Myths and Traditions

Lest you think I’ve forgotten to post well let’s just say that sometimes life just gets in the way.  No excuses just too darn busy.

Some years ago while I was working on getting a coaching license our instructor expressed his opinion that youth soccer players shouldn’t train with weights because it was unsafe for young developing athletes.  Well being the obnoxious student that I was (and still am) I just happened to have the most current research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association which contained an article about weight training in young athletes and how if done properly was very safe.  After class in private I showed the article to the teacher and in his thick “across the pond” accent he said he still didn’t believe it.  His opinion, based on tradition and well-intended concern for the welfare of his youth players, was nevertheless based in ignorance.

I’m often amazed at how traditional mores in sport training are really nothing more than myths.  Another myth that has been researched extensively is that stretching before participating in a sporting event prevents injury.  The truth is that stretching doesn’t prevent injuries however dynamic warm-up does.  The goal is to warm-up muscle groups by increasing blood flow to the areas that will be used in the activity.  The research shows that this is much more important than stretching.  I do believe that stretching is useful to help athletes to get mentally focused and ready to compete.  It also is a great time for a team doing group stretches to bond and prepare as a unit.  Whether it actually improves performance is yet to be fully understood.

My point here is that as coaches we should use proper resources to apply sport- training principles to our athletes.  Chances are that (at least for conditioning) if you’re doing it the way your coach did it back in the day then you’re probably not doing it the best way.  Here is a short list of a couple of great websites that I’ve found that really dig into the science of training for soccer.  I’m doing this without their permission but I don’t think they will complain about extra traffic being directed to their sites.

http://georgenassis.blogspot.com

http://optimumfitnessonline.com

http://nsca.com

You Run Like a…Soccer Player!

Even though soccer is played on 100-ish meter pitch, it is still a game of inches.  With that in mind it’s good to consider some little things that can improve a players ability to gain more than a few inches as they sprint down the field.  One thing that I have noticed with a lot of young soccer players is that they run like…well, girls!  Sorry if that is politically incorrect but sometimes we can be honest can’t we?  What I mean is that a lot of soccer players run with elbows out, with minimal arm swing, improper leg alignment, and with their butts sticking out.  Elbows-out is okay if you’re shielding someone away from the ball but you don’t need it when you’re just running flat out.  Proper arm swing helps your overall transfer of power, as does proper leg-torso alignment.  If the old butt is sticking out then there is improper pelvis tilt, which usually means weak hip flexors.  I’ve done biomechanical analyses on a lot of athletes over the years and I hate to say it but soccer players are usually the worst.  This is understandable because we learn to walk as a child and eventually start running and no one analyzes how we do it as long as we don’t break our mom’s furniture doing it.

     Here is just one simple way for a coach to watch his/her players and help them have better form.  And of course better form means faster.

1.  Set up a straight 20-meter running lane along one of the sidelines.  Have your player(s) sprint towards you from one end towards you.

2.   Watch their arm swing.  Each hand should swing from near the chin to their imaginary back pocket.  Arms should not cross paths and elbows should be in tight to the body with hands relaxed.

3.   Observe their feet.  Feet should straddle the sideline as they run and point forward with some minor deviation.  Knees, shoulders and feet should line up as they take steps.

4.   Have them sprint again but you move 90-degrees to the side and watch for the same things.

5.    Watch how far they lift their knees as they sprint and how far their back- side sticks out.  If this is an issue have them focus on lifting their knees and tucking their bottom under them as they run.

6.   Lastly, watch how much the shoulders pivot forward and back as they run.  There should only be minimal movement.

 

As you work with your players to improve their form it is wise to make small adjustments.  If you do too much too fast they risk injury.  I guarantee that with a little form improvement players get faster and that translates to better outcomes.  

Please Take Care

   Quite often when discussing some of the greatest soccer players of all time, the question comes up “who was the best ever?”  Tough question when you consider the choices; Pele, Messi, Maradona.  My friends from the British Isles always come up with one name, George Best.  Now to be honest as an American when I first heard the name I had no idea who he was.  Over the years I have been educated by my more learned friends about this soccer genius whose flame burned out way too young.  When George was at the height of his career there was little opportunity for us Yanks to watch the greats play (except on PBS- Soccer Made in Germany or the occasional match on Wide World of Sports).

