Kids Soccer Drills: How To warm Up Correctly
It’s amazing to see that the value of warming up in kids soccer drills is underestimated. Being a coach, I’d let it be known that warming up is not only compulsory but is even critical to begin the day’s play at a brighter and healthier note. In youth soccer drills, coaches fail to take this aspect into consideration. The result is injuries to players while performing drills.
You will find some great tips on warming up your team before practice sessions. Teach the kids to include all the body movements that allow all muscles in the body to get worked up. This is by far the best way to activate all the body parts. Rigorous sessions can result in stiffness and cramping of the muscles.
Tip 1: This requires the players to do an easy 5-7 minutes jog. A few minutes of jogging and then moving on to sprinting is the best proposition. In this, the pulse rate should reach 120 beats per minute. However, slow progress is the key. Next, make the players sway their legs, front and back, which should take roughly 10 minutes each. To conclude, the players should vigorously stretch their body more than 20 yards.
Tip 2: Talking of active stretching over 20 yards, it should be noted that it should be accompanied with some warm up exercises of its own. Like the players can bounce backward and forward. You can also teach them cross stepping. Players must also be trained on high-knee carioca. These must be executed as if sprinting.
Running towards the back also accounts a very efficient warm up drill in soccer drills for kids. But the best way to carry it out is to raise the heels up to the butt. No matter how difficult it may be to practice this but it’s the sole method or performing it accurately.
Tip 3: There are various other warm up drills in kids soccer drills that build up the energy for practice sessions. You can direct your players to play with circles and hoops. These result in giving an extra edge to the skipping exercises. You can also make your players do the intersecting skipping. Although a little advanced, Quick Hip Swings is also a very effective and tested method that warms up the body a great deal.
Subsequently the players can be made to do long shuffle with spins midway. Have the players move back and forth using their legs. It’s a very efficient activity and helps in toning the body. Equally effective are high leg forwards and backwards.
Tip 4: Stretching must be appropriately and effectively performed. For the legs, stretch hinging works the best. Make sure all players have worked out their quadriceps, calves, hamstring, and groin without fail. The players not only avoid injuries but also get to increase their muscle range by stretching.
In soccer drills for youth, it is also important to understand that kids should not overdo anything. They have the tendency to get carried away in excitement and injure themselves as a result.
Now that you are armed with this information about kids soccer drills, ensure that kids do warm ups before performing the drills. There is a wealth of news and articles of similar nature on our youth soccer coaching community. Sign up now to benefit from it.
Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make practice sessions fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills.