute. An example of this would be:
20 Minute Circuit
Minute 1: 10 Perfect Pushups
Minute 2: 10-15 Goblet Squat
Minute 3: 10 Single Leg RDL each leg
Minute 4: 10 Tall Kneeling Press each arm
Minute 5: 10 Deadbug
Repeat Circuit 4 times
Most coaches will focus their off-season training program solely on running but I think this is a major mistake. Again, our goal is to be the best soccer players we can be, not track stars. So if you are solely conditioning without a ball at your feet you are not being as efficient with your time as you could or should be.
I recommend you spend at least 30 minutes a day, EVERYDAY, with a ball at your feet. Plus, you need to select drills that will closely mimic game situations in both skill and intensity. If you are just going through the motions you aren't doing yourself or our team any favors. Create an environment in which you approach drills as if they were the State Finals. That way when we get there you'll know exactly what to expect.
This 3 pronged approach is as simple as it gets: Move well, get strong, and hone your skills. But don't confuse simple with easy. Approach each prong with the mental intensity of a championship game and you'll arrive to fall camp ready to become a Champion.