Start Them Young
“Start young! Little ones love to play, so crawling, jumping, skipping, etc 7 – 8 years old!” according to James Wagenschutz, Assistant Coach at Colorado College men’s soccer team.
James presented a session on Integrating Strength and Power on the field at the 2020 United Soccer Coaches Convention in Baltimore.
Activation
My first team I trained and coach girls in 6th grade. The grounds where we trainined was a combination of multiple sports fields – baseball, soccer, and football. That made the perimiter a very long distance.
I used by recent playing experience to get the warm up going. Two to three laps was the warm up. Then we incorporated sprinting. The girls were exhausted before touching a ball. My college experience was my background for training middle school kids.
Injury Reduction Over Injury Prevention
You can’t prevent injury, given physical demands are an inevitable part of the game. You can, however, reduce the likelihood of this occurring. How do you get your players warmed up and ready for practice or competition is key.
Yes, you can use many activities undertaken by adults, with youth. Your greater challenge is to find the correct balance to reduce the possibility of causing an injury from overworking. Young players are prone to injury because they are made of soft tissues and cartilage.
Small Doses
Soccer players need to develop strength through activities on the field that are age-appropriate. Most important, young players need opportunities to learn mechanics and there needs to be an awareness of their physical and mental limitations on your part.
You can setup drills and activities that professionals used, they will have little or no impact on your players if you can’t recognize incorrect body form. Your players challenges will be compounded if you do not an understand the Work/Rest ratio for an exercise.
Fitness For Kids
In soccer, fitness is not everything. Similarly, skills and tactics are not. However, because the game demands a lot of running, the game is nothing without fitness. If there is no fitness, technique, and tactics soon disappear from the game.
Incorporating strength exercises in the training of young players improve the player’s development in many areas.
- Body Posture – use of electronic devices makes players hunch over for extending periods.
- Increase range in joints
- Improves trunk control
- By nature, kids love to crawl, roll, and jump.
References
United Soccer Coaches, Integrating Strength and Power In A Field Session, James Wagenschutz
US Soccer National ‘B’ License, Candidate Manual. PP 39, 51-52.
Leave A Comment