Don’t just dig out your boot bag the day before training is due to start and polish your boots… there’s more to getting ready for the new season than that. Do you need to shed some holiday baggage or get your legs pumping again? Whatever your needs you can map out your pre-season fitness blueprint for you and your players.
Getting, and staying, fit for the first part of the new season is vital to a successful coaching strategy. If your players are not fit enough to play the way you want it will be a pointless beginning to your campaign. You need fun games, lots of touches and plenty of running around.
Start with Sprint to it, a running game that will have your players panting for breath but enjoying racing each other to get to the ball.
Another great session for individual work is the Agility Square. It’s a high tempo game that will wake up brains and give muscles a work out.
I also like to use sessions based purely on fitness work without a ball so that players can push themselves without having to think about moving the ball. The Fast footwork fitness test is one I use when preparing my teams for the tough season ahead. It doesn’t need a ball but has an element of competition that makes it fun for the players. I also find The Flower is a good option for individual fitness.
For a team work out I like to use games that work on fitness and also have a tactical element to them. Three ball pressure is a great session for getting players to press at high tempo, creating a game based on the tactic of winning the ball back wherever it is on the pitch.
And finally use 4-player pre-season support for a game that combines all the elements of individual and team play at a high tempo.
Research suggests the precise composition of pre-training or pre-match meals may be less crucial than was previously thought, says ANDREW HAMILTON MORE
We had a meeting this week at my club, where we were discussing the changes we face in a few months time. My U10s team goes from 7v7 into 9v9 and that means we are facing offside decisions. So how does a coach go about preparing for that? MORE
As coaches we are all obsessed with keeping possession of the ball... of course we are the best teams all do it and if you've got the ball the opposition can't score. And there is just that other coach called Pep Guardiola who swears by it... MORE
Fast is a word I like to use when my teams are attacking. Do it with speed and watch the opposition shrink away from it. It makes life difficult for your opponents and helps your team to dominate when in possession of the ball. MORE
The season has suddenly taken off again after 4 months of Coronavirus lockdown. I've been coaching for 14 hours for the last two weeks in an attempt to get the players back into some kind of shape for playing matches. It has its benefits but also it has a downside. Two of my players picked up injuries, one an ankle injury and the other had what he called "tired legs". Find out how we got on... MORE
in Defending, Email newsletters
Defending against overloads can happen whether your team is in an organised or disorganised state. You can plan defending when organised much easier than when you are defending disorganised. MORE
