Showing posts with label Fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fitness. Show all posts

MLS Combine 2010 Soccer Fitness Training Preparation Part 2

on Sunday, October 14, 2012
MLS Combine 2010 Soccer Fitness Training Preparation Part 2 Tube. Duration : 5.20 Mins.


soccerfitnessexpert.tumblr.com Speed, agility, & quickness drills with a soccer ball. I challenge u to do these drills. Ask me a question regarding soccer fitness preparation.

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University of Bristol Football Team Fitness Drill - The Human Body - A User's Guide

on Saturday, September 22, 2012
University of Bristol Football Team Fitness Drill - The Human Body - A User's Guide Video Clips. Duration : 2.50 Mins.


Matt Paine, High Performance Coach at the University of Bristol, takes the team through his figure -of-eight drill, designed to rapidly raise the heart rate. This is a simple drill that you can do and see you how you get on compared to Bristol boys.

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Soccer Fitness - The Common Characteristic in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final Four Teams

on Thursday, September 20, 2012

The world cup quarter final games of late have been very exciting and dramatic to the least. Soccer fitness has definitely been very noticeable from my perspective as a major reason the four remaining teams are in the semifinal games. It will also be an important part of the finals.

The ability to perform repeated sprints with minimal recovery was key in Germany's victory over Argentina. This was very evident as the game progressed in to the second half. Any time Germany attacked and lost the ball they were quick to return and defend. Unfortunately Argentina appeared to fade as the game went on. They lost the ability to attack and defend with the same intensity.

Soccer Drills

This quality for soccer fitness is invaluable. A soccer player that is able to sprint and recover quickly regardless of the position he or she plays makes a difference towards the end of the game.

Soccer Fitness - The Common Characteristic in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final Four Teams

The soccer fitness level of the Netherlands grew as the game against Brazil carried on. It was as though the Brazilian players were being worn down as the Netherlands were relentless on their attack. Sprint and recover, sprint and recover and sprint and recover appeared to be the motive of the Netherland attackers up front. Unfortunately for Brazil they were unable to slow the game down or turn up a notch or two as many would have expected.

In the two other quarter final games it appeared to me that Spain, Paraguay, Uruguay and Ghana were fairly level with their fitness levels.

This makes it quite obvious that soccer is a game of power and speed and should be trained that way regardless of the age or gender of the soccer player. There are several ways to get into this type of condition:

1) Soccer players may perform interval training by changing the intensity, movement and recovery for soccer fitness drills. An example would be forward sprints for 10 seconds with twenty seconds recovery for a certain number of repetitions.
2) Repeated sprints of distance of 10M-40M
3) In season 3v3, 2v3, 4v4 or 3v4 at high intensities for time or goals then a short active recovery in the form of light individual dribbling then repeat again.

By doing these three things the ability to attack and defend with out being tired improves soccer fitness over the season and creates the stamina necessary to last an entire soccer game

Soccer Fitness - The Common Characteristic in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final Four Teams

Soccer Drills Viva World Cup 2010 Workout Endurance Tonique Fitness part2

on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Soccer Drills Viva World Cup 2010 Workout Endurance Tonique Fitness part2 Tube. Duration : 8.52 Mins.


Enjoy the full episode for soccer drills...workout that will make you stronger and firmer and improves your endurance...Viva Soccer!

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Soccer Fitness and Conditioning - Fitness Tips For Kids Soccer

on Monday, September 10, 2012

As a Personal Trainer and Soccer Coach, there are a number of important points that you should be aware of when training your kids to be fit for soccer. Your first consideration should be the age and current fitness levels of your players. It is very important to realise with your training that kids are not just little adults, and as such adult fitness and conditioning drills are largely inappropriate. Second consideration should be the types of soccer drills that you are going to use. For children, I always like to make sure that a ball is involved in all of my soccer fitness and conditioning drills. For this reason I use a lot of small sided games for training my kids, as small sided games keep them involved and moving at all times, incorporating both fitness and ballwork together.

When considering fitness drills for your kids, your first realisation should be that kids are not just small adults. Adult fitness drills are generally inappropriate for kids. For the kids that I coach I tend not worry about any kind of fitness drills at training up until about the age of eleven. Up to the age of eleven I try to coach them so that they are active throughout the whole of the training session and I find this sufficient in terms of soccer fitness After this age you should take into consideration the current fitness levels of your players when considering fitness drills. You must then decide which elements of fitness you want your players to work on and formulate your drills accordingly. The various elements include speed, agility, and endurance.

Soccer Drills

At all training sessions, my primary aim is to maximise the number of ball touches that each player gets during the session. For this reason in most instances I incorporate a ball into the fitness drills that I use with my players. If you devote a significant amount of time to fitness training then you will significantly reduce the amount of ballwork that you are able to do with your players. The best way to avoid this is to incorporate a ball into your fitness drills. Another method that I have used with older children ad with representative teams is to give players a preseason fitness routine. This ensures that your players have a base fitness level when you begin training and will mean that you can spend more training time on ballwork and skills and less on fitness and conditioning.

Soccer Fitness and Conditioning - Fitness Tips For Kids Soccer

There are many elements of soccer fitness that players require when they play a game. Factors like speed, agility and endurance are important elements that players require on the soccer field. I find that using a variety of small sided games is an effective way of training these different elements of fitness whilst not having to make the players do fitness drills. In an ideal world the players will not even realise that they are doing fitness drills. There are many different small sided games that I use to simulate the different elements of soccer fitness I find that these are a great way to incorporate both fitness and ballwork into my soccer training sessions so that the players have fun, and learn the different elements of soccer fitness that they require to enjoy the game.

In terms of soccer fitness and conditioning your first thought should always be that kids are not just little adults. If you try to use adult fitness drills with kids they will usually lose interest very quickly and become discouraged. Use a ball as often as possible in your fitness drills in order to maximise the number of ball touches that each player receives during the training session. I find that the best way to do this is to use a variety of small sided games with players so as to teach them the different elements of soccer fitness that they require. The most important elements of soccer fitness for kids are speed, agility and endurance, and the soccer drills and small sided games that you use should focus on developing these elements in each of your players.

Soccer Fitness and Conditioning - Fitness Tips For Kids Soccer

Golf Fitness: Stephen Grant-TRX Drills-GolfGym Academy

on Saturday, September 8, 2012
Golf Fitness: Stephen Grant-TRX Drills-GolfGym Academy Tube. Duration : 2.37 Mins.


Stephen Grant is performing TRX Drills at the GolfGym Academy in Jupiter, Florida. Stephen is preparing for Second Stage Q-School on the European Tour. Stephen is a former Footballer (Soccer Player) for Ireland. He retired from Football to pursue a career as a professional golfer.

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Soccer Fitness Training | Warm Up Exercises

on Friday, September 7, 2012
Soccer Fitness Training | Warm Up Exercises Tube. Duration : 9.67 Mins.


www.myfitteru.com CLICK HERE for a FREE WORKOUT. Soccer players - learn how to warm-up with dynamic stretching.

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Achieve Fitness For Soccer the Easy Way

on Sunday, September 2, 2012

It is very important for a soccer player to be fit at all times. A bulky or stocky individual may get away playing basketball but that same person will find it hard to last for a whole game of soccer. Just imagine needing to run up and down a huge filled for 90 minutes with hardly anytime to rest. You really have to be in tip top shape to be able to play soccer well. This is the reason why all soccer players should be pay close attention to fitness for soccer programs or workout routines specifically designed for soccer players. Fitness for soccer programs include total body conditioning and aim to develop the skills needed by a soccer player such as speed, agility, stamina and strength.

Soccer Practice Drills

Soccer Drills

If you will look at the physiques of soccer players, you will notice that most of them are on the slender side with very little body fat in their bodies. There is also an obvious absence of bulk which makes them faster and more agile on the field.

