Soccer Exercises

Soccer Exercises

We have already harped on the necessity of a proper workout routine and the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle, so there is no sense going into a great amount of detail concerning this topic.

Suffice it to say that in order for it to be able to operate as efficiently as possible and continue to grow in strength, endurance and flexibility it is necessary for the body to be exercised at least once a day, preferably for thirty minutes to an hour. Try to establish a regular exercise routine you can live with; over-exerting yourself is going to result in both an unwillingness to continue on (and who can blame you when you are pushing yourself far beyond your capabilities?) and the need for an extended period of rest between workouts while the body recovers from the damage inflicted upon it.

In addition, try to regularly “shake up” your daily exercise routine. Although exercising every day is both healthy and necessary, doing the exact same thing every day will result in both you and your body becoming bored with it, which means that you are going to be less likely to workout and your body will receive fewer benefits when you do. 



Throw in a little variety; go bicycling one day and ice skating the next, then take the following day off from your cardiovascular routine to pay a visit to the weight room. This way you’re never at a loss for things to do and you and your body will be able to anticipate your workout with as much enjoyment as possible. 

I got all of my exercise drills from this ebook. I was lost without it. It's cheap and easy to keep with you like I did on my Ipad for quick reference. Click here to download it now.

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Soccer Player Diet

Soccer Player Diet

Now that we have discussed your fitness regime, let us take a moment to evaluate your eating habits as well. If you have ever attempted to lose weight you are well aware that getting enough exercise is only half the battle to getting your body in tip top shape; you must take your diet into consideration as well if you hope to achieve maximum results. The same can be said of preparing your body for soccer; the foods you eat are just as important in getting your body prepared as the amount of exercise you participate in. 

The foods you should avoid are very simple, and they have probably been drilled into you since childhood. 

Try to steer clear of:

Foods that are high in fat
Empty calories-foods with a high caloric content that do not really provide your body with much nutrition, such as butter and white bread.

Junk food-Unfortunately, if you are going to attempt to turn your body into a machine on the soccer field there are some things which are going to have to be sacrificed, and your sugar addiction is among them. Chocolate, ice cream, fruity candies, Twinkies, pies, cakes and anything else that falls into this category should be avoided as strenuously as possible. Potato chips and other greasy, salty snacks fall into this category as well. As a general rule, if you’re dying for a snack while you’re in training take the time to reach for some vegetables. They are easily metabolized by the body and provide a much more nutritious “munchies” than their high calorie counterparts.

Fast food. Any type of fast food, regardless of how nutritious it is purported to be, is not going to be nearly as good for you as the real thing. It may take you a little longer at night to complete your nightly routine, but in the end it the rewards will be worth the effort.

Foods which have been processed or fried, or contain a vast number of ingredients other than those at its core. You want to keep your diet as pure as is possible in today’s society.

Foods which have sugar listed as its primary ingredient, and this does not necessarily apply solely to cookies and candies. This includes items such as high fructose corn syrup, galactose, maltose...anything with an –ose on the end is probably some form of sugar. Manufacturers often use these ingredients in their preservatives, artificial flavorings and gels. Read the label if you are unsure if a product has a high sugar content.

Foods which have been cooked in oil. Many oils are high in trans-fats, which are extraordinarily bad for you and are going to negatively impact your quest to get into shape.



Sugary drinks, such as juice and soda. These are essentially empty calories, and the sugar you are consuming will only serve to make you even thirstier.

Although you are probably lamenting the loss of some of your favorite foods after reading through the list above, don’t lose heart; there are still plenty of things on the “approved” list, and once you have gotten yourself in shape and broken the addiction to those unhealthy items which shall not be named you can reintroduce them into your diet in very small quantities (for example, a single chocolate chip cookie probably isn’t going to hurt you, but eating an entire pack isn’t going to do you any good). 

I got all of my players diet ideas from this ebook. I was lost without it. It's cheap and easy to keep with you like I did on my Ipad for quick reference. Click here to download it now.

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Soccer Conditioning Drills

Soccer Conditioning Drills

Moving on from the build-up of your arms and legs, you are also going to want to ensure that your body is receiving a full cardiovascular workout on a regular basis in order to help the body to receive and process oxygen through its various systems as efficiently as possible during periods of high activity. The good news is that there are numerous activities in which you can participate that are considered to be primarily cardiovascular in nature and are extremely enjoyable; in fact, for many of them you do not even have to tell your mind that it is exercising!