     George was simply brilliant on the pitch and certainly showed a great deal of flair off the field.  Best once state, “I spent 90% of my money on women, drink and fast cars, the rest I wasted.”  Great comment until you learn the rest of the story like how even after a controversial liver transplant to replace the one he had destroyed by overindulging for years on alcohol and then continued to drink until his premature death just a few years ago.

     Alcoholism destroys people.  Not just the ones damaging their own bodies but they do a lot of damage to their family and friends along the way.  No matter how much we love them or they love us their addiction takes over and their priorities get twisted into an almost unravel-able knot.

     As an athlete your body is your greatest asset and a gift.  Why would you do something that would destroy your ability to perform at your best and could result in a myriad of possible negative outcomes?  As one who has lost a number of people close to me to addiction I simply ask you to take care of yourself.  George Best’s sister and brother-in-law created a foundation to help research and find solutions to alcoholism after his death: www.georgebest.com.

     For Dad, Uncle Bob, Uncle Ardell, Uncle Keith, Uncle Robert Jackson and of course George Best.  We lost you all way too early.

A Case for Referee Fitness

     My daughter was playing for her high school soccer team the other day in a neighboring town and I was somewhat amused by the lineup of referees that were assigned to the match.  The center ref was probably relatively fit for a nearly 70-year-old, the near side line-judge (I know…assistant referee) kept reaching back to rub his hamstring every time he had to waddle down the line to watch the game, and the far-side assistant…well, do you remember the character on Saturday Night Live named “Pat”?  Nuff said.  The advantage to having a slow assistant ref is that my daughter got away with a couple of off-sides calls because he couldn’t get there to see.  Unfortunately, so did the other team.  The center ref covered a generous 30-square-meters or so of the field and did the best he could but what really shocked me was when he showed his AARP card instead of a yellow.  And Pat, more or less watched the game from his/her patch of sod kind of like a tourist surveying the buffet on a cruise ship.

     There is certainly something to be said about an official’s ability to call a good game by virtue of his or her ability to position themselves in the proper place on the field to make the best call.  There are a lot of things for one of these people to do but they are certainly more hindered by lack of fitness.  Of course eyesight, knowledge of the laws of the game and good judgment are vital, so is fitness.

    One ref who I have become friends with over the years told me once that he referees for love of the game and to keep himself in shape. We have disagreed several times over the years about his calls, but after the game we remain friends.  We may not talk for a few days after a particularly eventful match but we’ll be friends for a long time.  The thing with him is that he is in great shape and constantly works to improve his skills as a referee.  As a coach I respect that and can accept that occasionally he makes a bad call.  When you are assigned a ref who makes bad calls and can’t physically do the job, I for one am more likely to use words I shouldn’t use and push the limits of getting thrown out of a game (by the way, that hasn’t happened yet).  Howard Webb comes to mind when you consider what a ref should at least look like physically.  I would be less likely to argue with Howard than with Pat or Mister AARP.

     Question of the week:  "How to improve the physical quality of referees in the game?"

Don't Get Knocked Off!

     Finally settled into my new location and ready to roll.  It feels good to get life back to normal.

     I coached a young man some years ago who was very fit in every way.  He had recently graduated from high school and along with playing soccer he had been on the high school wrestling team.  Not only did he have strong legs but his upper body was pretty ripped.  I know because he went out of his way to show us all every day.  Just as a fitness check/”I love ya man” kind of manly gesture I would walk up to the side of him and try to knock him off balance with a little shoulder chuck.  Now I hate to admit this but I weighed about 60 pounds more than him.  He never budged.  It got to be a contest for us and so I would sneak up to the side of him when he couldn’t see and I would try to knock him off balance when he was most vulnerable.  No matter what I did I couldn’t rattle his 145-pound frame.

     Match-time was no different.  I never saw him get “knocked-off” the ball even when the brutes on the other team tried to send him flying into the cheap seats.  On the contrary, they tended to just bounce off and often hit the ground in their attempts to jar him.  He would justifiably chuckle at their attempts.

     This reiterated to me the need for soccer players to toughen up their core and upper bodies as well as their “base” meaning hips and legs.  Players should spend time each day, off-season and on, working on their overall fitness.  Don’t be one of those players with all the talent in the world but whose skills are easily snuffed out by a big bruiser who rattles your cage by jolting you into submissiveness.  As players move into the bigger/tougher leagues this will be more of a factor, even for the ladies.

