Working two tournaments this weekend and am really getting to see the data from my GPS watch. Most centers are around 3-4 miles, but lines are usually 2 miles plus. I really thought my lines would be much less than my centers, which leads me to wonder if my centers are short. Anyone else will to share their data or thoughts?
Depending upon the length and skill level, anywhere from 3 to 8 miles. Back when I'd do high school games in addition to the usual weekend youth and OTH offerings I calculated (using a pedometer) that I was running over 45 miles a week inside the white lines.
U18 High level boys with possession... 5.5 miles AA boys HS....5.5 AAA boys HS.... 6.5 Mens D1/above.... 6.5-7 Todays horrible friendly, where one team was beating the other to death, I ended up getting up high with the winning team forward to race with them on the INEVITABLE trap break and got to 4 miles... although I could have never left the center circle.
Going back to the OP, the length of the games in tournaments (and sometime the length of the field) play into the distance. Worse I ever felt after a match was a u16 boys match solo on a 120 yard field. It was end to end to end all night and OT and kicks. It was a championship match in freezing conditions.
I just got a gps watch and used it a couple weeks ago at the national cup finals. 15 boys I ended up doing 6 miles in the middle. I followed that up with 2.5 miles on the line (14 G) and 1.7 miles (13 G). I'm interested to see what I notch on some adult league games...
Okay this is definitely making me think I am not running enough. Ideas on ways to improve that? Just get wider I suppose?
I had a buddy video tape me once in a college pre season match and it was a real eye opener. Since then I've really made a conscious effort to get wider and deeper when required. Which watches are you guys using?
I use a garmin 210. Age and half length matter. In a men's game I'm very typically over 6. U16 and lower are typically up to 5. As to know if you are running enough - are you in position to see the tough calls, and are you typically within 10-15 yards of the ball?
soccerman is right. I run a bit more because I like to be right on top of the play (in a good way). However, if you can make the call from a bit further away, more power to you. If you want to "improve" your distance, make sure you are not stuck on a traditional diagonal. You should be covering corner to corner but also top of the PA to top of the PA. This will add some distance most likely. Getting wider can help but make sure you don't "get lost" and have to recover to far on a counter. As to watches, I use the Nike+. I love the feature that you can upload and retrace your routes. It really shows how well you are running your diagonal. I also use it as a stopwatch for a back up timer. I got the black/yellow combination.
Also, you don't have to be running all the time. I find that there's a lot of walking or slight jog, but I am never still.
I get up to ten miles occasionally — but it's because I forget to shut off the watch at the end of the match.
THX for the watch recommendations. I may stick my smartphone in my pocket and enable the Edmondo app on it my next match. Hoping it won't feel too bulky. That Edmondo app works pretty damn good when I'm biking.
This weekend I did 4 U16B centers in a Div3 tournament with 30min halfs, I was anywhere from 3-3.5 miles per game. A little less then I expected but didn't really feel like I was out of position in any of the matches. I use the Garmin 610. Works great and love the vibrate feature on it. Makes it easy to know when the half is over without having everyone around me know as well.
I got up to 17 miles on one game, until I figured out that dang beeping in my bag every 60 seconds was the watch recording each mile on my drive home....
Ha Ha! Most upper level matches (90 min contest) I am historically in the 5.5 to 6.5 miles range while in the CR spot. 8 miles in a match, as GTref recently posted, is quite the feat! Although I must admit that my top level matches are DA and W-League level matches--no USL centers or higher.
I average between seven and eight miles on a men's D1 college match, PDL or NPSL game. I have seen 10 miles once on a massive pitch between two rival NAIA men's teams who just wanted to kick each other and couldn't score an odd number of goals between them in 110 mins of play.
I am using the Nike+ watch and love (so much so that I bought my wife a fuel band and we are competing to see who gets more Fuel in a week). I have a U19 D1 tournament final on Sunday that's being assessed so I am going to try all of the suggestions. I especially think wider will help.
You think it will help your positioning, or that it will help you clock more distance? I'm not sure distance for distance's sake is necessarily a good thing...
Easy answer to the OP: the diameter of the center circle times the number of minutes in each half. 30 minutes halves = 600 yards 45 minute halves = 900 yards
Looks like a continuation of another thread with similar theme - distance log/s https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/gps-nerds-post-your-game-logs-here.1809451/ Moderator/s: a merger here, perhaps?
I use a Garmin 110 which is relatively inexpensive and relatively small. I like everything about it except that it is fairly slow to grab an initial signal lock.
Mostly it's about mobility. Width is NOT the solution. Stick to the 10/20/90 positioning between the width of the penalty areas and go wider only when necessary. Don't run just to run; run smart.