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.
