Soccer Training: Rotational Speed and Plyometric Progression

I had the opportunity to help assess one of the women’s soccer teams in the newly formed National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) on Wednesday.  The players were humble, hard working, and I appreciate their willingness to cooperate with a some guy (aka myself) coming in to do a few basic assessments with them. With the help of their assistant coach Kris Ward (who gave me the opportunity to help out), I was able to learn a bit more about soccer drills, conditioning, organization, and movement patterns of the game.  I encourage everyone that is a soccer enthusiast to check out a game if you in an area that has a club and hopefully there will be more opportunities to help them out!

 

In particular, viewing the dynamic warm-up provided me with a few ideas for plyometric power progressions for the soccer athlete.  Once the pace of the warm-up is sped up, the activities becomes more multi-directional.  In other words, besides linear (jogs, sprints, forward skips, back pedals, backward runs) and lateral movements (side shuffle, cariocas), the emphasis is more on multiple changes of direction and pace. A simple example would be a side shuffle into a 10 yard forward sprint.   One of the most important aspects in change of direction drills is making sure the athlete “loads” or shifts weight quickly and efficiently on whichever leg is going to accelerate them forward.  Loading the hips allows for proper deceleration in order to efficiently accelerate towards the next target (wherever that may be).  We typically start most athletes off with linear hurdle hops (double or single leg) and 1-leg lateral/medial hurdle hops (left to right–and vice versa).  It it with these basic progressions that we can coach the athletes how to start, load, and change direction safely and quickly.

Linear

Lateral/Medial

After they have mastered these we can then progress to more difficult versions such as a rotational bound

With any change of direction work (plyometric or speed) we encourage our soccer athletes to first, lead with the eyes in the direction they are going to more efficiently turn their bodies.  Second, we make sure they start and land in a low position with the hips back while preventing the knee from caving in.  The rotational bound was an idea I first learned from Endeavor while training  our hockey goalies.   That same movement pattern can be seen with warm-up drills (what I saw in the warm-up with the girl’s team) where various changes in direction are needed.  Here is one that I saw in the warm-up (notice I load on the left leg, get my eyes around quickly, and accelerate)…

Besides the more advanced variation I’ve shown here, linear and lateral variations are a great way to start off many athletes.

 

Cheers,

Matt

Increasing Speed by Simply Adding Strength

Increasing strength is by far the most important aspect to helping athlete’s improve speed.  Improving basic sprint mechanics and body angles helps as well because it puts the athlete into a better position to apply force into the ground but what if they don’t have any force to put into the ground (aka very weak)?  This applies to basic linear sprint speed, lateral starts, and multiple changes of direction.  Put it simply, if you cannot decelerate–>you will surely have a hard time accelerating.  What is running, planting, changing direction? They are a series of quick deceleration and acceleration reps and whoever can do them most efficiently wins.  Another way to look at speed is to look at a maximum strength analogy…

Maximal Strength (the person’s current level of strength) is the empty shaker bottle (20 oz.)

All other qualities that make up athletic performance are the liquid that fills up the bottle.  If you’ve done every speed and agility clinic you can think of, you have probably topped off your bottle.  By increasing strength (the size of the bottle), we can continually improve the athlete’s potential to improve those athleticqualities, namely, speed.

The maximum strength analogy isn’t new to many of us but it is a great way to approach parents who continually ask, “My kid needs to get faster, do you do speed and agility?”  Answer: Well yes, we do but it is not what makes them all that better.  In my opinion, running speed and agility clinics are good, but if the coach is not addressing the big rocks to the parents to provide basic fundamental principles about strength and it’s effect on speed, you should look elsewhere.  Of course, the sport will require different strength levels.  A baseball player is going to spend much more time of pure strength and power as opposed to a soccer player.  However, they are both going to need a solide strength foundation to improve upon other qualities.

Where to start?

Since we now have an idea on the impact of strength on all other qualities where do we start with training?  When it comes to teaching movements, the majority of athlete’s are going to need to learn how to perform them correctly.  Slow strength, is a term I learned from Dan John.  Slow strength is basically learning the movements correctly (don’t worry about weight just yet).  These could be isoholds that mimic the position of the main lifts.

Front plank holds before push ups/presses

Batwing Holds/Low Pulley Row Holds before Rowing/Chin-Ups

Split Squat Holds before Reverse Lunges (single leg variation)

Hip hinge before Deadlift variations

Goblet Squats before Back/Front Squats

Cheers,

Matt

P.S. If you haven’t seen The Hobbit yet I suggest over the Christmas break taking the 3 hours to full indulge in the greatest of the most epic story every told (besides Lord Of The Rings)

Soccer Fitness: Science Based Approach

I came across this PowerPoint presentation by Mike Young of the Vancouver Whitecaps (a team in the MLS).  It provides a ton of great ideas.  It’s like a soccer bible with ESD ideas, strength & power training, and injury prevention (Thanks Mike). If you have any interest in taking time to look over these concepts, check it out here.

 

Best,

Matt

Injuries in Women’s Soccer: How We Can Help

Luckily, I was able to get the PDF file from my colleague Guido Seerden which was a 1-year prospective study of injuries in women’s soccer at the elite level (German Bundesliga).  The results were not surprising, however, they specifically noted every injury that occurred and categorized by severity. Minor (1-7 days), moderate (8-30 days), and severe (+30 days) were the categories and the duration it took to return to play. Here were the graphs that I found interesting…

Percentage of Injuries by Region

 

With the knee and ankle being the most affected area, we need strategies to help prevent injuries.

Match vs. Practice

Knowing how profound these injuries are (especially since ACL’s can end player’s careers if they are towards the end of them), we need try to keep athletes healthy and keep performance high.  How?

We can teach athletes how to absorb or decelerate force through proper movement training and landing (single/double leg).

We also like to incorporate mini-band walks in various directions (forward, backward, laterally) to help athletes learn to strengthen the hips, which when also done properly, keeps the pelvis stable.  Notice in the video my hips and shoulders move across, a typical compensation will see these areas “hike” up and down.

I have mentioned single leg strength as our primary method of training even though bilateral training has benefits, we will always stick with single leg. Posterior chain strength and control is important since this chain is noticeably weaker in soccer athletes.  Learn to love these…
1-Leg DB SLDL

SLDL

Slideboard Curl Variations

What the study also shed light on was when injuries occured during the match, noting that as fatigue sets in, the incidence of injury increases. In this study, after the 60th minute was when they saw this increase.

It’s no surprise the popularity of GPS and tracking players physiological responses before and after games and practices. Tracking has become extremely important because it can help coaches understand how their players bodies are reacting to the stressors of the games and practices and can help monitor whether or not these players should go “hard” at practice or to take a step off the gas pedal for that day.  I would not know anything about the tracking systems but it is maybe one reason how players can help reduce the risk of injury in the later stages of games or the season and also why specific conditioning is needed for these athletes.

Cheers,

Matt

 

 

 

 

Not Overloading Athletes: Other Factors To Consider in Programming

We are half way through the summer (wow) and that means that a variety of athletes are involved in some kind of captain’s practices or skill sessions (soccer and football comes to mind).  At Endeavor, we try to make sure our athletes inform us when they’ll be headed back to school, or when their sports start.  Sometimes we even have the opportunity to write extra programming plans for the athletes if they only train with us 2x/week (the majority of our clients).  I am specifically talking about “extra” conditioning programs or basic strength templates to follow at home.  I had the opportunity to write a 8-week conditioning protocol for one of our high school soccer athletes prior to her 2-mile testing and preseason.

What to consider before programming extra?

#1 What is the goal of the program that we have created for her (or anyone) when they are at our facility?

One of the more important concepts is understanding first what do we have her doing at our facility.  For the majority of soccer (2x/week), we will have them working on a variety of things such as…

• Acceleration/Deceleration speed and power work
• Rotational MB throws (power)
• Strength movements (making sure we are hitting every movement pattern each day)
• Core Stability
• Specific mobility drills
• Conditioning: Short explosive intervals (ex: heavy sled drags 10s on: 45-60s off)

#2 How many days do they have practice/What are they doing in these sessions?

What the athlete does outside of the training session (not with us) sometimes helps us in determining the program needed for the individual.  With soccer preseason or captains practices, skill work will turn into a lot of moving, sprinting, and changes of direction (from what I was told, and another reason I need to get out to see the practices to know exactly how the intensity is).

#3 Knowing what kind of athlete he/she is

Understanding what type of athlete he/she is which can help with programming.  Is he/she more explosive and strong, more aerobic, have a big list of previous injuries?  These are important qualities to understand and something I want to become better at understanding, especially their aerobic ability, repeat sprint performance, etc.. (if anyone has good ideas for assessment for the private setting please let me know!!)

#4 Age

Listen, if you’re in middle school or high school and train 2x/week plus soccer 2x/week, have a captains practice 1x/week, and want extra conditioning to do, I would probably say go enjoy part of your summer!  Part of summer is enjoying it, spending time with family and friends is a must.  It is important to understand that sports should still be enjoyed at these ages.  Preventing injuries and developing as an athlete requires recovering adequately and not overworking oneself.  Realize that if you are always playing, training, and “working” everyday of the week, that you may (and probably will) run into issues later in your career which will end it before you’d expect.

 

With the athlete that I specifically mentioned, I only gave her 1 conditioning session to do per/week to practice for her 2-mile test and improve her aerobic capacity.  We can see how there are many factors to consider and the reasons how it may affect our programming.  One half of the summer down, the other half we are ready to get going!

 

Cheers,

Matt

Dan John, Lesson 13: We Tend To “Glib” About Our Weaknesses: It Applies to Everything

If there is one PDF quick read that you must save to your computer it is Dan John’s  40 Years of Insight.  I love lesson 13 (ok, all of them) as I try to apply it to my coaching and learning. Consequently, it serves as a reminder to those having a goal in sports performance or fitness. Nonetheless, read it and let me know what you think and maybe you can apply it to something in your life.

“I love the word “glib.” Usually, it  means nonchalant (that has to be a French word; we need to find a way to say this glibly), but it also means “lacking depth and substance.” Now, most of my ex-girlfriends say that about me, but I digress.

I’ve always taken about six weeks a year to assess, reassess, and deal with my weaknesses.  It’s always around the same few issues.

I’m too fat.

My hamstrings are too tight.

I need to work on X, Y, or Z.

So, how does one usually address these issues? Most people usually address weaknesses while also doing literally everything else. So, what happens in a typical 6-week assessment program is we continue doing everything we did before and hope the weaknesses vanish magically.  Without Harry Potter, that isn’t going to happen.

In the last decade I’ve discovered that weaknesses demand full concentration.  As I’ve argued before, if you want to really address fat loss, do the Velocity Diet. Oh sure, there are other fine options but do the V-Diet once and then decide how “grueling” Atkins or Ornish or the Zone are in terms of sacrifice.

Weaknesses need to be given full attention.  If you have flexibility issues holding you back, then you need some kind of challenge.  In the past I’ve recommended the Bikram Yoga 30-day challenge (you promise to go to the 90 minute sessions every day for 30 days) and I still can’t think of a better way to address the issue.

Weaknesses need to be attacked with depth.  I charge you to examine every possibility in your search to ridding yourself of this issue.  I’ve had people squat 5 days a week to address poor squatting technique and do 1,000 full turns a month to deal with discus throwing issues.  If you have a clear weakness, total focus with every tool and weapon you can muster has to be the plan.

Don’t be glib.”

When I first read lesson 13, I compared it solely to my training.  Deadlift better, squat better, ok just train better.  After reading it 5x through, we can apply lesson 13 to anything.  Diet, family life, beliefs, training technique, sleep patterns, recovery, enjoying life, being nicer to people, caring more, loving more, going out on a limb for somebody.  Does this seem like a bit more than training?  Improve your weaknesses.  For me, every time I know I am not up to par with coaching something, I try to read a quality article or cue from other coaches and ask questions. Seek advice.

Cheers,

Matt

Phase 1 Off-Ice Training = FUN

At Endeavor we have off-ice training 2x/week/team for Team Comcast in the Flyers SkateZone in Pennsauken.  Thes athletes so far have adapted well to the new style of training and what we expect for them throughout the season.  The younger age athletes programs are geared toward implementing the following qualities for phase number 1.  Sample program looks like this

A) 15-yard sprint (Front Lunge Start) 3x/leg

B) Vertical/Broad Jumps 4 x 6

C) Bodyweight Squats 3 x 10

• The emphasis for bodyweight squats is good stance, knees out over toes, descending under control, butt back when squatting, & keeping the chest up

D) 4-man Circle Tag Game (10 mins) 2x/role/kid

• Each person in the 4-man team gets to be the tagger twice.  Keep it fun for the kids = this is why you play the game at this age.  There is nothing worse than a parent burying a young child with negativity because they did not perform like a professional at the age of 10.   Have fun, try your best, and have good sportsmanship!

E1) Glute Bridge Holds 3 x 15s

E2) Front Planks 3 x 15s

The training program for the younger age groups are very simple but can have profound effects on a young athlete’s development.  One aspect that I hope that never goes overlooked is the importance of movement quality during the dynamic warm-ups.  We incorporate exercises such as reverse lunges, inverted reach walks, & lateral lunge walks to put a huge emphasis on where and where not to move from (aka hip instead of the spine).

Cheers,

Matt

Sprint Form Tips to Think About or Try

     At Endeavor I have currently been trying with younger athletes to really focus on a 2 sprint form tips during linear speed days.  I could probably simmer it down to 1. 

• Focusing the eyes on a fixed spot in order that they do not see at up or down motion.
• Instead of focusing so much on “quick arm action” just think of “hammering the nail” down and back.

     Focusing the eyes is something that I think has made a positive cue for most of the young athletes because I had found that these athletes are just forcing themselves from point A to point B.  In my experience these younger athletes heads are like bobble dolls.  Rather, I’d rather them focus on preventing a “bopping” motion with their head to ensure a more horizontal acceleration.  In the case of short 10-15 yard sprints, I would say that it is more important to get a push or drive “out” instead of driving the knees “up”.  I have even started reinforcing “picking a spot” for the movement part of the warm-up (side shuffles, cariocas, butt kicks, back pedal etc.) and having them think of that spot sliding straight across.  This seems to help athletes focus on pushing from the back leg for lateral movements. 

Focus: Important for everything

      The second thing I have introduced was the cue of “hammering a nail” down when the arms come down and back.  Some are getting this and some are not, but when they get it, the sprint looks 10x better.  Visualize holding a hammer in the hand (elbow around 90 degrees) and picture a nail sticking out (nail head facing forward) beside the hip.  Basically you want to envision hammering that hand down and back into the nail.  Stride length is determined by how much force you are putting into the ground and small short arm action drives small short leg action.  A smooth arm hammering down may drive a better hip extension which can increase stride length.  I also think that being in a facility where you are trying to teach acceleration for athletes, especially younger ones, the sprint form can go overlooked, and certainly we want these athletes not to look like the terminator while running (I would say because it might not be natural, what do you think?) but you do not want them looking like a complete mess either.  So these cues can provide some bang for your buck because it is not overloading an athlete and in this setting it seems to work pretty darn good.  Try these when you just normally run or are doing sprints and see what you think.  In summary though, if anything, these tips can help athletes focus on running smoother because a lot of young athletes seem to run wild with their arms or have excessive head motion.  

Cheers,

Matt

Pairing Exercises for Speed and Power

     Last week, Kevin Neeld posted great content on pairing exercises together that will complement one another to not only maximize the training effect but also to fit more into your program on any specific day.  It allows you to do more things within the given amount of time that you have with athletes and other clients.  For those of you who have experimented with supersets, this same concept is similar but usually when talking about supersets you are performing back to back exercises emphasizing the same musculature (i.e. Bench Press –> Cable Flys).  Pairing exercises are different in that you can have the main lift paired with another exercise to compliment or a main lift paired with a core or opposing muscle group.

Example:  You would perform A1, A2, A3, and then go back to A1 for the desired number of sets to complete, in this case go through everything 3 times in a row.

A1) DB Chest Press 3 x 8

A2) Stability Ball Front Plank 3 x 20s

A3) DB Reverse Lunges 3 x 8/side

From what I have learned at Endeavor, these are some pairings that can maximize sprint speed and power capabilities with our athletes.

We always begin with speed or power work, whether it be a 10-15 sprint, or a box jump.  Also,  pairing activation exercises are quick effective ways to pair with primary movements.  One of the often overlooked aspects to speed is a lack of end range use of your psoas (hip flexor) which lifts your knee up above 90 degrees of hip flexion.  Most sports are often not getting this degree of hip flexion and as a result other hip flexors have to pick up the slack.  This can be a reason for quad “pulls” or hip flexor pain.  This is a template of pairing exercises for speed…

A1) 10 yard Sprint (2-point start)  3x/side

A2) Seated Psoas Lifts  2 x 15s/side

For power exercises, such as a box jump or drop jump (as well as many others), pairing these sort of exercises with glute activation drills can ensure the proper recruitment for the often forgotten glutes.  Most people’s are usually not strong so incorporating more glute exercises and activation drills goes along with for most people.  A sample template for this might be…

B1) Box Jumps 3 x5

B2) Glute Bridge IsoHolds 3 x (3 x 10s)

 Simple and effective ways to get more out of your speed and power work.  These activations are also ways to prevent injuries because they are usually under active muscles which forces other muscles to work overtime resulting in those typical yet preventable nagging injuries.

Do Fast Feet Matter?

    I’ll bet that anyone who has every played a sport knows what an agility ladder is.  They are typically used to perform certain “quick feet” movements through the ladder with the idea that they will make you faster or more agile. Some people will often even call these “speed ladders” but does moving your feet really fast without really applying force into the ground translate to more speed?  Take Michael Flatley, “the Lord of the Dance” guy, he can move his feet super fast, but is covering any ground?  Here is a sweet video of that guy.

I am not saying that agility ladders are the devil, I think they can serve as a multiplanar dynamic warm-up and when used properly and sparingly (5 mins or so) can develop coordination, eccentric strength and stability.

Agility ladders = devil.. no way, a cute devil at the most.

Really, what speed and agility comes down to is developing more horsepower (strength & power) and the nervous system.  The more strength and power we can develop, the more force we can put into the ground and thus cover more ground in a shorter period of time.  What kind of training do we need to do in order to develop this?  Single leg strength and stability work.  Why primarily single leg work?  Well, athletes need to learn how to accelerate and decelerate on one leg. Sounds like planting, cutting, or changing direction, right?  For more on this it would be wise to read David Lasnier’s blog post appropriately named, The Case for Single Leg Training. as well as Mike Boyle’s, “The Case for Single Limb Training.”

With speed training (linear, lateral, or transitional) we use movements that are typically seen with athletes in their respective sport.  Ladders just do not have the same carry over to speed like speed movement drills. 

Here is a transitional and lateral speed drill.  The transitional drills would also be implemented later in the off-season to get athletes more accustomed to the movements they will encounter in their sport.