What if I told you that stretching as a part of soccer training tips is highly recommended by professional soccer coaches and is widely practiced by players in almost every sport? Soccer is a sport which is continuously growing and developing in its intricacy.
There are two kinds of stretching; static and dynamic, that are slotted in planning training for the soccer season.
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. Dynamic stretching involves rhythmic bouncing, rebounding and recurring motions. In general, it is not considered as effective as static stretching and more dangerous than static stretching.
This article discusses some benefits of stretching that go a long way in making a good player great.
Stretching reduces injuries: When players do stretching every day and keep doing it for a long time, it promotes their muscle growth that reduces the risk of injury. Stretching also provides a way of improving the size and strength of muscles.
Stretching influences flexibility: Stretching puts off the loss of flexibility. But, stretching is more beneficial in the long run when performed continuously rather than during the shorter periods of time.
Performing stretching for a few minutes before starting any playing activity is likely to enhance flexibility. But the best of all soccer training tips is to spread a stretching program over a period of months, leading to a constant increase in range of motion.
Stretching betters’ performance: When the stretching program is planned after considering the player’s soccer specific needs, their performance improves.
Stretching can be a lot of fun: For this, you need to add variety in your soccer drills and focus a lot on performing them. Keep changing the type of warm up exercises that you perform before stretching. Try to include games such as the tag game, ball tag, and keep away.
Concentrate all your energy on stretching, experience and identify with each stretch while checking for soreness.
One 15-30-second stretch for each muscle group is sufficient for most players, but some kids require longer stretches and more repetitions as well.
The reason for this is that when the temperature of muscles is higher than normal, stiffness decreases and extensibility increases. Those players who wish to sustain or increase their flexibility can partially attain this goal 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.
Generally, players who exercise an active warm-up prior to stretching get a better range of motion than those who only stretch. So if injury prevention is your aim, stop stretching before exercise and increase the warm up time.
When feeling stiff or inflexible, the most important soccer training tips is to allow kids to warm up sufficiently, as doing stretches would not help them become flexible, and will become boring and futile. Join our youth soccer coaching community and enhance your knowledge about soccer through loads of articles, videos, and podcasts available there.
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.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...
