The Ultimate Soccer Warm-Ups Manual PDF

For a soccer player of any age the warm-up is vitally important in helping reduce the risk of injury and preparing the body for exercise, but for the coach it is arguably the most important part of the session.

The warm-up is the first thing that happens in a session and sets the tone for the rest of the practice.

As coaches we must inspire the players from the first moment they arrive at the match or training venue.

The environment must be friendly, fun, energizing and competitive.

This sounds much easier than it actually is and the majority of coaches are always looking for new ideas and ways in which we can improve ourselves and our players and teams.

In this book I aim to provide you with many different types of warm-up practice that will improve your players both physically and technically.

Younger players don’t necessarily need to perform all the stretching described here and you might just give them a ball and let them play various small sided games and exercises.

But does this style of coaching for older players work?

Keep the players moving

No doubt you will spend a little more time developing older players physically but you must not lose sight of the fact that the players come to the sessions in order to play soccer.

In any training session, the game of soccer is the best learner and the players must spend the majority of their time with the ball.

Try to limit the amount of talking you do as a coach.

You may w ant to pull an individual out of the practice and advise on technique.

If it’s a group drill then use a quick “basketball-style” time out and then let the players continue working.

It’s important to keep the players moving at a good flow and intensity during the warm-up phase.

I have included a wide range of different warm-ups in order to accommodate various numbers, age of player, ability of player and levels of intensity.

The coach must adapt the size of the area used and the timing of the practices in order to suit their particular group.

In creating the sessions I have tried to transfer my thoughts to that of a young player and in order to improve my players’ learning, enjoyment and ability I always make sure that the following statements are true:

• the session is fun 

• the session is competitive 

• the players have freedom to express their individual ability 

• the players have choices in movement and technique 

• the players have to think and solve problems 

• the session is realistic and challenging 

• the game is the leader, not the coach.