     An easy way to do this would be to incorporate push-ups and crunches into your daily routine.  Better yet would be a weight-training routine that focuses on fitness rather than bulking up.  Whatever you do or whatever you coaches have your players do, be wise about it and be strong.  Don’t let some punk knock you off the ball.

Ankles Aweigh!

   I apologize for my recent absence.  I’m in the process of relocating and have been spending way too much time on the road.  Fortunately the process is moving along swimmingly and it’s time to get back to the routine as much as possible.

     I had a discussion with a colleague the other day and we discussed our mutual love for trail running.  He’s much more of an endurance animal than I ever was (note the past tense) but our paths have crossed a number of times over the years and now we get to work together and swap stories about how great we once were.

     Now about ankles.  Soccer players have notoriously strong ankles.  Why you may ask?  Well, think about it, which joint takes the most punishment in a game of soccer?  Of course the knees get a lot of work but ankles really are very vulnerable to injury due primarily to the fact that they are where the action is in “football”.

     Over 20+ years of coaching soccer I’ve noticed that my players don’t have many ankle injuries, at least not as often as basketball, volleyball, American football and other sports.  Why is that?  Maybe I’m wrong but from my experience they just don’t have ankle issues as often as other sports.  There must be something inherent in the way soccer players move and run that helps strengthen their ankles thereby reducing ankle injuries.

     I remember seeing an interview with NBA player Tom Chambers of the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz and I forget whom else.  Tom used to get teased for playing in low-top basketball shoes.  The reporter asked him about that and he also mentioned that he never taped his ankles.  Tom never had ankle injuries.  Now Tom might have had extraordinary ankle genetics but I think there is a trend here.  I believe that high top shoes and “over-taping” makes ankles weaker and more susceptible to injury.

     Now of course when an injury does occur we should take precautions and support the joint until it heals but it makes sense to wean the ankle away from too much support in order for it to grow stronger eventually going au naturel with just a sock and boot for support.

     Soccer players run on uneven ground for the most part and have built up the musculature around the foot and ankle and therefore are less likely to get ankle injuries.  I would love to see a study comparing players who play on artificial fields versus playing on natural grass and what the respective ankle injury rates are.  Just an aside.

     My trail running friend and I both agree that running on dirt trails is a great way to build up ankle strength.  I would suggest that any soccer player that is in the pre-season conditioning phase should spend a couple of their long-run days by running on hilly uneven ground.  Just take it a little slower and watch where your feet are falling to avoid any ankle breaking gopher holes.  Your thoughts are always welcome!

Burnout!

I have recently become reacquainted with an old enemy to sports performance, burnout.

Let me post just one soccer player scenario.  A player begins playing AYSO soccer at 5 years old.  After a couple of seasons he/she is encouraged by a coach or more likely a parent to try out for a competitive team in a tougher league.  Eventually they move up to a better team with more opportunities to play and to maybe get noticed by someone important.  This player plays in a fall season, spring season, indoor winter season, plays in as many as five tournaments per year, and attends 2 camps each summer run by guys with cool accents.  Follow this up with possibly playing ODP soccer, and high school soccer.  By the time this athlete reaches college he/she would be a seasoned veteran of the game.  If they then play four years of collegiate soccer and survived without a career threatening injury they are probably quite lucky or blessed.

How do we keep our player’s passion for the game alive?  Recently I sat with a friend who was watching a soccer practice while taking care of her children.  She offered each of them a Popsicle.  She then asked if I wanted one.  “No thank you”, I replied.  I then related a story about being sick for several weeks when I was 12 years old.  All I could handle eating for most of that time were Popsicles.  I loved Popsicles but after that experience I have never had any desire to eat another one.  Just like our soccer player, too much of a good thing damages our passion.

Sometimes a separation from what we love helps us to remember why we love it so much.  Just ask any player who has to sit out for a while with an injury.  (Michael Owen must really love the game.)  Am I suggesting that soccer players quit for a while to “find the passion”?  Sometimes this is forced on an athlete by injury.  I think that like in any situation that an athlete cannot focus all of his or her life on just one thing even though they are fanatically passionate about it.  I recently observed an academy team that had played two full matches in one day and when the rest of us would be icing something and watching TV these boys were playing futsal, for hours afterward.  I loved seeing their passion but I couldn’t help but think about how many years they could maintain that passion.

I believe that we all need balance in our lives.  Athletes should take time to develop other skills, hobbies or passions because they might be one ACL or tib-fib fracture away from the end of their sports career.  It’s also important during breaks from the game that the soccer player do other activities and spend at least 2 or more weeks away from the game to recharge their batteries both physically and emotionally.  Please feel free to share your thoughts about burnout.

Knee Injury Prevention

One truth in life is not “if you get an injury in soccer” it is “when you get an injury”.  Athletes inherently get injured, it will happen.  We do a lot to take care of injured athletes by having Certified Athletic Trainers or “Physios” on the pitch to take care of the bloody and maimed once an injury occurs.  These professionals do a great job of assessing and caring for whatever damage the soccer demons can dish out on the unwary athlete.  Maybe we need to focus more on prevention eh?

Many types of injuries occur in this game we love but none have the power to destroy a playing career like knee injuries.  Knees just seem to have a magnetic attraction for trouble.  As a youth I was convinced that everybody’s knees hurt after every game and I just needed to tough it out.  It wasn’t until I became involved in cycling (and after a couple of surgeries) that I realized that knees don’t have to hurt all the time and can be trained to prevent injury and pain.  I turned to cycling after realizing that my knees were too shot for anything that had any impact, turning or twisting.  As my knee musculature became stronger (and my wife said they looked hot …no really!) I noticed that I suffered less and less knee pain while doing other activities like soccer and basketball.  Hmmm, something to that I suspected.  Later as I studied Exercise Physiology it all fell into place for me.

Obviously, I am an advocate for cycling as a training modality for soccer players.  Convincing American kids to get out of the car and use their bike is a bit of a challenge in this day and age.  However we as coaches should really work to encourage and teach our athletes that their bodies need proper care and maintenance.  I also strongly suggest that proper weight training be incorporated.  By proper I mean that an athlete should not go to Biff the Steroid Stallion of the neighborhood gym for training.  I suggest that every team look for someone who is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) in the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).  Outside the US you should look for a legitimate specialist and many countries have organizations that are affiliated with the NSCA.

Females are more prone to ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries than males.  One way to easily assess an athlete’s probability of ACL injury is to simply have them hop up and down dynamically on one leg and watch the direction that the knee moves upon landing.  An inward knee movement (think knock-kneed or valgus) seems to indicate that the athlete is more prone to ACL injury.  Whether you take the time to assess this or not, your athletes will be well served by training the key tools that they need for minimizing the risk of knee injury.   If you are a coach or an athlete, please take care of your assets.

"Goal-Keeper" Fitness

A very talented young goal-keeper that I once coached chastised me one day for calling him a “goalie”.  “Goalies play hockey, I’m a goal-keeper!”  Lesson learned!  For many teams the “goal-keepers” get minimal coaching and their fitness training is more suited to field players.  I’ve worked with a number of keepers over the years and have found a few fitness exercises that help these very important players to be more fit in a manner that is conducive to their role.

One of my favorite “keeper-specific” drills that build speed, endurance and reaction time is what I call the “random sprint drill”.  A coach or other keeper stands at the arc outside the 18 with a ball.  The keeper stands in the ready position on his/her line and quickly sprints to the ball as it is thrown or kicked anywhere inside the 18.  The keeper than tosses the ball back to the coach and backpedals to the goal-line.  As soon as his/her foot touches the line the ball is again sent to another spot inside the area and so forth.  For variation you don’t always have to wait for the keeper to reach the line before sending a ball back into the area.  After about ten of these quick reaction sprints rotate in your next keeper.  Each keeper should go through this cycle at least 3 times, more as they get fit and increase the intensity after subsequent training sessions.  Another variation can be added in later as the keeper gets more fit.  Use multiple balls and have a specific target such as a couple of cones set up about 30-40 yards up-field and once the keeper retrieves the ball then have them quickly throw the ball to that target and score them on accuracy.  This is important in that fatigue tends to mess with fine motor skills.  After a hard quick sprint a keeper still needs to keep his accuracy.  Continue the drill in the same way as with the one ball drill.  Make sure to vary the way the keeper receives the ball by mixing it up.  Put some on the ground, bounce some and air some out to keep the player guessing.  Have them go to ground on the rollers so they can work on getting up quickly and back into the game.  Back-peddling to the line is important in that the keeper can still see the field and helps them build field and spatial awareness.

