Pre season training routines/drills

RustySpoon · 10-07-2008 12:52pm #1

Just wondering does anyone have any good links/recommendations for pre season fitness and technique drills?

I am also looking for some ideas on drills that are used during the season - what do you like, what don't you like, what is fun, what gets boring very quickly etc...

Would also like some heading drills if possible.

MBC · 10-07-2008 1:59pm

1st night back.........bleep test.

Then do it again a week before the season starts.......this way you can gage who has been putting the work in over the pre season.

Here is a website where ya can download it:
http://www.defence.gov.au/army/HQ8BDE/jobs/Fitness.htm

Xavi6 · 10-07-2008 3:00pm

Beach running ftw. Nothing works your legs like a couple of km's on soft sand.

estebancambias · 10-07-2008 3:10pm

I despise running on the beach, but I must say its very good. I really should make more of Killiney beach when it comes to running, cause' it sure as hell offers little when it comes to swimming.

Xavi6 · 10-07-2008 3:12pm

estebancambias wrote: »

I despise running on the beach, but I must say its very good. I really should make more of Killiney beach when it comes to running, cause' it sure as hell offers little when it comes to swimming.

You're not meant to enjoy pre-season!

RustySpoon · 10-07-2008 3:13pm

Xavi6 wrote: »

Beach running ftw. Nothing works your legs like a couple of km's on soft sand.

Too far for a beach, nearest one about 90 mins away! Still no drills, am not looking for state secrets am I?

Xavi6 · 10-07-2008 3:15pm

What sort of drills? With or without balls? Team or individual?

estebancambias · 10-07-2008 3:17pm

Ok what you should do is get people running then when you shout 'NOW' the first man jumps on his belly on the ground, the next man jumps over the first lad and this continues until everyone is down. Feel free to add some press ups....then it starts all over again.

Xavi6 · 10-07-2008 3:20pm

First month of preseason training should be predominately fitness work. Throw a game of ball in at the end but you want your players fit.

After a 5 minute warm up run and some stretching send them out on a 12 minute run at a reasonable pace. Then add in some short sharp sprints, at first on a level surface then switch it to uphill suicides. They'll feel it believe me.

RustySpoon · 11-07-2008 10:52am

Xavi6 wrote: »

What sort of drills? With or without balls? Team or individual?

Thanks for the info so far Xavi & rest Think there will be some running going on.

Am looking for team drills, maybe split into 2 or 3 groups. Am looking for 40 min without then 30 min with ball drills.

Jivin Turkey · 11-07-2008 11:30am

RustySpoon wrote: »

Am looking for team drills, maybe split into 2 or 3 groups. Am looking for 40 min without then 30 min with ball drills.

Depending on the size of the group by splitting a team into teams of four or five say one of the best drills to do is as follows.

Make the first man sprint for twenty metres before hitting a line of cones (say six in a row) with a ball at the first cone. They must dribble in and out of the six cones before stopping the ball and having another sprint to a cone twenty metres away. Here they must turn sprint back to the ball and dribble it again in and out of the cones before stopping it and sprinting back to the first cone where they release the next man on their team.

The team factor to this combined with a prize of a punishment sprint for the last (few?) team(s?) coupled with a breather for the winner(s?) ensures that every man will put it in. It gives them a sniff of a ball as well which is always nice in pre-season!

Draupnir · 11-07-2008 12:00pm

Single best stamina/pre season drill I have done, which is derived from drills taught on the UEFA A Licence course I believe, is as follows:

Line the players up along the byline of one end of a pitch facing towards the half way line. They then must run the length of the pitch in 40 seconds.
At the opposite byline, they have 20 seconds rest.
They then run the length of the pitch back in 30 seconds.
At the opposite byline, they have 30 seconds rest.
They must then run the length of the pitch a third time, finishing at the opposite end from where they started, in 20 seconds.
At the opposite byline, they have 40 seconds rest.

After the 40 seconds rest, do it again. A good level of stamina should allow a player to do 5 reps of this in each session. A low level and they will be struggling after 2. High stamina levels and I think you could do about 8. Right now I reckon I could do one!

Another good one is:

Setup a large rectangle, about 50 metres by 20 metres, using cones. In the centre of the rectangle create a diamond, about 20 metres on each side. Split the squad in half and form two lines, jogging around the diamond at half pace.

Use a whistle and on each blow of the whistle, alternate which line from the centre has to complete a full pace sprint around the rectangle and then join back up alongside the other line in the centre, jogging the diamond again at half pace.

I would repeat this 3 to 5 times for each line, adding reps after a couple of weeks pre-season.

These are both tough drills but provide plenty of space for anyone who is struggling with the pace to step out and continue some light jogging and get a breather. They don't involve any ball work but that I personally don't think that ball work should ever be used in stamina work.

Both these drills will build the players body to cope better without oxygen and should show great results after 3 weeks of two sessions a week.

If you want to work fitness, then shuttle runs can not be overvalued. Use them as a way to build team spirit aswell by making a competition out of them. I dont really go in for suicides or any of that kind of thing because I dont think players get a lot of out doing individual stuff, try to keep things as a team game is what I believe.

Draupnir · 11-07-2008 12:05pm

The one Jivin Turkey mentions in the post before mine would be a good one for fitness and would fit in nicely were I mentioned shuttles, good shout Jivin Turkey.

Another good one is to make two lines behind two cones.

