So the general question I raise is how much conditioning training should you do as a coach at the U12 and U14 age levels to ensure your team has the endurance to play at a high level for full duration of competitive games, yet not creating such brutally intense practice regiments that causes some/many players to dread the thought of coming to practices (and possibly quit soccer because its no longer enjoyable but because painful)? In youth sports, it seems to me that really tough practices seem to be a top reason alot of kids drop out of a given sport (or despise a coach as probably #1 reason but it could be partially due to drill sgt. practices). I've always been pretty easy when it on conditioning drills compared to other coaches in our club it seems. With that said, my kids have lacked some in overall game endurance and it has shown at times. But I get alot of parent requests to have me as a coach over some of the others in our rec. program because I'm not so hard on them in practices and try to keep it pretty loose and light. Lots of footskill training, SSG's, some tactics etc. but I rarely do laps, wind sprints etc. like many other coaches (whom have better conditioned players). I hear alot from the kids and parents that they are scared/don't want to play for certain coaches just because of their tough conditioning training and practices. So where do you find the happy median (conditioning without dread/pain involved)? Kids aren't stupid either. I've tried the sneaky rapid transitions between drills approach and after 3-4 practices of same routine, many of the kids start to cringe when they know its time to start the intense 10-15 minutes of various foot drills etc. before a waterbreak. Same with SSG's. I'll try to get 7-10 minute stint/games out of them and demand full effort but after a few sessions they begin to catch on to how tough it is. I'm sure its more enjoyable than starting practices/ending with multiple laps but for 50% plus of the kids I've coached they don't really like intense cardio/conditioning.
I suggest you download the USYSA coaches manual and Player Development Model. Bottom line is fitness training has the lowest priority, technical the highest. If you do endurance training at the beginning of the session, the rest of the session is pretty much worthless for any other purpose. Controlling the work/rest ratio during your practice should provide all the endurance training your team requires. Of course you need to select activities that mimic the matches. If you do do any fitness exercises I suggest that your primary objective is to show them exercises that can be performed independently. Here is a popular handout for individual work. http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~dgraham/daily_drill.html
Good stuff here. Certainly endurance work at the start of the session can potentially ruin the rest. Skill and speed should always some first. I dont think young kids need nearly as much off the ball fitness as many coaches do with them. Off the ball stuff should include sprints, low impact plyos, gymnastics, and general strength training. Building aerobic capacity in young players is not a priority. For some great information on energy system and power development for soccer players, see this interview with Chicago Fire Fitness Coach, Tony Joauax http://www.empoweredathletes.com/interview-with-chicago-fire-fitnessstrength-coach-tony-jouaux/
How many players on your team play all 60-70 minutes? I think of it in terms of effective duration. I've had big rosters (15 players for 9v9) and committed to making playing time as equal as possible, so there has never been a need to set the expectation that they play at a high level for 60 minutes. Playing high quality for 10 to 15 minutes, in my situation, seemed sufficient. But I've had more than a few players go about 40-45 and kept the high quality. The conditioning is built into the drills/activities. Foot skill drills, 1v1s/2v1s are exhausting. If they are not trying to catch their breath, shorten the rotations or increase the intensity or increase the duration. The activities don't have to be droll affairs either, find activities that are fun to do. In SSGs, I let them know we have a short time limit, 2 minutes, and that I expect them to go HARD in those 2 minutes. Then we do a complete recovery for 2-4 minutes. The Coerver course I attended had a ton of these types of drills that were fun, conditioning, AND soccer related. So to answer the question, and I'm not being snide, but I think 100% of my sessions is conditioning training. 1v1s are more aenorobic (explosiveness) and scrimmage type things are more aerobic. We're just teaching soccer and the conditioning just comes along for the ride. I'm the same way. All my players play on multiple sports and multiple teams, if I hit them with too much conditioning their legs will be dead come Sunday. I try to keep the footskils to 10 minutes. I know my players, they have attention spans like gnats. Try to make the thing competitive—who can do the most toe taps in 30 seconds? Be creative with your conditioning drills too. We play relay races that the girls always beg for. We play this game where I scatter all the cones out on a big field and the team who gathers the most cones wins (they can only bring one back at a time). Then I award diff. points for certain colored cones or the big cones, so now strategy and planning and competition come into play. Basically they are doing wind sprints without realizing it, but it's different distances, and multi-directional like a soccer game (not like traditional windsprints). Then change the rule that they can bring back 2 or 3 at a time and you tap into changes in direction. Then add a ball they must dribble... 7-10 minutes might be too long to maintain a sustained effort.