Before we get to the list, however, let us briefly touch on precisely how often you should give your body a cardiovascular workout, simply because once you read down through the list you are probably going to be wondering to yourself exactly why it is that a special section should be made just for cardio- workouts. Quite simply put, although running every day will provide an adequate workout your body will quickly become bored with the activity, and it will cease to have such a strong effect on the systems. If you were attempting to lose weight this would result in a decreased number of calories being burned; since you are attempting to shore up your cardiovascular system the end result is that the
system eventually reaches equilibrium, the point at which the exercise no longer has any effect on it. 

Since you want your cardiovascular system to continue to grow in efficiency you need to stir the pot up a little bit by throwing in an extra half hour of exercise three days a week on top of running on a daily basis. Remember, you don’t just want to be fit enough to play soccer, you want to be fit enough to play soccer well.

• Cardiovascular exercises recommended for athletes by physicians are: 
• Running/jogging
• Walking
• Swimming (this will provide you with a fabulous full body workout, helping to tone the muscles in the arms and legs as well as build up cardiovascular strength)
• Riding a bike (this is strongly recommended in conjunction with regular training runs for cross-country and triathlon athletes, as it serves to build up the thigh and calf muscles)
• Horseback riding
• Skiing
• Playing a sport (such as soccer, basketball or tennis)
• Skating (either ice or roller)
• Aerobics
• Dancing
• Karate
• Yoga
• Jumping rope
• Jumping on a trampoline Rowing
• Stair climbing

Anything else you do that causes your heart rate to rise!

You do not necessarily have to stick to this list; this is just to get you started. As a general rule, if there is any activity that you do that causes your heart rate to rise and you to break a sweat it is probably cardiovascular in nature and will have a positive effect on your system, resulting in increased efficiency and a higher level of fitness. 



I got all of my conditioning drills from this ebook. I was lost without it. It's cheap and easy to keep with you like I did on my Ipad for quick reference. Click here to download it now.

--> Next: Soccer Passing Drills

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Soccer Passing Drills

Soccer Passing Drills

Along with dribbling, passing is going to be the single most important skill you will need to master in order to succeed at soccer. Out on the field a team’s strength lies in its ability to present to the other team a single united front; the offense is nothing without the defense there to back them up if the other team breaks through their line, and the defense can’t do very much without the offense there to help them move the ball out of their territory as quickly as possible.

Since teamwork is such a vital part of soccer success there is going to be no room for showboating out on the field; one single person is not going to be guaranteed to be able to take the ball into the goal at any given point in time. You are going to have to be able to work with your teammates.

You are probably sitting there thinking, “What’s so hard about kicking a ball to someone else?” The difficulty with proper passing is not getting it to the other person, it’s maintaining control of the ball so that it goes precisely where you want it to go. Picture this: You are standing on the field, you have control of the ball and you are headed for your goal. The next thing you know you are rushed by four members of the opposing team. You need to get rid of the ball and you need to do it quickly; however, you can barely make out the other players on your team. You hear a shout, and a quick glance to the diagonal off of your shoulder reveals one of your own open and ready to receive the pass. The only problem with this picture is that you are going to have to slide it past two of their defense.

In this situation, which is going to be all too common when you get out on the field, you are going to have to hit a very small target while ensuring that the ball is traveling along a clean, smooth path at a speed high enough to ensure that it will be out of your custody before the other team has time to register what you have done-and you are going to have to do all of this while simultaneously running down the field, dribbling the ball and dodging your opponents.

Fortunately, the fact that you are already dribbling means that you are in the perfect position to pass the ball. Since you are already dribbling the ball off of your instep anyway, you always want to pass using your instep as well. Again, using the top of your foot will give you a little more distance, but your instep provides you with more control. You will be able to target your teammate and pass the ball without ever having to relinquish control.



When you practice passing at home be sure that you are practicing using the proper form. Choose a target off of any angle of your body and use the instep of the opposite foot to propel the ball. For example, if you were attempting to make a pass to a teammate who was at an immediate diagonal to your right as you were in the example above you would use the instep of your left foot to make the
pass. If your teammate is directly to your left you would use the instep of your right foot to slide the ball on over. Using the opposing foot allows you to maintain your balance and your forward propulsion while making the pass, which will allow you to keep control of the ball at all times until it leaves your possession and may temporarily disorient the opposition focusing on you. 

I got all of my dribbling drills from this ebook. I was lost without it. It's cheap and easy to keep with you like I did on my Ipad for quick reference. Click here to download it now.

