Myths About Soccer Training #2

Myths about physical
development in youth soccer

In the first post , we touched on the notion that all youth soccer players should play multiple sports to avoid injury, increase athleticism, and prevent “burn out”.

Myth #2 – Speed is purely

genetic and cannot be coached.

Speed training, in soccer, is

developed through endless

sprints with little rest, just like

the game is played.

Speed training can definitely be taught into the game of soccer should be designed for developing players, young and old. In fact, just like any skill on the ball, speed is a complex neuromuscular pattern and needs to be taught consistently, for effective results to occur. I believe that the more important conversation and questions are as follows:
1. What does speed training for soccer look like?
2. Are certain ages (biological) more susceptible to speed development? 3. Can speed training be added into practice?

What does speed training for soccer

look like?

There is much research about the specific demands of the game and how many sprints take place, on average, within a match. Most research states that, within a 90 minute match, players run upwards of ~6 miles and make an estimated 19 high speed sprints (straight) per game with an average duration of 2 seconds, each. We should also include the fact that players are performing anywhere from 700-900 different changes of direction within each game, and speed does not just include the work performed in straight sprinting. Lastly, It is worth mentioning that statistically, the game is played at a much higher speed than even 10 years ago. In professional soccer, the number of sprints and high intensity activity per game has doubled, since 2002. Not only is the ball moving faster, but the players are as well, so speed becomes a very critical portion of youth soccer development. So with all of this being said, how should speed training be conducted for soccer athletes? Even though the majority of runs, within a soccer match, are executed at less than 100% speed (due to energy demands), the ability to increase the overall speed of the player enables the lower speeds to become faster. Thus, in order for your training to become effective speed training, the drills must be conducted at 100-110% of maximum velocity for effective change. You must teach your body to become fast. If you train speed at 80%, then your body only knows 80% to be its highest speed potential. **Yes, it does exist to train above 100% max velocity, through a number of ways that may be discussed in another post.

Lastly, but most importantly, the sprint training, just like any other skill, must have clear and concise coaching objectives for effective change to take place. The normal youth soccer player, is extremely inefficient and ineffective in their technical running form. Quick changes made by simple cues, will give an immediate progression of speed ability. Do not let your players add volume onto dysfunction. If the player is running incorrectly, the issue will only continue until changed, therefore the progression for speed will be much less effective. Here are some simple cues for linear speed training (cues for change of direction and quickness are different): Arms must work from chest to clear the hips The foot must make ground contact underneath the hip to push backwards The player’s posture must be such, that the hips extend forward, generating efficient acceleration

Are certain ages more susceptible to

speed development?

The answer to this question is, yes, but that does not mean that speed training should be ignored outside of these ages. Biological age is different from chronological age, in that the individual body grows at very different speeds. You can look at several 13 year old boys and girls in a line and see that one player may be much more physically developed then the others. This means that the bodies ability to train and develop certain skill sets are much different, due to the integrity of the skeletal, neuromuscular, and cardiovascular systems. The concept of biological vs. chronological age is very important for physical development of players. Speed development is best trained at two separate times of biological development:
Females Speed 1 = at 6 to 9 years old.
Females Speed 2 = typically around 11-13 years old.
Males Speed 1 = typically around 7 to 9 years old.
Males Speed 2 = typically around 13-16 years old.

Can speed training be added into

practice?

Although there are few different types of training that will increase speed, within a soccer player, a large majority of these training modalities can be done on field within a practice. We have already discussed recommended intensity, duration, and volume of runs for speed, but another important aspect of speed development is strength training. Common sense will tell you that the more fit and strong a player is, the faster they will become. Research shows that the more a player can squat, the faster they are within their acceleration sprints of 0-10yds. We will be touching base on appropriate strength and fitness training in later posts, but I would like to add simple guidelines to speed work within training. All speed training should be performed at the beginning of the session, just after the players are warmed up. Have a technical objective within the speed drills performed that aligns with your objectives for the rest of the practice. Make sure that these drills are performed with quality technique to create good habits. Plyometric and strength training can be performed on field, but should be done intelligently, at the correct volumes and ages. Make sure that players of all ages (even 7-8 years old) are going through age specific strength training, in order to increase speed potential and decrease injuries.

Myths about soccer training #1

Myth #1 – Playing multiple
sports (cross-training) is
always good for Long Term
Athletic Development and will
keep my child from incurring
injuries and “burnout”.

