Pregame warmup

Recently (last 10 years) I wasn't able to have a set routine because of lack of time and space. Facilities are always full now with typically the kick off scheduled for the start of the permit. 20 years ago we didn't even need a permit or to reserve a field. The only teams here that get priority are high school teams on their own fields. Which wasn't me.

 

I like those objectives, I always prioritize : 1. don't let them get hurt before the game even starts.

 

Avoiding injury should be the top priority of all training.

 

yep, and one of the top reason's my oldest son isn't playing the other kind of football this fall. my younger thinks football is nuts.

 

You have time before games? I think we get about 5 minutes and that includes pre-game chat that is short players doing the captain coin toss thing. We usually just have what looks to be chaos with some free touches and passing to teammates. In our short amount of time, I've found it works better than anything really organized.

 

I'm not sure how much kids can actually learn right before the game. I heard a candy coach tell her parents to show up 30 minutes prior to the game. I was going to stop her and tell her that the games ended up only being 20 minutes a part, but decided to mind my own business. They look like a serious club of 5 year old girls.

 

I'm not teaching anything unless you mean basic positioning/tactical reminders. I want mine there and ready to go 15 minutes early just because they'll all show up right at kickoff otherwise.

 

I have my team show up 30 minutes early. We are U9.
I have them come this early for a few reasons-
1. Someone is always late. So 30 minutes early really turns into 10 minutes early.
2. I do a "Tie your shoes" check. Nothing drives me crazier than a kid on the field with their laces untied.
3. Someone always says "I need to go to the bathroom" as they arrive on the field.

Our typical warm up consists of the following:
1. Some light jogging and stretching. Get the heart rate up a little and get ready to move.
2. Some form of dribbling with pressure.
3. Some form of passing and moving. (We either do a triangle passing drill where you follow your pass or "Short-Short-Long".
4. Keep Away game of 9v1 in a large circle.
5. Time to review positions and reminders on: Playing wide. Looking for splits/through balls. Defending with Pressure/Cover/Balance and delay in the middle third. Fast re-starts.

 

1. 2 lines, jog, high step, side-step, backward, jumps, butt-kicks, leg-lifts that turn to outside etc. U-12's generally don't need this, but it they are about to hit the maturity that will require them to warm up properly, raise the heart rate and stretch. Also, these simple exercises don't take much and slowly moves them to focusing on the game.

2. If time is limited, generally it is, despite the 30 minutes prior 'request', 4 v 2 in a box is the core of the warm up with the ball. Lots of touches, tight spaces, a bit anaerobic at times. Good drill that accomplishes a lot. ( I will work with the GK at this time).

3. Also while ball is moving I will quiz them. "which way is the wind blowing?" "Is the grass high? cut? wet? sticky?" Which way is the sun pointing? What effect will those conditions have on the game?

 

U10's, I have them show up 20 minutes before the game.

1. Juggling with the early birds and the first couple minutes.
2. 1 v 1 shielding
3. Keep away in the center circle, 2 v whatever
4. 3 v 2 with the keepers rotating.

 

Sometimes in the initial low intensity SSG warmups I use two balls instead of one. It doubles the touches and makes what otherwise would be technically boring more challenging.

 

Alot is age dependent, but in general, I like to stick with a few drills that become routine after a few games so you don't have to micromanage them as much during warm-ups. 2-3 warm up drills on autopilot for 10 minutes or so, while you can sit in peace and review your starting lineup, meet the refs and coaches from other team etc.

- don't do drills that risk injury and don't do drills that will tire them out.

Bring them in to the bench with 5 minutes left and go over starting lineups, equipment check (earings out, shoes tied etc.) and a few strategies/pointers then start the game with minimal chaos.

 

U10 Boys - 20 minute warm-up, which usually ends up being 15 minutes.
1) Small touches - 30 toe taps, 50 bell touches, inside rolls, couple of different turns
2) Line-up all facing same direction and do small touches to about 10 yards away and back:
in-outs - right foot then left back
toe taps - forward then backward
bell touches - forward then backward
pull-push short touches - right foot then left back
dribble across with move in the middle - different move on the return
3) fast dribble across the field at the parents, cut along the sideline before hitting parents and go score a goal
- then gather soccer balls to the sideline
4) rondo (piggy in the middle) with 2 defenders
5) Couple minutes for drinks and to go over starting line-up
6) Organize kids on the side and start the game

I use the rondo time to make adjustments to the line-ups and rotation based on kids that are late or I just learned won't be coming - which is rare. Short coaching points based on our theme(s) for the week are brought up when going over the starting line-ups.

 

Anyone have a good pre-game warmup exercise that will get U15 Girls (competitive) ready to play? We have a really bad habit of coming out flat and giving up goals in the first 5 minutes. Right now our routine is:

Dynamic warm-up w/o ball, led by captains (7-8min)
5v2 keep-away (two 12x12yd grids) while keeper warms up separately (15min, rotating defenders)
Keeper and starting defenders in front of goal, others attack three at a time (3v4+K) (10min)

Ideas?

 

Zero touches.

Very few touches (1 ball to 7 players). Very stationary (7 players in small space).

Very short. It takes 15 minutes minimum for the knee joint to reach full strength.