I love these kinds of drills that not only build fitness but help them develop specific skills as well.  Feel free to suggest any other “Goal-Keeper” fitness drills that you have used.

The Problem(s) with Youth Soccer (JusMaPinion)

     I felt the need to bring up a subject this week that stirs a fair amount of emotion amongst the soccer community here in the US as well I’m sure in other countries that are trying to develop the game.  That is youth soccer development.

     With the huge population of youth soccer players in the US why can’t we be more competitive on the world stage?  Jurgen Klinsmann and Claudio Reyna look to be headed in the right direction but they can only do so much from the top.  Our women previously dominated the world soccer stage and still are major players but as other countries put more effort into building women’s programs we are not as strong as we could be.  We have occasional glimpses of brilliance from our men’s ranks; Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Brad Friedel, Brian McBride, Carlos Bocanegra and Claudio Reyna.  But with literally millions of soccer players in the US we should dominate men’s soccer and I believe could easily produce hundreds of players like those mentioned.  Not to diminish their accomplishments but the sheer statistics of it all should prove that there are a lot of great players that we’re not seeing.  Change needs to come from the roots, not just from coaching but from the players as well.

     One interesting trend I’ve noticed over the years is the “Dad as Coach” scenario.  On this kind of team the coach’s kid almost always starts and is usually a forward, since that is the “glory position”.  Heaven forbid that the coach’s kid be banished to the dregs of defense!  A good coach should be able to put bias aside and coach his/her “team”, not just their own offspring.  Most of these kinds of coaches stop coaching when their child outgrows the game or moves on to a higher level.  We need coaches who coach for an outright love of the game.

     We also need players who play for love.  With a lack of organized soccer in the neighborhood where I grew up we played anywhere we could, usually on asphalt.  We had organized baseball but the best games were the sandlot games that popped up anywhere anytime.  I’d love to do a study to find out where the best players in the world developed their skills.  My money says in the streets of their home-towns.

     Another trend that I feel hurts soccer is the “pay to play” mentality.  In any big city in the US you will find soccer clubs that cost parents upwards of $10k per year.  These are also the players who can afford to go to the big soccer camps where they get looked at by the big collegiate programs whereas the kids who can’t afford to play on the premier clubs struggle with inferior coaching, facilities and equipment.  We need to find a way to get these kids noticed because I guarantee there are a lot of very talented athletes who are being overlooked because they live in “fly-over” states or towns or play on teams with minimal financial support.

     Bless those Mom’s and Dad’s who coach their kid’s teams though.  That’s how I got involved.  I haven’t coached my own children for several years now but still love to coach and develop the players.  My most memorable win as a coach was when I took a team of misfits and cast-offs that no one else wanted and worked with them for two seasons.  We won one game.  It was the last game of season two with only eleven total players available and a completely inexperienced keeper.  Almost half of these boys made their high school teams and have gone on to be pretty good players.  I mention this not to show my prowess as a coach but to show that by just giving a little attention to kids who deserve better and taking the time to teach them the game they will find a way to win and improve.  I will forever be grateful to those boys for what they taught me about love of the game, hard work, fun and dedication.

Dietary Supplementation in Soccer

It seems that a topic that comes up frequently amongst athletes is “Dietary Supplementation” or vitamins.  Over the years there have been several fads and myths about what works best and what doesn’t.  I’ve seen a lot of unique approaches to supplementing in that time.  As a college student I felt that a well rounded and vitamin-rich diet consisted of crust for carbohydrates, pepperoni and cheese for protein, and tomato sauce for vegetable.  Pizza, the miracle food for college students!

Millions of dollars are spent each year on vitamins.  Many companies promote extremely high dosages of certain vitamins that are sure to improve athletic performance and increase speed of recovery.   Many of these companies promote their claims with questionable research that sometimes edges on the “Wild West Medicine Show” side of the sports world.  The “supplement du jour” changes frequently as athletes get paid to promote and use these vitamins.  Younger athletes buy this stuff up like tourists buy cheap t-shirts.