It is believed that playing 1 sport, too early, does not allow the maturation and development of specific muscle groups and coordinated skills, therefore creating susceptibility to chronic injuries due to repeated stress on the same part of the underdeveloped body. For young soccer players, we see this manifest itself in such ways as: plantar fasciitis, Sever’s disease, Osgood Schlatter’s disease, jumpers knee, spondylolysis, and hip flexor/quad/groin strains. It is amazing that I regularly hear of 10 year olds with chronic injuries that should be more commonly found in middle-aged long distance runners. This has become more of the norm than an anomaly. Due to the repetitive skill sets in soccer and the recurring stress due to similar movements throughout the game; youth soccer players are commonly asymmetric, with extremely strong and tight quads and hip flexors and adversely weak glutes and hamstrings. The constant change of direction and jumping creates a ton of stress on the body, and the asymmetries aforementioned can wreak havoc on the body and create these overuse injuries. This, coupled with the long competitive soccer seasons and imprudent practice to game ratio, has youth soccer organizations mixing a cocktail of inevitable issues that parent and coaches are calling “just a part of the game”. It may be part of the game today, but does it have to be? The “cross-training” rationale, of playing multiple sports, is intended for young players to create an aptly prepared body for the rigors of soccer (or whatever sport they choose), by changing the nature of the sport and skill sets while developing strength in the typically weak areas of the body. This should, in theory, give the overstressed muscles and joints a recovery period, whilst still being active and developing athletic skill sets, and discovering the sport of choice. This model has been shown only to be successful if some very important principles are followed. 1 sport is played at a time. Never play multiple sport seasons or play on multiple soccer teams at the same time. Appropriate strength and flexibility training is developed along with the sport skills, throughout all ages of soccer development. Intermittent months throughout the year must be utilized to separate the player from competitive soccer. This means no indoor in the winter, endless camps in the summer, or using soccer as a means of babysitting when your child has nothing else scheduled, unless the programs have an understanding of how to properly develop players.

I believe that this argument for “cross-training” was valid (and still can be), a decade ago, however the competitive nature of youth sports today has far exceeded the recreational nature it once had and is not a valid justification for injury prevention. Nowadays, competitive soccer starts at 7 years old and often plays the traditional 2-season (spring and fall) club year. The pressure and demand that parents (therefore clubs) put on these young players is immense, while commonly having as many games on the weekends as practices during the weeks. When players continue to play other sports, each respective sport and their teams are equally competitive and do not care nor take into consideration that these kids are going from competitive sport season to competitive sports season, without rest. More often, I find that young soccer players are playing in two different competitive sports in the same season or on two different competitive soccer teams (club and school) and are moving from practice to practice, sometimes in the same day. “I often see the best athletes, at young ages, being the players that are suffering the most. Every soccer team wants them to play as many games as possible and other sports try to draw them into their respective seasons. It’s a recipe for disaster.” What was once a great way to develop a myriad of sport skills may end being more detrimental on the body than ever realized. The absence of an off-season, or more relevant, the absence of lower intensity and appropriate general preparation training, within the soccer season, accumulates fatigue in the central nervous system and trauma in the soft tissue and muscles. This is when injuries start to occur. The developing joints, bones, and circulatory systems are not able to rebuild as fast as the player is breaking down, causing the body to induce inflammation and pain in order to force the body to slow down. Players, at the advice of parents and coaches, tend to play through these pains. Too many games and not enough practice then throw the overly fatigued and underdeveloped players to the “wolves”, where 1 false move/tackle/run can mean trouble. So what are the solutions? I think that there are many ways to solve this problem, but it has to be done with education on your goals within youth soccer participation and following some strict guidelines. I am not in the opinion that youth players should avoid playing other sports, actually I think it is extremely beneficial. The point is that parents need to be careful of over doing the competitiveness of multiple sports and avoiding portions of the year when they are able to separate themselves from the competitive game. We need to understand the collective work volume that a player is putting in, each week, that leads to injury and “burnout”. Coaches need to be empathetic with players that are playing several sports at the same time and need to dial it down a notch on the competition and demands at young ages. Here are some guidelines that, I believe, would allow the benefits of multiple sports without the potential for injury. Play one sport at a time and change the sport each successive season When sport seasons overlap, avoid over competing and under training. Also avoid conditioning for 1 team and training for another. They do not compliment each other. Avoid coaches and teams that tend to spend time “conditioning” players off the ball, before age 14. Players that just play soccer (really all athletes) should participate in athleticism programs to develop necessary skills that are not commonly developed by the sport or club and necessary strength and flexibility that will keep the player injury free for the long term. Make sure that young players are keeping their sport environment recreational, until it is appropriate. That means, club soccer is not best for players that share sports in the same season until after 13 years old (or biological age equivalent). If you do seek out an athletic development training program, make sure that they understand biological age vs. chronological age, training history, injury history, and soccer-specific needs and seasons. It may be just as detrimental to throw your child to programs that train your player like every other sport, regardless of season. Especially at the high school ages.

In every other country, around the world, soccer has been the only sport played by nearly every youth player that develops within the game. Are overuse injuries as prevalent? Although I do not have any research or numbers to back it up, I would say yes and no. No, because of how much training and developing foreign clubs tend to do with their players. They have complete control over the nature of their training, at youth ages, therefore the technical development is priority and the competition is not. Clubs around the world are beginning to put in physical development programs in with their technical programs, and understanding the importance of developing athletes to physically peak at 26-29, not 17-19 years old. Yes, because these physical programs have not reached the vast majority of clubs, so players are breaking down there, just as they are here. Below, I’ve listed the topics that will be discussed in the weeks to come. I welcome your thoughts on this subject and look forward to the next blog.

[Top Best] Soccer Improvement Drills #2

Want to know the best drills for improvement? Here is a video featuring a drill that has helped me a lot in the past. This drill need to be done at speed. You can do the easiest drills but doing them at pro speed is what makes it hard. So here take a look at this ----------->

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