How to run a warm-up
The warm-up is one of the most important parts of your training session.
Your players need to stretch and get ready, so that they are prepared physically and mentally for the session – a good warm-up not only prevents injuries but also gets your players in the right mood for soccer.
We’ve put together a few tips below to help you run an effective warm-up for your team. Also, here is a video of one of our favourite warm-ups!
Always use a ball
Your players should be getting as many touches as possible with both feet, and using all parts of the feet.
Make it fun
Use competition between your players or groups of players in your warm-up. This will keep the practice intense and enjoyable.
Introduce your topic
Start to include the point and aims of your session. For example, if you are working on passing as the main topic in your practice, can the players start working and thinking about the most important techniques of passing and recieving.
Warm-up on Matchday
Use the Coerver Rondos, for both the under and over 12’s. The focus is on repetition of passing and receiving. It’s important that during this warm-up you ask the players to call/ask for the ball loudly, this will get them ready to do this when the match starts. Players over 12 also need to do supervised stretching (5 to 8 minutes maximum).
Summary
These tips should help you get your players ready for both training and matches, both mentally and physically, so you have a great session and avoid any injuries.
Next up, we will cover how you can plan the rest of your session.