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.
Increasing the sprinting speed of your team will have them reaching the ball faster than their opponents all over the field and can change the outcome of a match. MORE
Getting players back to fitness after a lazy summer is an important part of any pre-season checklist. This fun speed and agility exercise is great for developing quick footwork, acceleration and speed. MORE
This training session is designed to develop your players’ facility for intensive endurance. This could give you the advantage you need to win more matches. MORE
This is all about teamwork and teammates using the ball or stopping opponents from winning it. Press hard and the defenders will win the three balls in the fastest time MORE
Use this fast-paced training game to get two centre midfielders and a defensive midfielder moving quickly into positions to support each other, just like they would in a match. MORE
A couple of weeks ago I was on a course discussing what got youth players thinking during a game and how they could react to that. If their team has the ball what should they be thinking about and if they have lost the ball how should they react. MORE
It is all well and good if you have a goalkeeper who is confident enough to clear counter attacks or long balls over the defence – but that is a rare quality in the youth game. You have to put in plans to stop this kind of attack. MORE
I was watching a match on TV this week and there was a wonderful example of twin strikers creating space to score a goal. One striker ran towards the near post dragging the defence with him and the other targeted the back post heading into the net unmarked. It works well in youth football MORE
Who doesn’t love to dominate the opposition with a lot of possession by intelligent short passes which in the end opens up the entire opponents defensive line? It is a fantastic tactic to use but remember you also need a plan to win the ball back when your team inevitably loses it! MORE
I'm not bragging when I tell you my Under 9 team scores lots of goals – they do but that's down to their hard work on the training pitch. And that is not to say they are all perfectly formed with a good shot on the player's favoured foot. My players use both feet... sometimes just to guide the ball into the net with their less favoured foot MORE
Scoring last minute goals can be due to the opposition tiring or suddenly becoming less attacking and sitting back hoping for the final whistle – but it can also be because your team is putting in a big effort to score a winner or to rescue a point with clever use of tactics. MORE
“I took a free trial and I was blown away by the drills; it made my training sessions so much easier. ”
