Top Five Soccer Warm Up Drills
Effective soccer warm up drills will always alternate in a good amount of stretching exercises and intensity should be increased gradually without any dead stops in between activities. Although every player has their preference of how they prefer to warm their body up, it is most important to keep your circulation flowing so that you do not risk starting to play with your body stiff or cold as this could result in injury. Below are the top five soccer warm up drills to get your heart rate up and your momentum level high.
- Dribbling Drills – Every training session should begin by dribbling the soccer ball in a square pastern. Then you should work on turns, cuts, feints and moves. Once your muscles are warmed up, some sprints should be incorporated in to really get the blood flowing through your body. The warmer that your body is, the faster your speed of play will be. After you are fully warmed up, you should practice any specific plays that your coach wants you to work on. This develops the skill work that is needed to improve your reaction time during the game.
- Man In The Middle – Two defenders stand in the middle of five attackers. The goal is for the attackers to not let the defenders in the middle get the ball as they pass it back and forth to each other and around the circle. If a defender breaks the circle and gains control of the ball from an attacker, the two players will switch places. These are soccer warm up drills that are used by many professional teams to improve passing techniques.
- Three Man Weave – For this drill, three players will stand around 10 feet apart on a line with the middle player beginning with the ball. The three players run the field with the middle player falling slightly behind and then he passes the ball to the player on the right. When the player on the right has the ball, he falls behind and moves to the middle position so everyone rotates clockwise. This will continue all the way down the field and the last player to have the ball at the end will kick it into the goal. Then you will repeat the whole drill with everyone rotating in the opposite direction.
- Coach's Revenge – This is really great to improve agility and it is a lot of fun for the team. All teammates spread out, without balls, on one end line and the coach will be in the middle of the designated grid with several balls. When the coach gives the command, all of the players need to sprint to the other end and avoid the balls that are being kicked at them by the coach. If a player gets struck, they join the coach in the middle. This continues until there is a winner left untouched.
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Goalkeeper Warm Up – Soccer warm up drills are not complete without warming up the goalkeeper too. On one side of the goal, about seven yards away, the coach should have around six soccer balls on the ground and one in his hand. On command, the goalkeeper has to sprint to the coach, touch the ball that he is holding and then back peddle to the goal. As they are moving to the goal, the coach will throw a ball that requires the goalkeeper to have to jump to reach it. Then quickly, a ball is thrown at one goal post and then the other, requiring the goalkeeper to react fast. This requires a lot of movement so be sure if this is practiced before a game that the goalkeeper does not get too tired out.
Attention Coaches
It is important to push your team but it is equally important to not drain their energy for the game or later in practice. During practice, aim to get the most out of the time that you have, every single time. You want your team to maintain their focus and concentration, even during soccer warm up drills and not just in actual games. Demand that the players give you their best all of the time and this winning attitude will translate to every game.