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Soccer Defense Drills

Soccer Defense Drills

Chest and Head Blocks

As we mentioned before, using your hands is completely off limits when you’re playing soccer; however, that is quite literally the only part of your body that you are not allowed to use. With that in mind we’ll give you a brief introduction to the use of your chest and head when you are playing the game.

Using your chest to block the ball is a simple matter. As you might imagine, you use your chest to block balls that are coming at you at too great a height to get a hold of with your knees but not quite high enough to hit with your head, and it is a great way to divert what would otherwise be a penalty for touching the ball with your hands (every once in a while the ball comes at you at just such an angle that you virtually have no choice). Simply spread your arms wide to the sides in the same manner as you would if you were being searched by a police officer to ensure that they are safely out of the way and center your chest around the ball.

It is vitally important that when you are taking a ball to the chest you place it appropriately. The proper place to stop a soccer ball with your chest is smack dab in the middle of the breastbone. Ladies, this is approximately where the uppermost portion of your cleavage is, and if you want to prevent a great deal of discomfort you’ll be sure that you place the ball appropriately. This is equally important for both sexes, however; at the bottom of your breast bone you have a tiny extension of bone known as the xiphoid process, and although this bone has generally hardened by the time you reach adulthood it is still far more easily damaged that the rest of your sternum. A well placed ball or a poorly placed kick could result in this bone fracturing off and puncturing a lung, so it is essential that you ensure this is not the part of your body you are willingly offering up for target practice.

A chest block is precisely what it sounds like-a block. Its entire purpose is to stop the ball’s forward motion and restore it to your control (ideally the ball will drop down between your feet after it strikes your chest). A head block, on the other hand, serves to not only stop the forward motion of the ball but to send it on another trajectory as well. Ideally you would use your head to stop a ball that was flying  through the air at a level even to or higher than your forehead-attempting to squat down to get your head under a ball is possible, but generally not very comfortable.



As with the chest block it is very important that you ensure that the ball connects with your head in just the right point. You want to hit it using the broad portion of your forehead between your eyes; any higher and you will not be able to use your neck muscles to connect with the ball and change its trajectory (the ball will simply bounce off the top of your head), any lower and you will find yourself sporting a bloody and possibly broken bone for the remainder of the day. The trick is to draw your neck back just slightly, then get your head moving forward before it meets the ball so that you can use the your forehead and the ball’s own momentum to change its course.

I got all of my defense drills from this ebook. I was lost without it. It's cheap and easy to keep with you like I did on my Ipad for quick reference. Click here to download it now.

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Soccer Throw In

Soccer Throw In

If you are familiar with the game of soccer in any way, shape or form then you are fully aware that much like basketball or football the game must be played within the designated playing field. If the ball should happen to go out of the playing field it will automatically go to the other team, who will have to right to throw the ball back into play. This is one of very few exceptions to the “no-hands” rule of soccer, and it is a very valuable asset because it allows the team that has control of the ball to determine exactly where it is going to go; they can completely change the direction of the game by gaining custody of the ball and sending it back into their territory.

Although you may have images dancing in your head of grabbing the ball in one hand and hurling it down the field like an ancient Greek Olympian, the proper method of throwing a soccer ball back into play is vastly different from the way you would throw any other ball. You hold the ball in both hands, fingertips in the middle and palms facing out, draw it back behind your head and then give it a two handed toss to your nearest available teammate. Be aware that, much like in basketball, you are going to have a member of the opposing team directly in your face while you are attempting to throw the ball; however, as they are not allowed to use their hands (and will actually earn a penalty if one of their hands happens to come into contact with the ball while attempting to block your throw) you stand a very good chance of making contact with one of your own.

The key element to a successful throw in is power. Although they cannot use their hands the opposing team has no other limitations on the methods they can use to gain control of the ball, and so you are going to have to make sure that the ball goes up in the air, yet too high to successfully block it with their chest and too low to make a reasonable attempt at blocking it with their head. You are also going to want to put some “oomph” on it; throwing a soccer ball is not as easy as you would think, and if you are attempting to get it to travel long distances you’re going to need to be able to put some muscle behind it (another reason to hit the gym to work on your arm muscles regularly). 



I got all of my throwing drills from this ebook. I was lost without it. It's cheap and easy to keep with you like I did on my Ipad for quick reference. Click here to download it now.

--> Next: Kicking a Soccer Ball

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