Strength & Conditioning for footballers

Man I would love to get down there one day to actually see a real gym, it would be awesome, I lift at home and it is the best equipped gym I have been to...... ever LOL

BigJim said:

If you have time Markos, can you chuck up a vid of your Cannon Balls (no pun intended ). Just got some KB's and uncertain how to do them. Planing on including them in a KB complex.

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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxlLK0NP0eo]YouTube - 1 week at PTC 0001[/ame]

At 1:46 and 2:56. And yes at 2:56 it is the 64kg

Thanks for that mate.

Looks the goods

I'm really enjoying this thread. It's making me reconsider what I'll be doing with the U9 soccer team next season. (No pre-season and only 1 training + 1 game per week).

Last season I had them sqatting (BW only) until their butt touched the ball, doing burpees and doing team piggy backs (pick a teammate up and walk across the field, swap and walk back.) I added these things to the regular skills, agility and running fitness stuff that they need anyway because they had woeful kicking power and all except one had no sprinting speed.

I reckon I'll add UDLs and thrusters next season. They will play full field with full sized goals.

I know I am not talking the same 'football' as you, but I found it quite interesting that a player was added to the Australian soccer squad recently because of his "strength."

I'd also love to hear what Max has to say about his training and his soccer.

When I started coaching 10yo basketballers, all I made them do was have fun.

way too young for serious work

I still coach them now,they are 17, we have won 10 GF in A Grade, never played in a losing one.

Fun first.

Oh I understand fun.

The trick is making hard work fun and rewarding. I believe that's what you call developing work ethic. I think the most fun they had was the piggy back walks.
This year the field is going to be twice the size and the goals about 4 times the size. It's also no fun to stand around for 1/2 of the game because you are too flogged to chase the ball any more.

So in 1hr of training per week I have to develop fitness, skills, teamwork, tactics and positional play, strength, agility and fun.

It's not the approach I would use

I'm just saying that's all

Good luck

TLS kids love games like red rover cross over, running through agility ladders, stuck in the mud ect, as long as its made fun, they enjoy being competitive yet gain agility, fitness, team work ect.

Modified mini games for children of the age your coaching will work a treat.

Thanks Simo.
I do use a bunch of mini games. Early on I use circle passing to get the guys to be able to call each other by name when passing.

I use a bunch of 1 with 1, 1 on 1 and 2 on 1 mini games incorporating skills etc. I use a form of red rover that involves 1 guy in and every one else dribbling a ball to get across. I use small area tag games with bibs dangling from the kids pants where the person who is 'in' must grab the bib. That is great for awareness and agility and is fun.

The thing that the kids requested most was games in practice, so for bout 15min of each training we would play 4 on 4 game or forwards v backs. 2nd and third most requested by the kids were Piggy back races and chasing down my bombs.

Problem I had was only 1 kid had any kicking power. All season I had great engagement and enjoyment from the kids at training and in games. Working on kicking technique helped a lot, but I wanted to find ways to increase the power.

You simply have to wait. They are 5 years too young for you to worry about that.

No 20yo is EVER going to remember U9 results, they dont matter

Keeping kids playing is the job of a good coach, not producing a 10yo with a solid kick that is burnt out by 13

Have you taken any coaching courses?

UDL's and Thrusters as 10yo, I'm guessing not.

I love kids and I love sport, but I would pull my kid out of any team that included those exercises so young

NO WAY should 9 yr olds be doing anything regarding strength work in there on-field training....they are 9...teach them some basic skills of the game and play some fun games to give them abit of fitness....once they reach 13,14,15 then you start taking it abit more serious....

Im with Markos if my kids coach was doing that and I saw it I would have words with him....

The Federal Government has funded the Active After Hours Schools Communities (AASC) program the last 2 years for primary aged children. One of the key concepts involved is having coaches and providers teach skills via a 'games intergrated approach'.

