Thursday, April 1, 2010

IMPROVING SOCCER PERFORMANCE











I took a brief break from finishing the rest of the 40 Yard Dash series to insert an article that I was asked to write for Cal South Soccer Magazine. I will finish the last 3 zones after this. Here is the unrevised version. Unfortunately, it is about double the allotted length for the article. You will see the abbreviated version of this appearing in the May issue of Cal South magazine. The athlete in the pictures is professional soccer player, Raul Palomares, who trains with me at Velocity in West LA.



SOCCER PROGRAM
Increasing Your Overall Soccer Performance

In order to be successful on the soccer field, an athlete must have a certain skill set that is quite different than most sports. Particular to this sport, players must move in all directions in the most varying and undefined patterns. Lateral movement and linear movement are equally important. Explosiveness and the ability to react in a split second can determine which player gets to the ball first or in the correct position to quickly defend against a shot on goal. Players constantly have to respond to external environmental cues and react with the proper movement application. Thus, a high level of soccer performance means a player must have good lateral movement, acceleration speed, deceleration techniques to gain good body control, and an explosive lower body. The following exercises and drills have been used at the Velocity in West Los Angeles with a high level of success.

WARM-UP DRILL
Side Bounding (Heidens)
This is a basic lateral movement exercise that builds outer hip strength and overall leg power. It also raises the athlete’s heart rate, increases blood flow to their muscles, and prepares them for the rest of their workout. Set up cones that are 4 to 41/2 feet apart (depending on the age of your soccer player). Jump from right to left and hold the landing for a full second before jumping back to the opposite side. The athlete should attempt to jump both for distance and height. Make sure to use hips and arms to generate force.
            Do three sets of 5 jumps on each leg, totaling 30 jumps.

DIAGRAM:                                     ê Ñ 4 ft Ò ê

Photos taken by Devyn Schumacher. Athlete in both images is Raul Palomares.

LATERAL MOVEMENT/ACCELERATION/DECELERATION DRILL
3 Hurdle Drill: Acceleration to Quick Deceleration
This drill is one of the best at building strength in the legs, teaching the hips to lower, and the body to accelerate and quickly decelerate in front of an object (namely a soccer ball) to gain good body control. Set up 3 microhurdles that are approximately 2 feet apart and place a soccer ball approximately 8 yards in front of the hurdles. The athlete should begin in a good base position and quickly shuffle through the hurdles keeping the feet apart. There should be an emphasis on sticking and holding on the outside before reversing directions. When the predetermined number of roundtrips is achieved or by cue of the coach, the athlete should burst forward into acceleration towards the soccer ball. Upon approaching the soccer ball, the player should take smaller quicker steps, much like chattering their feet, and should concentrate on getting their body under control.
            Do three sets of at least 3 roundtrips with acceleration and deceleration.

DIAGRAM:                                    ] Ñ 2 ft  Ò ] Ñ 2 ft  Ò ]

                                                          Ó
                                                        8 yards
                                                          Ô

                                                          o (Soccer Ball)

Photo (top) was taken by Devyn Schumacher. Photo (bottom) was taken by Benjamin Allen.  
Athlete (top): Raul Palomares. Athlete (bottom: Youth Athlete at Velocity: West LA   

4 CONE BOX DRILL
4 Cone Reaction Box Drill
This is a favorite drill at Velocity West LA. Due to the reactive nature that is required for soccer athletes, this drill forces the player in the box to quickly respond and take the proper route to each cone. The coach should set up 4 cones in a box formation with each cone being approximately 3 yards apart. Each cone is assigned a number 1 – 4. The soccer player should stand in the middle of the box facing the coach. The cone to the player’s front left is cone 1 and the cone to the front right is cone 2. Appropriately, the cone to the player’s back right is cone 3 and the cone to the back left is cone 4. Upon instruction of the coach, the athlete will begin to chatter their feet in the middle of the box. The coach will call out any number 1 – 4 in any sequence. The soccer player reacts by shuffling to the appropriate cone and then immediately return to the center of the box and reestablishing their center of gravity. This drill can progress both in speed and the distance between each cone, helping build endurance and motor pattern development.
Do three sets for at least 30 seconds each. Make sure to allow adequate rest for your athlete to fully recover from this high intensity drill.

DIAGRAM:            
 ê(3)  Ñ 3 yards Òê(4)                       
 Ó                   Ó                 
 3 yards       X          3 yards
    Ô                   Ô
  ê(2)  Ñ 3 yards Òê(1)
                  Y

KEY:            X = the athlete                        Y = the coach

Photo taken by Devyn Schumacher. 
Athlete: Raul Palomares

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR YOUR SOCCER ATHLETE
* Deceleration is the key to multidirectional Speed
In order to make any change of direction, an athlete must first slow down or decelerate before you can speed up again.

* Use the ground to help you run faster
Simple physics says that applying force against the ground means the ground is going to apply an equal and opposite force, thus propelling the body forward. When teaching your soccer athlete to accelerate, it is important that they lower their hips and drive their feet into the ground to move forward.

* Learn to react faster
Soccer players have to constantly react to their environment. Whether you are doing simple running drills or complex cone drills, it is important to add reaction drills into your training program to improve your soccer athlete’s ability to continually react fast.

Photo Taken by Benjamin Allen.            
Athlete: Youth Athlete at Velocity: West LA


Brock Christopher is the General Manager and Sports Performance Director at the Velocity center in West Los Angeles. He has worked with numerous soccer athletes and helped improve their overall soccer performance.

Special Thanks to Photographer Devyn Schumacher. 

Also, Special Thanks to Professional Soccer Player Raul Palomares.
10 yrs professional soccer
5 yrs with 1FCKaiserslautern , 1 Bundesliga (Germany)
3 champion league appearances
2 yrs in NK Osijek (Croatia)
2 yrs in Racing Ferrol (Spain)
1 year with Chivas USA
1 year with Galaxy