Soccer Training Tips: The Truth About Stretching
Let me tell you that stretching is an vital part of soccer training tips and professional coaches highly recommend it along with almost every player in every sport practicing it daily? As a sport, soccer is growing and developing incessantly in its superiority.
There are two types of stretching that can be incorporated in kid’s training for soccer; static and dynamic stretching.
When doing the static stretching, players draw out their muscles to a given point of resistance and hold it right there for a given amount of time. When it comes to dynamic stretching, recurring motions, rhythmic bouncing, and rebounding is what the player does. Generally, static stretching is considered as more effective and involves less risk than dynamic stretching.
In this article, you’ll find some good points of stretching that can help average players become great players.
Stretching reduces injuries: Continuous stretching during the day and performed over a period of time may promote muscle growth that, consecutively, could reduce the risk of injury. Stretching provides a way of growing the muscle mass and strength as well.
Stretching affects flexibility: Stretching prevents loss of flexibility. Still, the effects of stretching are way better when it is done for a long period of time than for a shorter duration.
Performing stretching for a few minutes before starting any playing activity is likely to enhance flexibility. One of the most important soccer training tips is to focus on enhancing the player’s range of motion by spreading out the stretching program over a period of months together.
Stretching improves performance: Stretches, when designed to be soccer specific can greatly improve a player’s performance.
Make sure that the kids enjoy stretching: Make stretching fun for the kids by including a variety of soccer drills into your session. Keep varying the warm-up activities you do before stretching. Try to include games such as the tag game, ball tag, and keep away.
Focus mentally on stretching exercises, feel and recognize each stretch, whilst checking for body soreness.
For almost all players, one single 15-30 minute stretch for each muscle group is sufficient but some may need longer stretches and more repetitions.
This is due to the fact that when the temperature of muscles is higher than normal, inflexibility decreases and extensibility increases. Kids who feel like to keep up or enhance their flexibility can realize this goal to some extent by stretching. It is better, safer, and more productive to do stretching exercises when the body temperature is higher than normal.
That’s why some experienced coaches recommend stretching after a workout also. After practicing soccer skills, if kids are made to do some stretching for 5-7 minutes, it’ll prevent their muscles from tightening too fast.
Usually, players who practice an active warm-up ahead of stretching get a superior range of motion than those kids who just stretch. So if injury prevention is your aim, stop stretching before exercise and increase the warm up time.
I again reiterate that the most important of all soccer training tips is to remember that hurried stretching does not help kids become flexible, gets monotonous and pointless, so let them take their own time to warm up before stretching. You can subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community and get your way to innumerable articles, videos, and periodic newsletters.
Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Youth Soccer Drills.