Achieve Fitness For Soccer the Easy Way

One of the best ways to achieve fitness for soccer is through the regular performance or soccer practice drills that aim to develop specific skills needed for one to be able to play the game well. Generally, there are four things that you need to develop if you want to be a good soccer player, these are, speed, agility, endurance and strength.

A well rounded soccer player is someone who has all of these skills. There are specific drills that addresses each of these areas. And if you must do them all on a regular basis if you want to a top soccer player. If you notice that you need to improve on one or several of these areas, then you can increase more focus and time in drills that target the areas you are lacking. If you lack endurance fr example, then you must double your effort in doing drills that improve endurance and so on.

The Benefits of Warmups

Never forget to do warm ups before you start on any drill. If you will go directly to the drills without doing any warm ups, then you can end up hurt or injured. A good warm up is jogging around the field several times.

Remember, to achieve fitness for soccer you must be willing to exert some effort and spend some time in doing drills that can help you become a better soccer player.

Achieve Fitness For Soccer the Easy Way

Soccer Training - For Improved Fitness and Better Skills

on Thursday, August 30, 2012

"Better Skills and Improved Fitness"

Complete soccer training covers both of the most important areas to develop a strong soccer player.

Soccer Drills

If you have great fitness levels, but are poor at controlling the ball, you will not be as successful a soccer player as you could be.

Soccer Training - For Improved Fitness and Better Skills

Also, being able to control a ball with ease, and not being able to make it up and down the field, will really prevent you from enjoying this beautiful game.

So there are 2 areas to work on with your soccer training drills:

Ball Control Skills (technique) Soccer Fitness
#1. Ball Control Skills!

Also called technique. Slick moves and precision ball exchange is the mark of an experienced and skilled player. To reach that level there a number of skills that you need to work on to improve your soccer game.

Ball Control - giving and receiving the ball. Kicking the ball. Passing the ball. Dribbling - handling the ball while moving. Heading the ball. Throwing the ball. Tackling your opponent (No, not like American football).
There are many ways to improve the skills portion of your game. Each strategy has its own benefits:

Repetition

Practice a move repeatedly until you can do it without thinking. It will soon become automatic.
Watch and Learn

Observing other more accomplished players on a regular basis will let you see what other can do. Then decide what you want to learn, and do it.
Watch Soccer DVD's or Soccer Videos

Watching soccer dvd's or videos will allow you to visualize what others do. Not only will you be able to learn how to do it. But also how to defend against it. Plus you can replay it as much as you want to!
Visualization

Close your eyes and see yourself making a certain move or making a certain play. Really focus on it. I have used this tactic more then once. It works.

One day I was preparing for a championship game in a tournament. I was in the basement at home focusing on 2 goals that I wanted to score in the game. All I could see was me scoring those 2 goals. When I arrived at the field that day a friend of mine approached me. We talked a little and when he was about to leave he looked at me and said, very matter of factly, "you look like you have a couple in you today." We won the game 5-2 and I had 2 goals. One with each foot! Just like I had visualized.

#2. Soccer Fitness!

Physical fitness is the other extremely important part of soccer training. No matter what position you play, you will be doing a lot of running. Except the goalkeeper. But the soccer goalie has to be fit as well.

Strikers, midfielders, and defenders all are required to run the length of the field many times during a soccer match. Most professional soccer players will run between 4 to 8 miles (6 to 12 kilometers) during a match.

Here are the main areas that you should cover in your soccer fitness training:

Speed & Agility

Continually improve these areas to out-maneuver your opponents.
Flexibility and Warming up

You can have all the speed and moves in the world. If your muscles are not ready and warmed up for the torture that you will put them through, you may injure yourself.
Strength & Muscles

Building your lungs is good. Combine that with weight training for soccer and you will create a winning combination.

Combine these 2 areas of soccer training and you will defeat your opponents any time that you want to.

Soccer Training - For Improved Fitness and Better Skills

How to Create a Successful Youth Fitness and Conditioning Program

on Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Developing sports training programs for youths requires more profound knowledge, a more involved mind-set and different tools than creating programs for adults. The demand for services that teach young people sports skills - particularly those that help develop motor abilities and basic athletic techniques - is increasing steadily in the United States. Countless performance facilities and fitness centers are running programs for 7- to 16-year-olds, with the main emphasis on speed and agility programs for youths playing baseball, football, soccer and basketball.

