by Steve Miles

How many of you believe that soccer warm ups are important? Most parents and to some extent coaches believe that young players do not have the need to warm up. But I’m here to tell you otherwise. By creating a structured training session with plenty of time for your players to warm up, you give them a gift that will last a life time. Young players will develop a great habit and reduce the risk of injuries.

Before you get your players to stretch, it’s a good idea to get them to jog around the field for approximately 10 minutes. This will ensure that their body core temperature has risen and the blood is pumping through the required muscles. Once the muscles have warmed up they become more elastic and will be easier to stretch.

Once your players have been jogging for around 10 minutes you can then proceed to stretching. Dynamic stretching has replaced static stretching for a number of reasons. Dynamic stretching involves all the muscle groups that are needed for the heavier loads of training. By stretching these muscle groups at a slower pace, you give them adequate time to adopt and warm up reducing the risk of injury.

So what kind of warm up drills do you recommend? I’m glad you asked! The first drill to use is simply called the knees to ball drill. Each player in your team grabs a ball and holds it away from their bodies. The idea of this drill is to try and kick the ball with your knees. This drill should not last more than 30 seconds on each knee. Keep alternating legs to ensure both legs get adequate warming up. This motion is great for stretching the groins, quads, hamstrings and calves.

Toe to hand is another great warming up drill. This warm up drills requires the players to work in pairs. One player stands facing the other with the ball at waist height. The other player kicks the ball with his toes while alternating feet. This drill should last for 30 seconds and then the players swap roles. This drill is great for warming up the hamstrings and giving your heart a good workout at the same time. It also gives you a great stretch and increases your kicking range follow through.

This drill is a continuation of the second drill. Now each player will try and kick the end of their fingers with their toes. Just pretend to kick a ball and follow through reaching up towards your fingers. Right leg will follow through to the left hand and vice-versa. This drill gives your hamstrings are greater stretch and also replicates the motion of kicking which will be needed later on in the session.

Once your players have warmed up and spent some time stretching, introduce some balls into the training session and continue to increase the pace and the work loads of the training drills.

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