I am 16, 5′9, and 170 pounds. I am reasonably built, and am rpetty strong, but I still have some excess fat. I am running everyday, eating well, and putting in pushups and sit ups. I have high school soccer mid august. Can anyone give me specific tips that can help my soccer fitness?
Right, what you have to know is in football its not all about 10k long runs. Its about acceleration, sprinting , stamina, quick turns of direction… If you want to last the 90Min’s+ you have to have stamina, stamina is key. What i suggest is, is work on your acceleration and sprinting. Try things like lying flat on the ground on your stomach and quickly getting up and sprinting, then sitting down cross leg and get up without using your hands. Its good that your watching what you eat. Also drink lots of water during exercise and even when your not. To be honest, push ups and sit ups wont help with football. August is very soon so only focus on muscle you need to build, calves, hamstrings, quadriceps and your tibialis anterior. Every day increase the length of your runs and the speed in witch you run at, you wont get far if you stay that the same distance and pace. Work on your basic football skills, shooting, passing, dribbling, heading… So remember, the more you put in the more you will get out of it!
Tags: About, Fitness, Question, Soccer
September 27th, 2009 at 6:45 am
What position are you playing?
If your playing a forward position I would suggest keeping up your running, especially with a ball to practice dribbling and close control, maybe even a few new moves. There’s also a lot you can do just in your driveway. Practice your shots, take this time off to work on precision by slowing your shot down, making sure your arms are up, leg is back, and your following through cleanly. Also, throwing the ball off a basketball net or a house is a good way to learn to control crosses that come to you.
If you play mid then again, keep up your dribbling. I would also get a friend and go to the park just to practice different passes and crosses.
Finally, for defense keep that dribbling going. However, focus more on sideways movement, lots of shuffling. If you have any willing friends than you can also practice your slide tackles.
Goal keeper … just get a ball and a friend and practice
My last suggestion is to go find a copy of the Plyometric video from P90X. It’s all about workout out your legs using squats and jumps. It will get your stamina up, your feet moving faster and more accurately and it’s just a great execise.
Good luck next season!
September 28th, 2009 at 4:39 am
Increase your speed and continue what you are doing. It won’t come overnight, it takes dedication.
Buy a speed/agility ladder and some hurdles that are around eighteen inches.
Perform drills with the ladder to improve the speed of your footwork. There are many different methods you can do, just look online.
Jump over the hurdles. It’ll be challenging at first. However, you want to jump higher. Not for distance. Being able to explode using more power will definitely improve your speed, and almost every single coach I know loves players who are good at ball handling, speed, and positioning.
Get a partner and practice making diagonal runs, runs to the corner, practice one and two touch passing, practice hitting your through balls, and stuff like that.
September 28th, 2009 at 11:02 am
keep up your stamina.. and take a ball with you when you run.
even if you just dribble it, it’ll help your ball control and keep your mind off the running youre doing.
wall sits are a good exercise for soccer because on defense you use your quadriceps a lot.
shuffle back and forth with your knees bent…
you know do stuff you normally do at practice, that way youll be ahead of the game.
AND FOCUS ON YOUR LEGS!