Cold weather and off season training.
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by: whitecom
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Word Count: 874
It’s only a few days before Christmas and when I woke this morning it was 27 degrees outside. My truck was covered in ice. The dogs cut short their morning walk, begging to come back in to the warm house. This is not a time of year many of us think about soccer training. However, I decided to write down a few things all soccer parents, players and coaches should keep in mind.
These cold temps often keep our minds off soccer training, but this truly is a great time of the year to work on specific soccer skills. When soccer season hits us we will have plenty to think about and work on. One problem however, is that there is SO MUCH to work on. We often don’t focus on the “little things” that make an average soccer player a truly great one.
Last year in the pre-season training period I was working with a pro team. I got to the stadium a little early and decided to jog a bit as the temps were still cold. While I jogged around the fields I saw a player with about 10 balls shooting on goal. As I got closer I realized who it was. It was one of the pro women players that I really liked. She was about 5’ 6” tall and weighed about 120 soaking wet. I liked her the most out of all the female players not because of her ability, but because her attitude was so appealing. Not only did she always walk around with a smile, but she was the only one I ever saw working on her own. She was constantly trying to improve even though she had reached the top of her league. I spent a few minutes with her and we worked on what she was trying to fix. Within a few minutes I was able to correct her small problem and she continued to practice it for quite some time.
Do you know why she kept practicing it once she figured it out?
Because figuring something out is not learning it.
When we are in a game we have little time to think. Our body and mind simply react to a situation with their instinctive or learned counter action.
Want to understand this better? Get a nerf ball and in private, so the others don’t know what’s coming, through it lightly at ten different people. Each will react differently. Some will turn their face away, some will turn and hold their hands up, and others will stare at it and catch it. All in all you will probably get 10 different reactions. The mind has little time to think and instincts take over.
The same is true on the soccer field. You’re in the 18 box of your opponent and a rebounded shot comes bouncing right towards you. Chances are that 10 players will all react differently. Why is this?
It is because very few players have been “programmed” on how to react and understand what needs to be done at that very moment. Programming muscle memory is a key element of any great athlete. “Having great skills that are instinctual and not thought about separate the good from the great.” When we have to think about them it is usually too late.
This becomes very apparent in youth players. How often have you seen a 9 year old dribbling down the field and keep repeating the same “move” over and over? After a short while the opposing team knows what the next move will be and is able to steal the ball away with ease. This child took the time to learn this move and it has become an instinctive reaction when pressure is felt. They might know others but this one is ingrained into their muscle memory (instinctive), hence it is the easiest to perform.
The same is true with kicking, passing and shooting. It’s easy to show a youth player how to kick a soccer ball the right way. They go out on the side yard, try it a few times and they seem to have the skill understood. However, that week in the game, it is nowhere to be found. Repetitive motion and skill training is one of the key elements that youth players need. However, it is often not “fun” and often seen as work.
The off season allows us to work on individual skills through the use of short training sessions that lead into some kind of points game. Make sure that you try and focus on one skill at a time. This should be broken down to its simplest of form. It might be inside of the foot kicking and passing, or working on learning the straight kick. It could be volley kicks and maintaining the head and body forward.
What ever it is start with the correct slow motion form. Then gradually work into normal speed adding a fun element of targets such as boxes or cans. Kids love to see things crash.
The results during the regular season will simply amaze you. Once a muscle memory or instinctive reaction is programmed, it is there for quiet some time.
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