It’s amazing to see that the value of warming up in kids soccer drills is underestimated. It is something that being a coach, I would want to stress that warming up is obligatory and an important practice to lead the team towards a better start of the day. This issue is conveniently ignored as unimportant by the coaches in youth soccer drills. The result is injuries to players while performing drills.
You will find some great tips on warming up your team before practice sessions. The team should be guided to use such body movements that have the effect of warming up all muscles. This is by far the best way to activate all the body parts. Rigorous sessions can result in stiffness and cramping of the muscles.
Tip 1: Have the players jog for about 5-7 minutes initially. It is highly recommended to start with a light jog and then eventually sprint. Check that the pulse rate in this reaches 120 beats per minute. However, slow progress is the key. This should be followed by players moving their legs backward and forward for approximately 10 minutes each. Lastly, have them actively stretch their body over 20 yards.
Tip 2: But make sure that this active stretching over 20 yards goes with a few warm up exercises of its own. For instance, the players should practice hopping forward and backward. The players can also be taught cross stepping. Players must also be trained on high-knee carioca. You can have these performed similar to sprinting.
In soccer drills for kids, running towards the back is also a very useful warm up exercise. But the best way to carry it out is to raise the heels up to the butt. It’s actually tough to practice it like this but there’s no choice as it’s the single most and right way of doing it.
Tip 3: In order to buildup the force for the training session, kids soccer drills include numerous other exercises also. Have your players bounce with rings and swings. These give an extra dimension to the skipping exercises. You can also make them cross-over skip. It is Quick Hip Swings which is e very efficient and proven method of warming up the body, although it’s a little superior.
Next, make the players do long shuffles with turns in the middle. Have the players move back and forth using their legs. This is a highly effective and useful body toning activity. Equally effective are high leg forwards and backwards.
Tip 4: Stretching must be appropriately and effectively performed. What works best for the legs is stretch hinging. Make sure all players have worked out their quadriceps, calves, hamstring, and groin without fail. Stretching not only prevents injury but also increases the range of the muscles.
In soccer drills for youth, it is also important to understand that kids should not overdo anything. They tend to get carried over by enthusiasm and injure themselves unnecessarily.
Now that you are armed with this information about kids soccer drills, ensure that kids do warm ups before performing the drills. You can get a variety of information on same topic on our youth soccer coaching community. Sign up now to benefit from it.
Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills.