SFA Pre-Practice Recap (Week 7)

Rain, Rain, Rain! Will it ever end?

Once again the rain may have dampened the field, but not the players spirits! Especially with the younger kids (which I got to work with for the first time this fall on Monday and Tuesday!). One of our goals going into the season was to get the younger players to move with a sense of rhythm and efficiency. Not from a classic sprint drill perspective, which can require a little more time and attention than we can provide this fall, but more from a body control and understanding perspective. Here are my thoughts on this:

1. Increase balance, rhythm and Body awareness
2. Once accomplished, direct their eyes (attention) somewhere other than their feet
3. Coach them to anticipate and react instinctively (read the game)

One of the biggest problems we encounter with the 8-10 age group is

SFA Pre-Practice Recap (Week 6)

It always amazes me when we have training sessions in the pouring rain. Last night the rain was coming down, temperatures dropping, and I really expected more excuses than effort from our 8 training groups. Especially after a very unmotivated session on Monday when the weather was perfect for training. What I got was intensity, motivation and enthusiasm! It is almost like the rain was inspiring some of the groups to work harder and battle through the adverse conditions.

My number one goal for the Soccer F.I.T. Academy is to create confident, aggressive players that approach the game (and life for that matter) with both mental and physical toughness. Not arrogant, not cocky, but a quite confidence that is unshakable, even in the toughest of times. This played out perfectly with our U17 Girls last night.

In the pouring rain, we did a drill where two players run towards each other, then at full speed sprint laterally to a cone and back across to another cone, and then as they are running side by side trying to beat each other, the player on the left tries to go right and the player on the right tries to go left (encouraging some shoulder contact as they try to cross in front of the other player – battling for position). In this drill we saw who wanted to win and who wanted to avoid contact at all cost. By the end of it, several of the players surprised me with their speed and determination to win. The rain didn’t stop us, it only seemed to fuel competitive fire. Ironic isn’t it!

“One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.” – Albert Schweitzer

SFA Pre-Practice Session Recap (Week 5)

When our warm starts to become less effective (stretching turns into talking, and 1 or 2 athletes in the group seem to have given up on trying to work on mobility), we need to make a change. Not a philosophical change, but a change in exercise, focus, movement, application, etc. Here is what we did this week with the some of the larger groups…

A few of our players have mentioned that they still have an interest in developing stronger running form, and although this was not a focus of our fall Pre-Practice Sessions we thought we could work that into a dynamic warm up without taking away from what we had planned to do in our 30 minute session.  We want to warm up the hips, groins, hamstrings, calves, shoulders, low backs, etc. and simple mechanical marching ans skipping exercises can really get things going.

Here are some of the things that the players need to focus on when we do our marching/skipping type warm ups. As seen in the picture above, you should:

1. Pull the toes up (dorsiflex the ankle)
2. Pick the knees up (about waist height)
3. When the foot hits the ground, make sure you are landing on the ball of the foot, under the hip
4. Posture should be straight and tall
5. Arm action should take the hand from your cheek to your hip as you drive the elbows back

A series of 25 yd marches, skips, ankle flips, bounds, lateral skips, cariocas, etc. can start getting the players warmed up, loose in the hips, developing good mechanics and setting the stage for what we are going to do next. Within 2 days they started moving with more rhythm, and purpose. This was a good change of pace as I felt our, more traditional mobility and flexibility warm up was getting a bit stale.

Here is a take home point:

This is not a TECHNICAL speed session… To truly improve speed mechanics, you really have to focus on it daily. It’s not something that you can work on one day, and then magically have great mechanics. But…by putting some simple form related drills into your warm up, and working it every day, you could add hours of repetition by the end of the season.

SFA Pre-Practice Session Recap (Week 4)

Week four is now behind us, and I think we are starting to make some positive strides with all the groups. With the older ages we are starting to progress to drills that combine:

1. Speed (acceleration)
2. Agility (deceleration)
3. Passing
4. First Touch

Here is an example…

There is one concern that I have with this progression though…

SFA Pre-Practice Session Recap (Week 3)

Week 3 of the Fall season continued to go well. I asked the 5:50 group on Thursday how things were going and I got some positive feedback. Our goal was to improve fitness in a soccer setting where the players could integrate simple ball skills with speed/agility. To do this we first have to move with balanced coordination. Our younger groups are really starting to get that aspect and it is looking much better already.

Some of our older players need to understand that once they move well, the second step is to increase speed. Here is an example of one of our simple cone drills, and you will see some players who need to focus on form, while others need to focus on speed.

After doing some of these drills I asked the 5:50 Thursday group, “Why are you here, and what do you want to improve?”   Most said ‘speed’, some said they wanted to get ‘better with the ball’ and a few mentioned that they wanted ‘improved fitness’. So I asked them, “Are you getting faster?”

A few of the kids had enthusiastic, positive responses while a few others were concerned that we were not working on running form (mechanics).  We put in basic mechanical drills in each session (for example: skipping drills focus on arm swing, hip action, ankle dorsiflexsion, etc), but some of the kids need much more work than we have time to cover in a 30 minute session that also has to cover other areas of fitness. If your child is one of these kids that needs extra work, I would be happy to pull them aside after practice some day to work on these things.

This week some of the groups also got to work a few drills with the Fusion Sport, Sportspeed System (the lights game, as the players have started calling it!). This is something that we will use more and more in the smaller groups as the players become better with the ball and more comfortable with the movements. Here is an example of a drill where the players pass to the GREEN gate and exit out through the RED gate as the lights will randomly change.

Overall, we are making great strides and I think the kids are having fun. Let’s keep it up, as this is a work in process and we want to make sure that every player in the program is getting results, having fun and increasing their understanding of movement as it applies to soccer.

See you next week!

Scott

SFA Pre-Practice Session Recap (Week 2)

The rain this week did not slow us down! In fact, no one even seemed to notice. Being out on the turf field seems to have motivated the kids to push themselves even harder, no matter what the weather! The MW 7:20 Group of U17 and U18 girls is emerging as one of the most competitive of all. The reactive agility drills with partner gate passing was as competitive and intense as any session I have ever coached (even as the rain poured down under the lights!).

This brings up a good point that I have been trying to drive home to all the players this week. Coaches (from all clubs) have been telling me for the last few years that players from this area sometimes lack the mental and physical toughness that it takes to compete in close games

SFA Pre-Practice Session Recap (Week 1)

The first week of the Soccer F.I.T. Academy Pre-Practice Sessions went very well! With over 250 young players enrolled, I was a little nervous to say the least! We organized the players into groups by age and began with an easy workout on Monday and Tuesday that helped us identify the level of athleticism of each of the kids. I was surprised, and encouraged to see the attitude and intensity that everyone put into even the most simple drills. Below is a pie chart showing what the players would like to get out of the workouts:

Although we will not be focused on Strength, all other categories should be covered throughout the season. We hope to do a survey at the end of the season to see how the players feel about their improvement in each of these areas.

Soccer F.I.T. Academy Pre-Practice Sessions…Fall 09

The Pre-Practice Speed sessions will be organized and progressed with the same basic structure that been proven successful with the CAP Athletes over the last few years. In the Soccer F.I.T. Academy Developmental Curriculum (represented in the pyramid below) has two sides: