Soccer Training Tips: 4 Action Ideas On Stretching
Sunday, September 19th, 2010Did you know that Soccer training tips has an important feature; stretching, that is highly recommended as well as practiced by almost every sports person? Soccer is a sport which is continuously growing and developing in its intricacy.
When it comes to kid’s training for soccer, two types of stretching i.e. static and dynamic stretching are included in it.
In static stretching, players stretch their muscles to a certain point of resistance and then hold for some period of time. Recurring motions, rebounding, and rhythmic bouncing are performed by the players while doing dynamic stretching. In general, it is not considered as effective as static stretching and more dangerous than static stretching.
This article discusses some benefits of stretching that go a long way in making a good player great.
Stretching reduces injuries: When players do stretching every day and keep doing it for a long time, it promotes their muscle growth that reduces the risk of injury. Stretching provides a way of growing the muscle mass and strength as well.
Stretching shapes flexibility: Stretching puts a stop to any loss of flexibility. However, the support is more convincing for a long-term stretching line up than for shorter periods of time.
Performing stretching for a few minutes before starting any playing activity is likely to enhance flexibility. When it comes to soccer training tips, the best bet is to distribute a stretching program over a predetermined length of time to continuously increase the range of motion.
Stretching improves performance: Stretches, when designed to be soccer specific can greatly improve a player’s performance.
Stretching can be great fun for the kids: If you include a lot of different types of soccer drills in your practice sessions, it can be a lot of fun. Keep changing the warm up activities that are performed before stretching. Try games like the tag game, ball tag, and keep away.
Focus mentally on stretching exercises, feel and recognize each stretch, whilst checking for body soreness.
For almost all players, one single 15-30 minute stretch for each muscle group is sufficient but some may need longer stretches and more repetitions.
The reason for this is that when the temperature of muscles is higher than normal, stiffness decreases and extensibility increases. Players who want to maintain or increase their flexibility can partly achieve this goal by stretching. It’s advisable to perform stretching exercises when the body temperature is higher than normal as it is safer and more useful.
That’s why some experienced coaches recommend stretching after a workout also. After practicing soccer skills, if kids are made to do some stretching for 5-7 minutes, it’ll prevent their muscles from tightening too fast.
Normally, players who perform an active warm-up previous to stretching get an enhanced range of motion than the ones who simply stretch. So if injury prevention is your aim, stop stretching before exercise and increase the warm up time.
Some food for thought; one of the most important soccer training tips is that hurried stretching is meaningless and boring and doesn’t help your players gain flexibility, so allow them some extra time when they are feeling inflexible or stiff. You can subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community and get your way to innumerable articles, videos, and periodic newsletters.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Drills For Kids