Kids' lack of recreational activity and the alarming trend of early specialization in sports are two of the reasons why sports training programs for youths can be beneficial in terms of movement skill development, weight management and general fitness. However, the quality of the services and the child's interest are at risk if proper guidelines and specific approaches are neglected in the heat of a profitable moment. It is a fact that creating sports training programs for youths requires more profound knowledge, a more involved mind-set and different tools than creating programs for adults.

Soccer Drills

With that in mind, the following eight concepts should make up the core philosophy of any successful sports training program for youths:

How to Create a Successful Youth Fitness and Conditioning Program

1. Children Are Not Small Adults

Coaches often are not educated enough in children's and youth exercise physiology - added to which, they are pressured to always win. Too many of them design training programs according to the goals and abilities of adults. The intensity and duration of the drills, and the drills themselves, often resemble a training session for mature athletes.

I sometimes watch a football team of 10- to 12-year-olds conditioning in the field by my house. When I see the team running sprints in the heat in full gear, running lap after lap and falling to the ground, I begin to ponder the objective of the drill. My guess is that the goals are metabolic development and, possibly, mental toughness. Yet, because of the young body's inability to respond to the given training modality, it is not clear whether the goal of this training will translate to success on the gridiron. In other words, even if those young athletes develop physically and mentally through that drill, the lack of running technique and poor movement skills under fatigue won't likely translate in a positive way to the actual playing of the sport. The same drill might be excellent for the athletes who are able to utilize their advanced motor skills and reap the benefits metabolically, but not their younger counterparts. This example demonstrates only one situation in one sport, but it can be seen in one shape or form throughout youth sports.

2. Athletes First, Players Second

Coaches are often tempted to teach and practice game-specific skills more than general athletic skills, since game-specific skills are the ones that eventually determine which team wins and which loses. Limited training time and people's high expectations of success can also lead to this exaggerated emphasis on developing sport-specific skills. Development of general athletic skills, such as jumping, landing, skipping, lunging, twisting and hopping lay the foundation for game-specific skills and is vital to becoming a healthy and successful athlete. Narrowing the variety of movement skills before the athletic foundation has been laid can risk a child's long-term development and suffocate his or her true potential.

Injuries - particularly overuse injuries - at an early age are often a sign of excessive game-specific training at the expense of general fitness and motor skills. Learning how to incorporate the components of athletic development in the training program is key to the creation of a successful, child-oriented sports program. It is good to remember that athletes practice these skills throughout their career to improve their game-specific performance and to prevent injuries.

3. An Age-Sensitive Approach

Coordination, balance, speed, flexibility, agility, strength and endurance are all important components of human movement and sport performance. The different stages of a child's growth and development determine which motor skills should be emphasized in training programs. For example, speed and agility progress optimally during the "skill hungry" years of 8 to 12, whereas strength and endurance become important in subsequent years. A 10-year-old boy is at his peak period to enhance acceleration speed and change of direction through games like tag or short shuttle runs. Drills that incorporate multidirectional hops on a single leg are well absorbed by children age 8 to 12.

During puberty, on the other hand, some of the fine motor skills regress as the body adapts to huge changes in height and muscle mass. A primary objective during this awkward time should therefore be learning basic movement patterns and exercises for dynamic flexibility and foundational strength. Exercises such as lunging or single-leg squat variations in all planes combine the objectives of strength, flexibility and coordination, and help the body maintain and enhance athleticism even during the clumsier periods of physical maturation.

The developmental stages before and during puberty should focus on children's strengths, not weaknesses. Later, during the high school years, will be the time for youngsters to refine their athletic skills by incorporating all the areas of movement training into the program. Flexibility becomes much more important, and strength and endurance abilities are better absorbed at this stage than earlier.