So what works and what doesn’t?  I work alongside Registered Dieticians who study this stuff all the time.  Harmoniously they state that a well-rounded diet that includes protein, carbs, a little “healthy” fat, and foods rich in colorful vegetables and fruits will give you all the vitamins you will ever need.  Nanna Meyer, a world renowned sports nutritionist who works with the USOC and many world class athletes stated her opinion about most of the supplementation that athletes spend so much money on.  “It’s very expensive urine”, she said.  Meaning that the body will use what it needs and excrete the rest.  She further suggests that if an athlete feels the need to use vitamins then they should go with a simple over-the-counter multi-vitamin.

So, as much as I hate to admit it my mom was right.  Eat your fruits and vegetables.

Maintaining Fitness Throughout the Season

     One challenge that many coaches probably experience each season is how to keep their players fit for the whole season.  We often tend to emphasize pre-season conditioning so the players are “in shape” for that all-important first match.  Other coaches prefer to build fitness in the early season so the players “peak” later in the season when championships are on the line.

     So what can we do to get our players fit and keep them at an optimal level throughout the season?  This is a tough question with many variables that come into play.  Age of the players is certainly a factor as is the length of the season.  Gender, climate, and level of competition are also factors that need to be taken into account.

     A great rule of thumb that seems to be good advice is to break up the fitness training program into cycles throughout the season.  Below is just a sample that can be adapted for any age or timeline:

     Preseason – build up strength, endurance and core fitness with increased intensity over a three week period.  For instance during the first week train the athletes at 70% maximal intensity, second week 85%, and third week 100% intensity.  During the fourth week, ease off on the intensity to approximately 75% to preserve some energy for the first match.

     Season – Following a similar formula as pre-season, go with a four week rotation of intensity.  Instead of moving up to 100% intensity though back off a bit and follow a 70, 80, 90% intensity for fitness training in your cycle.   You may want to adjust this schedule in a manner that accommodates tournaments or your most important matches so that you team is in prime condition for these events. 

     An important thing to consider is that as athletes get over-fatigued they are more injury prone.  If your team is experiencing more injuries than usual you might need to allow some time for them to recover so ease off on the intensity for a bit.  Keep in mind that any group of athletes is going to have varied levels of tolerance.  Some athletes are iron-horses that seem to be able to always push hard.  Others need a little more attention.  I guess how you deal with that depends on your philosophy as a coach.  I’ve seen athletes seriously injured because their coaches pushed them too hard or they have that do or die mindset that we coaches love, until they tear an ACL or something.  Others begin to have significant drops in performance during matches because they left it all on the training pitch.  I feel that a personal connection to each athlete on your team will help you to be attentive to each athletes needs.  An athlete should never be afraid to tell his or her coach that they feel awful or have nagging injuries.  I’ve seen a lot of athletic careers end prematurely due to the athlete not having faith that his or her coach would understand followed by either a serious injury or a loss of love for the game.

     There are many variations to the training cycles I’ve listed above.  The most important thing is to pay close attention to how your players are handling it all.  Another trick to see how you are doing as a coach is to go back to past season records and see when your teams play their best and when they don’t.  Could fatigue be a factor in the parts of the season when they lose games or give up more goals?  However we coaches do it, we need to make sure we are taking the best care possible of our athletes.

Off Season Fitness

     Spring is probably an odd time to talk about off-season training however with the length of many competitive soccer seasons its never a perfect time to mention it.  By the way, I’m very glad that spring is here and this is my blog so I’m going to talk about it anyway.  A lot of our soccer players practically play year-round.  Even with a somewhat short off-season many players like to take in an indoor or futsal league on their “free” time.  All for love of the game. 

     Just my own personal opinion but I think its good for these athletes to take a break away from the game and do something different for a few weeks.  After a long season there is a great deal of latent fatigue that shows itself in weight loss, mild depression, slow healing injuries and more.  A break from the game is a good thing in many different ways.  This doesn’t mean that the athlete should just sit and do nothing.  Okay, do nothing for a week but then get out and do something active.  Consider this an active vacation from soccer.   Sort of like a weekend fishing trip with the boys so your wife can shop with her girlfriends.  You still love each other but a break is a great thing.  (Excuse the stereotype but you get the point.) 

     Active rest is the original “cross-training”.  Any activity is great however there are some that lend themselves well to the game of soccer.  Hiking is good, especially if there are lots of hills to work the quads and lungs.  If you have snow where you live then cross-country skiing is an excellent way to build cardiovascular fitness as well as leg strength.  Some of the “most fit” athletes based on VO2max (maximal oxygen consumption) are Nordic cross-country skiers so  this is a great way to go in the winter months.  Another activity that is very good for soccer players is cycling.  Cycling is low impact and thus allows nagging recurrent injuries to heal.  It’s also very good at building up the musculature around the knees.  This never hurts a soccer player.  Plus it helps build those all-important quads that soccer players need.

