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Its unbelievable how underrated the importance of warming up in Kids Soccer Drills is. Being a coach, I’d let it be known that warming up is not only compulsory but is even critical to begin the day’s play at a brighter and healthier note. This issue is conveniently ignored as unimportant by the coaches in youth soccer drills. The result is injuries to players while performing drills.

This article gives you some nice tips on how to get the team warmed up. Train the team to use the body movements in a way that all the muscles get worked up. This is the right way to wake up the entire nervous system. If the movements are intense, body could become stiff or develop cramps.

Tip 1: This requires the players to do an easy 5-7 minutes jog. It is highly recommended to start with a light jog and then eventually sprint.
This must increase the pulse rate to at least 120 beats per minute. But, slow improvement is better. This should be followed by players moving their legs backward and forward for approximately 10 minutes each. Finally, over 20 yards, make them stretch actively.

Tip 2: When we talk about this active stretching over 20 yards, a few warm up exercises of its own must go along with it. For example, make the players skip forward and backward. Also teach your players to do cross stepping. Also teach them high-knee carioca. These must be executed as if sprinting.

Soccer Practice

In soccer drills for kids, running towards the back is also a very useful warm up exercise. However the right way to do it is to kick up the heels to the butt. It’s actually tough to practice it like this but there’s no choice as it’s the single most and right way of doing it.

Tip 3: There are various other warm up drills in kids soccer drills that build up the energy for practice sessions. Have your players bounce with rings and swings. These give an extra dimension to the skipping exercises. You can also make your players do the intersecting skipping. Quick Hip Swings, though it’s slightly complex, can also be used to warm up the body intensively as it’s a very valuable and tested means.

After that, have the players do the long shuffles along with twists halfway. Tell the players to practice backward and forward leg swings. It’s a very efficient activity and helps in toning the body. High leg forwards and backward is just as efficient in toning the body.

Tip 4: Stretching should be carried out properly and sufficiently. What works best for the legs is stretch hinging. Make sure all players have worked out their quadriceps, calves, hamstring, and groin without fail. The players not only avoid injuries but also get to increase their muscle range by stretching.

Also ensure that in soccer drills for youth, kids are discouraged from overdoing anything. They have the tendency to get carried away in excitement and injure themselves as a result.

In kids soccer drills, it’s for you now to make sure that kids do the warm up exercises before practice sessions as you’ve got all the knowledge on this. You can get a variety of information on same topic on our youth soccer coaching community. Join today and enjoy the advantages from them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andre Botelho is known online as “The Expert Youth Soccer Coach” and his free ebooks and reports have been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Learn how to skyrocket your players’ skills and make training fun in record time. Download your free ebook at: Youth Soccer Drills