Some good ideas. Thanks! I think probably what I'm doing already sounds to be on the right track, but just need to make some tweaks to keep them enthused over the long haul of a season and so many practices while also bumping up the pace slightly. Like I mentioned, many of my opponents teams seemed to have better game stamina than we did so I think I need to find some ways to push them a tad more to be able to play strong through the whole game. I had 15 players and usually sub every 7-10 minutes or whenever someone either is tired or wants to get back in the game (one or the other). Usually my defenders could play alot longer and could get by with only 1 or 2 5 minute breaks during the game. It was my offense and midfield that ran out of gas in the 2nd half of games (and they were subbed more frequently though). I try to play everyone even time but adjust for some based on stamina levels (either more or less).
My midfielders (outside) would typically get gassed first so they struggled to last 8 minutes, so I subbed 'em out sooner. The defenders could play 20 minutes and stay solid. So midfielders swapped in and out more. But as with most outside midfielders, they are asked to do a lot. Yes, one could argue that I'm hindering development by subbing so often but I had a big roster. My roster is more reasonable this season but still 5 subs for 8v8, but I doubt all 5 will be available for each match. I agree with the observation that our opponents have more stamina, at least seem to. I'll concede that, because I feel we're playing better soccer. We lose games to teams like these but, IMO, they wouldn't be losses if we could finish a higher percentage of our chances. To me, stamina is "raw" until you can give it direction and purpose you're not really maximizing it's potential. I've got a player who can run all day—pure athlete, qualified for states as a swimmer, tall, strong, coordinated, smart—but I have to put a leash on her, so to speak, because she overplays the stamina card. She can run all day and sprint back to recover but, I feel, she needs to learn to be judicious about what runs she will or will not make at an early age.
Like all the coaches on this forum I don't like to spend time doing fitness without it being soccer elated. Unforutunately, this age group has something looming that they need to prepare their players for - high school soccer. Almost every high school around here has the neanderthal coach insisting players need to show up with a fitness level able to complete a 6 minute mile, 10 100-yard dashes under 30 sconds each, etc. or else they won't even stand a chance of making the team. I'm fortunate high school soccer is in the fall here so I can waste our summer getting ready for these fitness tests.
Jose, I'm facing the same thing as a few in my group start going out for junior high teams. Should we see it as our jobs and to use our practice time to help them with their fitness goals? Certainly there is enough time in the week outside of practice to address this? I understand what some may have to do from a practical aspect, but just furthering the discussion here.
I view it as a waste of time. I realize the "norm" now is that kids don't play outside of organized practices, but imo that is an excellent, democratic process of elimination of those without sufficient motivation to play competitive sports. Now if your club bans the kids from participating in other activities, then I think you have an obligation to provide sufficient training. The club is creating the problem, not a lack of player motivation.
I know our high school boys team "requires" a 12 minute 1.5 mile run at the start of tryouts which is quite tough. For JV though its really more of a scare tactic I think, as last year at least a quarter of the JV boys team could not run that time. Some of them that can't make the time, are some of the better soccer players on the team (in terms of technical ability and experieince level). High school is unlimited substituting however, so I don't understand the obsession with demanding such a high level of fitness before preseason practices begin. I can understand a basic low to moderate bar of fitness (like maybe a 9:30 minute mile run perhaps is reasonable fitness level for 14-15 year old freshemen players at start of preseason) but 6-7 minute miles at the start of tryouts??? Come on.
Honest question, can the cooper test (2 miles/12 minutes) accurately gauge soccer fitness? Additionally, let's assume that 2 miles/12 minutes means you're pretty fit. Do you want to hit peak fitness at the start of the preseason? Maybe for a short high school season it doesn't matter?
My team generally does a once a week practice in the summer - more of a pickup game than a practice. So, I set aside 2 days a week for the girls to workout for high school. I tell them to bring their workout packets (the team consists of players from 5 different high schools.) Then we do a workout that somewhat replicates the packets. I bring a stopwatch. I look a little tyrant running these girls through these drills when everybody else at the track are mostly subarban moms and dads.
It is a measure of aerobic fitness. For soccer you would probably test anaerobic fitness too. http://www.topendsports.com/testing/intermittent-sports.htm