     Another good reason for this alternate group of activities is psychological.  I guarantee that after a couple of weeks off, a soccer player will return to the game with increased passion and energy for the game.  I think I’m due for a fishing trip.

 

NCAA and The Beautiful Game

            I would doubt that anyone that has been involved with soccer for any length of time in the US has not had to deal in some way with NCAA rules.  Regardless of whether or not your team is a collegiate team you have probably had to make sure that you are not breaking any NCAA commandments.  We take precautions to make sure that our youth players are not involved in situations where their NCAA eligibility might be affected.  Youth teams, high school teams, club teams, summer amateur teams, indoor teams, and more need to toe the line for an organization that clearly doesn’t understand the game like they should.

One question I raise is “should the NCAA have so much control over this game or should they lighten up and do what is best for the sport and the athletes”?  For instance, the collegiate soccer season is really rather short when compared with how the game is played everywhere else in the world.  To answer this they allow a “mini” spring soccer season that is really just tossing a marshmallow to a bear in a zoo.  (I know, dumb analogy.)  Not too many teams take this very seriously.   I believe the coaches use this little bit of time to keep their players in shape so they’ll return after the summer in better shape.  If asked I would bet that they would prefer to be able to have real serious competition during this spring season.

Another question has to do with developing players for higher levels.  It’s rare to see a US player be successful in the professional ranks outside of the US after a four year stint in college.  The ones that do are competing against seasoned veteran players of 20 or younger who have played professionally for a few years already, playing for 9-10 months per year as opposed to the American kid who only plays for 4-6 months per year.  It takes some time to work into that level of fitness.  Will the US ever make a serious challenge in the World Cup if we focus on collegiate players?  Naw. 

One problem as I see it is that because some athletic programs have had serious breaches of the NCAA rulebook (usually in American football and men’s basketball) all the other sports suffer from misdirected wrath that intends to keep collegiate sports clean, holy and pure.  Another issue is the thought that all sports should fall into the same type of season.  This just doesn’t work with soccer.  Baseball gets a raw deal on this one as well.  Teams in northern tier states have to deal with weather issues that challenge them every season since they are forced to start in the spring and be finished before the summer break.  More and more baseball programs appear to be going under.

Do I have a solution?  Not really.  But I think the dialogue for soccer needs to begin.  Those of us who love this game need to speak out a little more and see if we can improve the situation.  Personally I’d like to see the NCAA lighten up and improve the sports they represent in a way that makes sense.  Either that or we need to build up academy or non-NCAA amateur leagues.

*Would love you to share your opinion.

The Question of "Game Speed" Training

     One of my favorite types of technical training drills are what I like to call “Fatigue Drills”.  I like these not because I’m an evil, masochistic coach.  Rather, I believe that we as coaches work on skill development under circumstances that are a little too pristine sometimes.  It’s important for the athlete to learn the basics skills in a step-by-step way however once they have gained a certain ability they need to be able to use that ability in realistic situations.  Many matches are won or lost in the waning minutes as players are fatigued and their quality of play starts to fall off.  Also, technique falters when an athlete is in oxygen debt after an intense series of runs or moves, especially late in a match.  Advantage swings to the opponent.

     Helping a player improve his or her technical skills while they are on the verge of exhaustion will certainly pay dividends when the game is on the line.  Improved mental focus will also result as the player’s confidence is enhanced by useful training practices.

     One advantage of this type of training is that the athlete becomes self-aware of what they can and cannot do when they’re running out of steam.  This knowledge translates into the athlete’s ability to modify and therefore improve their touch on the ball or positioning or whatever it is that needs improvement.

     True “game speed” for training sessions and scrimmages is nearly impossible to achieve.  There is nothing like playing in real games to push a player to “game fitness”.  Nevertheless, if we strategically plan our training sessions in a way that makes the most sense where we push our players to work on technique during the “butt-dragging” phase of a practice I believe we will see positive outcomes.  Yes the players will complain but will appreciate it when they see results in real matches.

*Feel free to comment on and share what you do to help create “Game Speed” in training sessions.