Its free to do the course and become accredited, and whilst I am usually very underwhelmed by such initiatives; and what finds its way into texts, govt protocols and the like, I was VERY pleasantly surprised by this course. All of the coaches I have spoken to thought it was one of the best courses they have ever done and radically altered some of the techniques they use to teach skills.

Its a great way of bridging the gap between elite minded coaching techniques and the sort of coaching styles needed at the lower levels of age, commitment and starting skill.

This is a link to the brochure. Check it out in your state.

www.ausport.gov.au/__.../AASC_General_brochure_A4_print_out.pdf

As a coach of representative basketball and having coached kids from u8 to u18 the biggest problem is that the kids don't have the skills that should be taught from a younger age or having been taught badly. Currently coaching u18 it's quiet easy to get kids that haven't been part of the program to get up to speed fitness wise, the skills take longer. At u12 the most skillful team will always win. Teach the basics and having fun is what U9's should be about.


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I remember my U9 results. Fortunately nowdays they aren't recorded, so there is much less of a deal made of them.
Here is the thing: If someone else was coaching and included exercised that you would "pull" your kid for, how would I make the same decision...

Hawkpeter said:

Its a great way of bridging the gap between elite minded coaching techniques and the sort of coaching styles needed at the lower levels of age, commitment and starting skill.

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Participating in Sport :: Become a community coach [Australian Sports Commission]

Great information. Your link was broken on my browser, but here is the general area.

The footballers had a pretty tough circuit tonight. It included C&P with 50kg. One of the boys who obviously hasnt done any of the strength work at his own gym, couldnt clean it.

I called Nina over to clean it in front of his team mates.

He was able to clean it after Nina did lol, much to the laughter of his mates

We do strength testing again in a week or two. None of the boys who have been doing the program at their own gyms has come forth and asked to be tested yet.

Simon is eager to see the results, the guys lifting at PTC and those that arent, compared. Remember, nearly all the boys had the same experience or lack thereof.

I'm pretty confident that 3 boys will pull 200kg, they are doing there work sets of 5 with 160kg this week, they all did them easily. A couple of boys are getting 2 x 8 with 90kg in the bench press as well.

Simon read the riot act to a couple of guys still avoiding the conditioning work on Mon/Wed/Fri

Tonights circuit was

UDL 56kg low blocks x 20
UDL 64kg high blocks x 20
Trap bar dead 67kg x 20
C&P 50kg x 10
C&P 40kg x 10
C&P 35kg x 10
C&P 22.5kg x 10

A few boys did 2-3 times

I caught the rehab group sitting around chatting while I went outside to talk to a non participant.

They did sooooooooo many UDL's, they had to go for 90 seconds, but on the second go I made them go for 3 minutes.

To demonstrate how far they've come, 3 minutes of UDL's is absolute torture, all 5 rehab boys were able to do it.

That wasnt the case a few weeks ago

Sorry to interrupt a good thread.

Weird things are happening with the footy players I'm working alongside of. Last night one guy squatted 100kg for 10 good reps. He then went onto deadlit 42.5 for 8 & somewhat struggled with that. Another guy, who's fairly tall, really struggles to squat 30kg for 8 (even 1/4's) as well as finds doing 6 pull ups difficult.

I've been instructed to not let the guys go full depth, but only do 1/4 squats. I'm not overly thrilled with this instruction.

what i also struggle with is that over the next few weeks things such as resistance bands will be used.

Sounds like yr doing some awesome work Markos.

PowerBuilder said:

I've been instructed to not let the guys go full depth, but only do 1/4 squats. I'm not overly thrilled with this instruction.

what i also struggle with is that over the next few weeks things such as resistance bands will be used.

Sounds like yr doing some awesome work Markos.

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That is called bad coaching.

Pete's hands are tied as he's being instructed by a superior, he doesnt have much say

Its much easier when you have your own team

PTC said:

Pete's hands are tied as he's being instructed by a superior, he doesnt have much say

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That's right. At this stage the best I can do are things like assist with such as technique. If I had a stable of fellas of my own....things would be very different.