By Andrea Davidson


The difference between being ready for the opening game of the college soccer season and being unfit is like the difference between night and day. One of the most important aspects of any college soccer training program is preseason. If a trainer prepares thoroughly for the opening game then that could be the difference between being able to last 90 minutes, and wilting before the end of the game.

The training schedule needs to be planned with precision, in order to maximize the impact of each session. In an ideal world this will start 5 or 6 weeks prior to the season opening game. Normally you'll start off each sessions with a light warm-up, one that includes stretching and a little light jogging to get the muscles warm. It's important not to strain them during these sessions, that's why the emphasis is on warming up thoroughly.

When you train it's vital to stretch all the muscle groups with both static and moving exercises. Moving exercises are simply those that involve swinging the legs and arms in circular movements, and twisting the upper body. The stationery, or static exercises, are designed to stretch the quad muscles and the hamstrings.

Getting fit to play matches means you have to be able to run a lot. This builds up stamina, which means you'll last the whole game. This is one reason why long-distance cross country runs are quite popular. They increase cardiovascular fitness and, because the players are kept together in a group, it promotes comradeship among them.

As the season draws near, most trainers will focus on the getting players ready for actual games. This means more working with the ball and more sprinting, as this is a key component of soccer. By this time players are usually separated into teams, with one team working on their fitness by closing down the other team with the ball. The opposing team, in the meantime are actually working on their close quarter ball control, trying to pass around their opponents.

What normally happens at the end of each session is a short game where players practice free kicks or shooting. At the end of the session there is normally a warm down, with some light running followed by light stretching exercise to keep the muscles loose. This should not be done to the extreme as stretching the muscles can tear them.

When starting out in preseason it is best to start on light work, because the players that return will probably not be very fit. It takes a while to build up stamina and this is done partly by a injecting a sense of fun into the sessions. Players can become bored very easily, therefore they often need motivating during fitness work.

When the season is ready to start players will probably still not be fully match fit. The idea of college soccer training is to make sure players are ready to play competitive games. However, the only way to get fully fit for games is to actually play competitively against other teams. Preseason training is a great way of getting started.




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