It is important to recognize, also, that each individual has a different developmental pace. The aggressive push to "peaking" in high school sports, and even earlier, often neglects the physiological needs of potentially great athletes. As a matter of fact, many internationally successful athletes found their specific sport in college or even later.

4. It Must Be Fun

The importance of fun is often neglected or misunderstood in youth sports. A persistent viewpoint in this country is that the only thing that brings results is hard work, even with respect to children and physical activity. Sometimes people's limited understanding is that fun means telling jokes between drills, or that everyone is laughing hysterically all the time. Often people want to separate result-oriented activity from fun because they cannot connect results and fun in their own minds. What is "fun" - and can it really be an important part of performance enhancement?

It is striking how much better one learns something if one has fun doing it. Emotions are a big part of multi-dimensional human systems. Emotions are tightly connected to physical performance and to the response generated by physical activity. Motivation or inspiration enhances learning on a cognitive as well as on a physiological level, and that is why fun is so important.

"Fun" can be defined as a balanced combination of skill and challenge. A positive, fun experience can be created if the task is challenging enough but rewarding, as well. Sometimes fun is expressed by laughter, but it can also take the form of a deep feeling of inner satisfaction. How do you know if the program you are running is fun? Are the children coming back for more, week after week and month after month? Fun is really the only thing that is going to keep children coming back to practice.

Evaluate your program by the number of children who start and finish it. In addition, see how many come back, and how many refer others to future programs.

5. Long-Term Development, Not Short-Term Success

Are you sure that your coaching philosophy will help the athletes in their careers beyond high school and college? Does your training approach as a coach of a young athlete vary depending on the planned age of peaking? Are your coaching and training methods an important part of the progressive development to athletic maturity? And if so, why?

Coaches might not always realize that the decisions they make in their training programs could be determining when the athletes reach the peak of their competitive careers. Youth coaches tend to look at success early in the athlete's career as the best measurement of their own efforts. The real challenge, ethically and professionally, is to acknowledge that the coach's actions today can decide the long-term future of the athlete, and to evaluate the training methods according to the years following high school and possibly college.

A youth coach should always choose training methods with the long-term career in mind, which sometimes might mean compromising short-term success. Are you ready to do this for the good of the child, or is it too important to win today at the expense of tomorrow? Obviously, one can be a successful youth athlete and a successful master athlete - the optimal situation. The greatest dangers to long-term development are premature specialization, high-intensity training or too many competitions. Lack of foundational athletic skills or training at too high an intensity can stunt the development of a young athlete as well.

6. Safety and Productivity

A safe atmosphere is a prerequisite for learning, success and fun - and indeed, everyone says they make safety a priority in their youth programs. While acknowledging that accidents can happen even when risk management is properly handled, planning and running well structured and instructed programs is what secures a program's physical safety.

Beyond that, mental and social safety are just as important to a program's success. Mental safety thrives in an atmosphere where there is freedom within boundaries and discipline through caring. A productive mental atmosphere is created by clear rules and instructions, and a "lead by example" attitude. Children need to know and understand the rules, and see that instructors take the rules seriously, too. If a coach tells players to respect their teammates and then proceeds to mock a particular player, the concepts of mutual respect and adherence to rules disappear. More than any other group, young people require that their coaches exhibit a great deal of character and maturity.

The coach is also responsible for the social safety of the group, and each child needs opportunities to express him or herself without negative peer pressure. Bullying cannot be part of a successful children's program or team. Little "tough guys" on the team cannot be allowed to step up and take charge. The coach has to make the rules clear and follow them, too.

7. Do What You Can Do

How do you teach a new skill? Are you able to demonstrate an exercise or drill with the attitude and technique that you demand from your athletes? The rule of thumb with children is: Only teach what you can do and show yourself. You can explain the drill in great detail, but the demonstration will decide how the drill will be executed. It's a physically demanding task, but coaches should always prepare to demonstrate the exercise as well as they possibly can.

Work on one area of emphasis at a time and give specific cues such as "lift knees higher" or "hold it for the count of three." Always initiate the corrective feedback with a positive comment and search for strengths in the performance to accelerate the development in those areas: "Alex, excellent footwork on the shuffle - show me if you can keep the toes pointing forward on the next round."

