Soccer Warm Ups
soccer warm ups when taking the time to work on your soccer skills on your own is so important, it is a common mistake to just run out on a field and start doing all kinds of crazy moves and smashing the ball into the net without any kind of warming up at all.
Unfortunately that can be a recipe for disaster because you can end up with an injury such as a muscle strain or even worse a tear!
Please make sure you warm up fully before you start to really get into your practice.
There are many different way to preform soccer warm ups, here is a basic soccer warm up great for training alone.
Firstly, grab the ball and go for a simple jog around the field two to three times and dribble the ball very lightly while jogging. Incorporate some jogging with bringing your knees up to 90 degrees as well as flicking your heels up to touch your butt as well. To do this while you have the ball, just play it out in front of you ( a nice simple side foot pass) about 20 yards then do the knees up or heels up as you move towards your ball.
This simple exercise will start to warm you up physically and mentally. It will help your body realize that it is getting ready to work and it will also help you mentally focus on why you are out there. Take the time to think about what you want to achieve with this practice session and block out all thoughts of social networks, cell phone calls etc.
Even the pro’s have to do soccer warm ups
Once you have completed the jog, then spend a little time working with the ball in a way that gives you lots of touches on the ball (this is a soccer warm up after all) , gets your heart rate going and has you start to sweat. Nothing too tough, just alternate touches on the top of the ball (soccer boxing) and tapping the ball side to side between your feet while being on your toes. Speed up these exercises as necessary to get your blood pumping.
Then do some more dribbling with the ball, say from the top of the penalty area to the half way line and back, and build up your speed as you progress, The main thing to remember is to not to exert yourself too much too quickly. Patience here is so important because if you step it up too quickly and injure yourself, you may be out of the game for weeks.
Then do some shorter bursts of work, say from the touchline to the penalty spot and back, dribbling with the ball and turning quickly as you warm up further and start to get out of breath.
Also, leave the ball aside and do some jogging backwards and sideways to loosen up and warm up your muscles more. Finally combine some forward jogging, backward jogging and sideways jogging, changing from one to another and changing direction as well.
Finish off your warm up with some juggling to get some good touches on the ball, but make sure you don’t lunge for the ball yet because you haven’t completed the stretching of your muscles at this stage.
The goal of soccer warm ups is to warm up your muscles, get the heart rate going and begin to sweat while having lots of simple touches on the ball. You are now ready to move on to the next phase of your warm up where you warmup specific muscle groups.
When you warm up as part of the team you will usually have a coach or an assistant coach running the soccer warm ups.
Amateur teams may let their players perform soccer warm ups themselves before a game or practice whereas professional teams will always have one of their fitness coaches running and overseeing the warm up. Often once the general warm up has been completed the team is split up into the starting players and the reserves. Also within the starting players there may be further dividing up into strikers, midfielder and defenders. Of course the goalkeepers always do their own specific warm up, once they have completed the general warm up with their team mates.
Many players like to have some time during the soccer warm up to do their own thing. They know their own bodies best and they may have also developed some habits that work for them.
Learn to enjoy the soccer warm up, as they are such an important part of developing your game.
If you want more info on soccer warm ups, check out Wiki