This would be fine as a prelude to a period of mid intensity movements building to high intensity movements, but you need to work at least 200 touches into the warm up.

If you don't have more time, then you need to cram more touches into the workout.
1. Incorporate touches into the dynamic stretching phase with 1 ball for every player. Typically you have a recovery period following each movement. You could add the ball work into the recovery period, so you still get the good technical movements during the actual stretches.
2. Change the second exercise to force all players to move. One way is to make the space a rectangle so you get passes and movements off the ball that are longer than just 12 yards (that is really too short for even short passing--these girls will be almost adult in size). A rectangle lends itself to short long short long combinations. You could add zones in the 4 corners. Start 5v3 (or 6v2) for mid intensity and switch to 4v4 to end with a period of higher intensity at game like conditions.

 

Bingo. One of the girls even mentioned that. While I like rca2's thought of more touches, that's not really the issue, it's the mindset. Adding in different service, 505/50 balls and the like may be closer to what we need than the specific activity. I do think using a larger space might help too.

 

I don't know if it is all the ads or what, but I cannot "edit" my post to finish the response. GRRR.

Regarding the 3rd exercise, I am guessing that you only have 1 end of the field so half the players are resting while the other half do the exercise. I would suggest that while the 5v3 SSGs are going on you break out the forwards (no more than 2 forwards per keeper) with the 2 keepers. Run 2 functional training exercises for finishing so that the forwards are going 1v1 on the keepers. Run them at the same time, one on the right side and one on the left side. This keeps your space needs shallow (the last 18 yards). Make sure the exercise incorporates quick movements for the forwards. Have the keepers alternate sides after every shot to keep them moving. Having to move around each other adds to the realism.

So if you have 2(2 v 1 keeper)=6 and one large 5v5 (starting out 7v3) going you are working 16 players for the time period. You should be able to easily fit the spaces in a half field.

 

For my U9s, we trained at a location without real goals and used cones for goals, so I took the opportunity at the field during warmups to have the kids practice shooting and finishing on (and, for the goalkeepers, defending) legit goals with nets. We would do about 15 minutes of ball work and passing to get warm and then proceed to the goal. Players stationed about 30 yards out. I would throw a ball out very hard (some on the ground and some in the air) for them to settle and take to goal, 1v1 with the keeper. So it really was a receiving drill as well as a shooting/finishing drill. With 8 field players warming up, each kid got about 4-5 turns on goal in the ~8 minutes. My key reminder during finishing is to point the plant foot at the precise target, and I found that having the kids do it right before kick off kept it fresh in their minds for when they found themselves in that situation in the games.

 

Correct on the space we have, but not quite how we run the activity. K+4 defenders in front of goal, everyone else in three lines with balls near midfield. Players attack 3 at a time until there's a goal/save, ball goes out or defense wins it--usually only runs for 15-20 seconds. Then those three go back to midfield and the next three attack, so there are no players standing around very long. It's usually pretty uptempo, and I like it because it's game-like. But we need something to shake it up.

Side note: not to be too harsh with dcole but I absolutely hate pre-game shooting activities. "Each kid got about 4-5 turns on goal in the ~8 minutes" means they are standing most of the time. The worst was popular when I first started coaching called "Four Corners", four lines--two by the posts and two even with the posts at the top of the 18. One ball got passed zig-zag from line to line until one player took an uncontested shot. Lots of standing, few touches, unrealistic shooting scenario... about as far away from preparing for an actual game as I could probably invent if I tried.

 

My concern wasn't a lack of activity so much as a lack of high intensity movements and lack of touches.
The first exercise covers an initial warm up and range of motion.
The second exercise includes some decision making, some short movements, and some touches for some players.
The third exercise includes some decision making, longer movements, and some touches for some players.

My concerns were
1. the few number of touches and how they are distributed. Players defending are not going to get touches.
2. the number of high intensity (sprinting) movements--stopping, starting, turning, accelerating. After the first low intensity exercise, you are not controlling the movements. So are there a full range of movements at half and full speed later?

I have seen 3-man weave exercises that were mid-intensity pattern play with no decision making. Which if fine, but not as the end of the warm up. Not saying that is what you are doing, but I suggest you take a critical look at a warmup (yours or anyones) looking for the players who are getting the least decisions, intense movements, and touches on the ball. Then decide if you are satisfied. If you figure something is lacking, you can build on what you have already. For instance adding 1-2 minutes of specific high intensity movements at the end.

 

No offense taken, but the implication of your post is that you should pretty much never practice going 1v1 with the keeper. I would agree that having a team of 15 kids taking turns going 1v1 involves too much wasted time, but I had only 9 kids, one being the keeper. I considered it a very good use of 8 minutes. Each kid stood and waited for maybe a minute and then spent about a minute receiving, dribbling to goal, shooting, retrieving their ball and returning to the line. One minute on, one minute off is a fine ratio in my book for an 8 minute drill. But I understand your general point about waiting in line and wasting time. Sometimes it's required though. I also have my kids in lines of about three kids when doing 1v1 dribbling drills. It's too intense of a drill to have them go non-stop without a brief rest between reps anyway, so the brief respite in line is really a necessary evil anyway.