What aspects of football training do you as parents encourage your children to work on at the foundation age (6-12 years old)?
Technique only...practice and games should take care of the stamina...tactical is the coaches job...6-12 only stretching and maybe some pushups at 11-12yo
I'm not a trained coach so my opinion probably isn't worth much but I tend to think that prior to puberty aerobic and strength training aren't really worth the time. Some basic fundamentals of, say, tumbling might be a good investment.
Agree with the suggestion of tumbling...anything that safely promotes balance and body control would be helpful. Ballet lessons would be more helpful than any kind of strength training. I don’t know if they have “youth yoga” but flexibility is more important than muscle. The other thing I would stress is warm up, cool down, nutrition and regeneration days. The wear and tear of soccer will cause enough growth plate issues etc for some kids. They need to learn how to take advantage of off days or even the few hours between tournament games to take care of their body. One thing you will notice...some kids are just fast, some can just run all day, some just come up with the ball > 50% of the time and some just put it in the net. The 1% of the kids who can do all of that are going to be the ones who excel. I’d say 70% is talent and the other 30% is attitude, coaching, health, luck, good teammates and timing. Parents are more likely to detract from the equation than add to it.
Sorry, what is tumbling? I think there is some benefit to strength training in that it starts good habits as long as it's introduced gradually and safely. It also provides an awareness of what is required once children reach puberty. I'd say core exercises are essential and body weight strength training provides a good introduction. Agree on youth yoga, excellent for flexibility. I'd imagine ballet would be great too, but would be a hard to sell to most football mad young lads
There have been a lot of studies in recent years that say that supervised, appropriate strength training at a younger age (pre-pubescent) can actually decrease the likelihood of growth plate injuries. Was also reading that there have been no actual studies of strength training causing growth plate injuries and it's much more likely that growth plate injuries will be cause by, like you say, the wear and tear of too much football. Couldn't agree more with your final sentence. Players play, coaches coach, parents support.
6-12 is a pretty wide age range. We’ve done the most technique training but I think a strong, flexible core is important for any sport. I do think it’s important for young kids to think about the tactical aspect of the game even if they only “get” a fraction of it. We watch a lot of soccer and pause games every once in a while to rewatch something and then talk about it - off the ball runs, positional play strategies, an amazing run of possession, etc. just to open the kids’ eyes to all the strategies behind the game!
My son is 11. I don't let him lift weights yet. I encourage him to do exercises like sit-ups, push-ups, dips, etc, which he does. He also does boxing training once a week (non-sparring). This helps with his footwork, eye-hand coordination, and upper body strength.
No, he plays the field, usually a number 6. I figure if he can learn what to do with his body when a fist is coming at him from two feet away, gauging a soccer ball will be easy.
It's basically what's called artistic gymnastics mixed with trampolines. Lots of jumping, leaping, etc. You really learn how to control and manipulate your body. I once met a pro player who's father was also a very successful pro; he told my wife and I that when he was very young, his father signed him up for a year or two of tumbling before ever getting him started with football. Considered it the best foundation for an athlete. This was Bulgaria in the Seventies, so I don't know if yoga was really an option in that time and place.
That's interesting. I wonder how supervised and limited that pre-pubescent strength training needs to be.
Supervised by a qualified coach. I limit my squads training to mainly body weight exercises (squats, lunges, plank, side plank, push-ups, sit-ups). These can be easily monitored in the home by a parent. I use med balls and benches in the gymnasium and that's about it. For my age group, I use strength conditioning circuits as more of an introduction to physical prep that anything else. Gains are made very quickly at a young age, with great increases in strength, but more importantly injury prevention. If using weights, i'd ensure 1 to 1 supervision until technique is good. Also, focusing on low weights and higher reps. I'd focus on compound exercises with no more that 12 sets across the session (but would probably go for 3 sets on 4 different exercises).
I'm intrigued by this idea of growth plate injuries brought on by the wear and tear of soccer. I have a u9 who trains daily in addition to organized team events. All technical work on his own at home in the garage, yard, etc. Would this type of individual training contribute to "wear and tear" to the extent that it needs to be limited? Or does "wear and tear" refer primarily to the competitive grind of on-field practice and games, particularly vs older/bigger kids as he plays up on his club?
Personally, I think you'd need to be at burn out level over a sustained period of time during competitive fixtures. Your son will be fine working on his own on his technique and mixing this in with competitive games and formal training. As long as he is enjoying himself and feels like he is getting enough rest time then I wouldn't worry about it. He sounds dedicated.
Thanks. We're prioritizing a foundation of individual ball mastery during these early formative years. I don't have a soccer background. But based on other sports I've played, figured the burnout (physical and mental) resulted from the constant barrage of formal training, travel, games, tournaments, etc ... not so much the solo work done in the woodshed.
Growth plate issues are not consistent thus you can have 18 kids on a roster doing essentially the same thing with maybe 2 or 3 having an issue over a period of time. Every team our kids were on had players go through this issue along with a few stress fractures here and there. 9 is too early to see these issues so you should be fine...still enough Gumby in them to avoid the repetitive injury stuff. 12-15 seemed to be the years if I recall.