Soccer Fitness

Response to a training question…”What can I do to improve my fitness and shooting power?”

For fitness training, I suggest you work on improving your capacity for repeated short sprints. Soccer is an “intermittent sprint” sport. Players are called on to perform a series of explosive actions (sprint, tackle, jump for a header, etc.) with periods of rest in between.

Your fitness aim is to:

1. Increase the number of explosive actions you are able to perform (repetitions).
2. Increase the force you are able to produce during those actions (strength).
3. Shorten the recovery time needed between explosive actions.

For a more powerful shot, most of this will come from improvement in technique. The force you can generate in a shot is most dependent on striking the ball cleanly with proper timing and technique – especially a moving ball.

You must find a way to play small sided games (1vs1, 2vs2, 3vs3, 4vs4, etc.) You will need to enlist a few friends or go introduce yourself where you see a game happening and ask to join. This is the best way to learn the game and improve your skills. It also exposes you to the multi-directional movement and fitness demands of 11vs11 soccer, while the smaller numbers mean more individual involvement. Juggling, jumping rope, running short sprints, and passing against a wall are all great training activities that you can do on your own. But you also need to perform skills within the context of the game, so playing pick up games is a must.

Good luck and enjoy your training.