How to warm up for a soccer game

Posted on by submit Sports & Recreation

Warming up is extremely important. Doing so reduces the chance of injury and allows a player to perform at his/her peak faster and for longer. Here is an example of a soccer warm up routine:

Circulation

The first step is to increase circulation, especially from the parts of the body that have poor circulation like the ankles and calves. Professional players start with a light massage by the team’s physio or massage therapists. Next is some active warm-up with about ten minutes of light jogging. If you have seen a similar warm up, it involves jogging forward, sideways along with some backpedaling and rotations.

Dynamic stretching

Soccer coaches agree that as part of warm up, dynamic stretching is better than static. This is because static stretching does not move a muscle through its full range of motion, increasing the chance of injury. Dynamic stretches have you running through the full range of motion and increase the flow of blood and oxygen to the soft muscle tissue.

The typical set of dynamic stretching includes:

Hamstring stretches

Lunge walks

Back lunges

Glutes walk

Inchworm

Quad walk

Squat walk

Side lunge

Lunge

Squat

Technical warmup

This is the final phase of the warm up. This is called technical because it involves actual soccer movements. Some teams run players through a compressed practice session to prime the nervous system.

It might seem a long process, but a good warm up will allow you to play at your best for longer, all while minimizing the risk of injury.

Tips and tricks on improving at soccer

Posted on by submit Business Services
Soccer ball and goal

Written by Soccer Garage

Here are some tips and tricks on how to improve your soccer game:

Practice – Although this might be obvious, the only way to get better, that is significantly better, is to practice. In sports, there are no shortcuts. Is there a player that is clearly better than you? That is because they practice and work harder. You cannot buy your way to an improvement.

Fitness – Soccer is a physical sport. Build up speed, agility, and your fitness levels and become a high-performance player. A well-trained body can make up for technical deficiencies. Training should involve strength work, plyometric training, sprints, core work, etc. Make sure you have several pairs of soccer footwear for various types of play.

Pressure – Train the way you expect to play. Too many players practice alone. It is easy to manage all the drills alone. Take the next step and practice at game speed under pressure from a defender. Playing at speed is how you iron out mistakes.

Diet and Lifestyle – You cannot out-exercise a bad diet. The basics are to eat healthily and get at least eight hours of sleep. With proper training, your body will need time to recover. Proper recovery is the only way to train every day without crashing.

Gear – Make sure you have everything you need regarding gear. Everything from your soccer socks to your shoes should be packed and ready for the next day or two days of training.  Hitting the training ground at 6 am means everything should be ready.

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