The attention span in new learning is short. In teaching, you can move past this potential stumbling block by giving the same exercise repeatedly while modifying it a bit each time. For example, a single leg balance can be practiced as a timed balance test, a passing drill on one leg and a tag game on one leg. After the basic movement skill is taught, it is time to practice it in the more randomized setting of a game. The game will show you whether the skill was really learned, and whether you can expect it to be transferred to the sport situation.

8. Keep It Simple

Rarely does a practice session allow enough time to accomplish everything from athletic development to sport-specific skills. If practice takes place one to three times per week, it is a good idea to give simple tasks as homework. The short bursts of independent exercise will accumulate little by little and show results over the long term. The homework also teaches accountability and the importance of daily physical activity.

It is a great idea to always start the training the same way and create an opening and warm-up protocol so that children can eventually do it without instruction. A combination of exercises done in a logical order will not only prepare the body for the practice, but also switch on the mind so that it is ready to respond and absorb. If you decide to give homework, leave time at practice to observe the learning results, and encourage the most active home students.

Non-programmed recreational play is the most important time to develop motor skills and to help ensure an athletic and healthy future. Youth sports coaches need to accept that playtime with friends might be more beneficial for children than any organized activity offered, including the sport practice that they coach. The culture of free play is vanishing, and youth sports enthusiasts should be in the trenches fighting to preserve it. It is the most important of nature's athletic reserves, and the best homework coaches can give.

Operational Tips for Youth Sports Training Programs

• Create solid core values for the program. A successful children's program needs to have a solid foundation of values and guidelines. Everyone affiliated with the program must be able to communicate its core values and objectives. A set of values or a mission statement is the foundation on which all the program variables are based. The ethical foundation gives validity to the program and will enhance its longevity.

• Educate parents and the public. Another role of a successful youth program is to educate the people involved. Every youth sports program looks the same on the advertisement poster or flyer, but the contents vary dramatically. How can parents make educated decisions for their kids if they rely on marketing materials? Administrators and coaches need to arrange situations to meet with the parents to share important knowledge that can benefit their children. Demos and workshops for teachers and other coaches are also an effective way of sharing information. Practical, hands-on situations will make a lasting impression and transfer learning into teaching.

• Choose great role models as instructors. Why do we think that basically anyone without a criminal record can teach children? Does that reflect how we value the future of our children, or just our ignorance? Coaching and teaching children is a far more influential responsibility than instructing adults, and should be taken very seriously. Coaching children does not require a Ph.D., but rather a genuine caring for children and a desire to learn more about coaching, teaching and instructing youths. Who does not remember the elementary school physical education teacher or the coach whose influence still carries over in our lives? Every youth coach is a role model, and hopefully is aware of it.

• Envision the purpose beyond the score. We need to acknowledge that we are in the business of improving children's quality of life and creating a lifetime interest in health and fitness. We have a crucial role in helping children obtain the physical, mental and social tools and abilities that will help them be successful in the future. Children learn most effectively by doing and moving instead of just sitting and thinking, and the sports field is the classroom where they learn about life. Emotions such as satisfaction and joy, as well as disappointment and frustration, are all part of sports. Youth coaches are in the optimal position to mentor young people with their words of encouragement and correction and, even more so, through their example. Every child benefits from physical activity, athletic or not, and our job is to help them stick to it over time. For some, it means the Olympics. For others, it means simply staying happy and healthy.

How to Create a Successful Youth Fitness and Conditioning Program

Soccer Fitness | soccer practice

on Friday, August 17, 2012
Soccer Fitness | soccer practice Tube. Duration : 2.27 Mins.


www.Moreinfom.com --- Soccer Fitness Soccer fitness tips and hints. How it works, for those that want to know. Our site provides essential information on soccer fitness. www.Moreinfom.com

Tags: soccer fitness, soccer, fitness, drills, training, coaching, speed, buy, athlete, kids soccer