Fitness and Conditioning for U11 and U 12 Players
At this age, all fitness and conditioning should be done creatively with a ball. The level of play and the age of the players will determine how much conditioning is needed. Most players will be fairly fit from their recreational pursuits, and will derive fitness from properly organized soccer training sessions. Hopefully the players have already been "conditioned" to stretch both before and after training and matches. If this is not the case, the U12 coach should reinforce this.
Stretching Increases Performance
It is fairly obvious that reduced flexibility will decrease performance. Good flexibility produces better mechanical functioning of joints and muscles. Increased flexibility will give the muscle power a longer range, which leads to a higher final speed of motion. Most professional athletes perform lengthy stretching routines daily.
It is known that it is better to have greater flexibility for strength training. As far back as 1951, H E. Billig demonstrated that muscles that have been lightly stretched can perform stronger contractions. The stretching method of tighten-relax-stretch also gives some strength training for muscles. This ‘Isometric’ technique used for muscle tightening has been shown to be the method that develops the greatest power generation, when you compare different types of muscle work.
Flexibility training also increases the metabolism in the muscle, tendons and surrounding soft tissues. This is an advantage during work periods, but stretching after practice can also reduce the risk of aches later. Muscle soreness (and other pain connected to physical activity) is significantly reduced or disappears when the training includes stretching exercises. In conclusion, speed, strength and precision are all improved.
Stretching Prevents Injuries
It is important that your training be both effective and free of risk. All training, especially strength training and endurance training, produce shortened muscles. Studies show that a single session of strength training can diminish flexibility as much as 5-13% for a period of at least 48 hours. Poor flexibility can cause improper stress on joints and muscles. The risk of injuries, especially tears and inflammation, increases considerably when the muscles are shortened and stiff. This is due to the fact that during training, the durability of tendons, ligaments and bones does not increase as fast as the strength of muscles, since these tissues have a slower metabolism than the muscles.
Muscles with a postural function, especially the extensor muscles, contain more of the above mentioned connective tissue structures and have a greater tendency to be shortened. Typical muscles that have a tendency to be tight are the muscle in the back of the thigh (hamstring), the muscle on the inside of the groin (adductors), the calf muscle, the big hip bending muscle (iliopsoas), together with the great chest muscles and the back extensor muscles. There is a definite correlation between shortened groin muscles and the occurrence of injuries among soccer players. Injuries on tendon and muscle attachments decrease significantly when stretching is done according to the tighten-relax-stretch method, parallel to other training.
The warm-up/cool down stretches for sets of muscles that are most commonly shortened by athletic participation are based on the following priciples: after a muscle contraction (without shortening) against resistance, is that the muscle is relaxed first, then stretched. When the muscle works with resistance, it is still warming up. This is actually the most specific form of a muscle warm-up. The stronger the muscle contraction, the higher the temperature, and in the stretching method, the contraction (tightening) is always as strong as possible. This type of muscle warm-up is of great benefit and should always precede the stretching of muscles. In addition, it is known that the stronger the contraction, the greater the muscle relaxation in the next phase. This is also an advantage, since the muscle should be as relaxed as possible during the stretch.