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.