When was the last time you took time to run a great soccer specific speed training sessions with your youth soccer team? The answer for 99% of you is probably never! Why? Because true soccer specific speed training (and speed conditioning) is a topic that challenges even the best coaches at the highest levels, let alone the youth soccer coach. I’ve committed my business to brining this intriguing new training to every youth soccer coach possible in an easy-to-understand, practical way via coach’s clinics and articles like this one
New, Progressive Effective!Soccer Specific Speed Training by Chochi Valenzuela – director of http://www.speedtrainersusa.com www.SpeedTrainersUSA.com
When was the last time you took time to run a great soccer specific speed training sessions with your youth soccer team? The answer for 99% of you is probably never! Why? true soccer specific speed training (and speed conditioning) is a topic that challenges even the best coaches at the highest levels, let alone the youth soccer coach. I’ve committed my business to brining this intriguing new training to every youth soccer coach possible in an easy-to-understand, practical way via coach’s clinics and articles like this one. So, if you are intimidated by, you are not alone. This is the cutting edge of player development, the newest and most effective shift in training youth soccer players. Here are things you can do/learn to get your team faster even with the little time you have in your practices.
#1- Get more knowledge! Let’s face it, it’s up to you to go out and seek more quality knowledge on the specific techniques of soccer speed and agility training from articles like this one, at coaches clinics and on the web. Your club or organization is not usually reliable to keep their coaches up to date on what new training methods like this, even if they are extremely effective. It’s been my experience that most changes start with parents and coaches like yourselves who bring new programs to the attention of directors and to other club organizers. Understand Youth Training Philosophies for Speed Training! The context is everything. Don’t miss the importance of this. All of my effectiveness happens because my context is clear and therefore 95% of what I do is effective. In a nut shell here is the context that I train from: It has to be Simple to Understand - I am teaching kids and those who teach kids. I am clear that I am training and developing kids, not professional athletes.
#2Technique is More Important than Speed – The only thing speed is, is the proper techniques done quickly. – It takes time for the body to learn new movement patterns. The body always goes back to the last habit learned when under pressure. So, until you build the techniques into a habit be patient. In my experience training individuals and groups, it takes about 8 to 12 sessions to see results under pressure but, when it happens, watch out! Games ...Your job is to find a way to take what works and make it fun. Remember, you are working with kids. Here are some basic but powerful elixirs that almost guarantee a fun experience for your sessions. Race – one on one, group, relay races, race against the clock, etc. Competition – keep some sort of score.Challenging – We all like to be challenged, it’s part of the learning process. An atmosphere of individual learning, improvement and accomplishment. The S. A. I. D. Principle!(See #5 Below)
#3 - Learn Basic Techniques and Speed Training Principles – The only thing that Speed is, is the proper technique done properly. Coaches, this should be very empowering for you because if you can teach one technique you can teach another. It’s really that simple. You and your players are the same. Learning new things is fun. You will be as excited to implement your new knowledge as much as your players will be to do them. On the other side of the coin - not learning the proper techniques and just doing the drills can lead to frustration and sometimes injury.
#4 - Commit the Time – Commit to take fifteen minutes after your warm up for your speed training. This could be the most valuable time you spend because there are so many times in a game when the faster and sharper player wins the ball and many times, wins the game. One of the most exciting moments you will experience is that moment when you see your players play faster, with more control and do it all with more because you committed a mere 15 min. a session on soccer specific speed training.
#5 – The S.A.I.D. Principle! Understanding his principle alone will answer a lot of questions for you right away and spark a whole new series of right questions and right thinking around how to most effectively use your practice time to develop your players into soccer athletes. In everyday language this means if your players don’t do it in a game, don’t do it in your practices For example, I’ve never seen a player run a lap or two around the field in a soccer game to date, so I don’t do it in my training. I have seen however, a player shuffling and adjusting his/her movement in a small space, sprinting into an open position, turning and sprinting back to recover into a defensive position. To consistently build faster and quicker soccer players you need to constantly ask yourself “what are the types of running (movements) they do most often and how can I enhance their ability to do it faster? Oh, yeah, and Have Fun Doing It!?! To bring this article to a close, it’s your challenge coaches, to disassemble the game and look at it in little segments, or moments in time and ask yourself – how can I maximize my player’s effectiveness / speed in this situation? I guarantee that some combination physical speed, reaction speed, technical speed, mental speed and/or creative speed will impact the outcome in a positive way.