In front of the start cones make a cross shape using 3 cones and a central cone, so it looks like this:

RIGHT I CANT GET THE DIAGRAM TO WORK!!! It's a cross made of cones!!

The players line up behind the bottom +. Each player in turn sprints from start cone to centre and back, start cone to left cone and back, start cone to opposite cone and back, start cone to right cone and back.

On each trip they must go around the central cone. This makes them sprint, turn and bend and is very good for fitness. This drill came out of the Liverpool Youth Academy about 10/12 years ago and is one that was apparently a favourite of Michael Owen for fitness and speed work.

UnitedIrishman · 11-07-2008 12:22pm

RustySpoon wrote: »

Thanks for the info so far Xavi & rest Think there will be some running going on.

Am looking for team drills, maybe split into 2 or 3 groups. Am looking for 40 min without then 30 min with ball drills.

A few bits we do on a regular basis:

Warm up:
* In a square about 15x15 have your players inside jogging and doing regular match movements. Introduce 5-6 balls and tell them take 2-3 touches before stopping it and moving onto the next ball. Do that for a few mins.
* Then get the six balls in hand, touch off 'high knees' four times before throwing to next man. Knees have to come up to the ball, not ball to knees. Change to raising your inside of your foot four times up to the ball.
* Next the 'outside in'. All balls are still in hand but to throw to the ball to the next man, you have to throw it under your right leg which you raise in the air.
* Next, just throw the balls around with regular match movements - it gets the players talking and communicating.
* Quick hands on the spot like you would for a sprint (no movement of feet), then quick feet (no arm movement), then do both together.

Running:
* Like someone said, first night back might be ideal to do a beep test. It gives you an idea whether your work over the weeks has paid off aswell.
* Another idea is the Figure Eight. Set up like so:
A

B
|
|
|
|
C

D

You'll need to time this. Basically in groups of four, put a group at each cone (letter) but ensure there are two groups at the starting cone (so that there is always one group running whilst the others are at the cones ready to go).

It starts with A running to B, when ALL of the the first group have reached B, then the second group (B) runs to C, C runs to D, and D back to A. Do three or four of these in a row before stopping the clock. Give the lads a target that they have to beat with their next run, or they have to do it again.

The Union Jack:
* Set up six groups of however many. Four groups face the four corner flags, two groups are running along the halfway line in opposite directions from the center circle.
* All groups start together. When the whistle goes, each group runs to the points of the Union Jack. So in the shabby and barely readable below diagram: C is running to the top left corner flag, D to the top right, E and F to the bottom corner flags and A and B to the sidelines.
* So for example a circuit for C is - top left corner flag and back to center circle, out to the top right corner flag and back to center circle, out to right sideline back to center circle, out to bottom right corner flag and back, out to bottom left corner flag back, out to left sideline back.

*

*

\---/

C---D

*--<--A-O-B-->----*

E---F

/

\

*

*

* It's feckin tough, after 3 sets of these, you'll feel it. Again time it. If their time begins to slip in the second run, set a limit. Make sure that everyone in the group encourages each other to make up the pace.

After all that you might want to go into ball work to prevent death of your players, or yourself (by your players!).

Possession:
* The one thing that is missing come every pre-season is your touch. Set up a 30 x 30 square and set up two teams. The teams with most consecutive passes in the square doesn't do push-ups. Break it into five-eight minute spells with the losers doing push ups.
* Then introduce goals. This is the fun part. Have five sets of poles about 5 yards wide set up randomly in the square (now about 50x50). To score, a team must pass through the posts and reach and one of their men on the other side.
* There's still a lot of running in this so you might want to do this in place of oen of the runs. It's great craic too when you get into it with all the near misses and frenetic nature of the game.

My advice would be just to work on the basics. Don't do formations, tactics, set pieces until about two weeks before the season. Get the fitness up and get the touch right. Then it's a case of maintaining that and the rest (set pieces etc) will follow.

Hope this helps in someway. It's good to get an idea of what other sides are doing around the place.

Jivin Turkey · 11-07-2008 1:53pm

The best drill I can think of, which despite it being a ball skills one, is intense enough to fit into late pre-season stuff not to mention great for regular season, is........

Make a square using cones with each side having four cones as so

O---O---O---O (obviously all corners overlap)

You need two teams of eight for this, and assign each team a bib colour (say green and orange).

There are 12 gaps between all the cones and 12 players must stand in these alternating green and orange. There are four players left two green, two orange. One ball, tossed up between the four.

Who ever wins the toss up for the ball must try and retain possession. They can pass to their partner or pass to men of the same colour on the perimiter of the square. Two touches only is best as three is too many and one is too hard and causes for too many breaks in play.

It is an incredible exercise in movement off the ball and short passing. And believe me, it sounds like a simple passing drill but you have to bust your balls to make space to receive from the outside and you are constantly turning through 180 degrees to look for the next ball.

IT IS SERIOUSLY HARD WORK!

Again add a competitive streak by if one team gets to 10, 15 or 20 possessions in a row the other team have to get down and do the corresponding amount of press-ups.

After a couple of minutes change the lads in the middle with lads on the side and start again.

This is also an absolute favourite with players, which is great obviously from a coaching perspective.

leninbenjamin · 11-07-2008 2:41pm

as a break from all those intensive fitness drills, here's one good for shooting .

set up a small target, an upturned picnic table, no bigger, preferably smaller. literally have players hit the ball off the target as hard as they can repeatedly from a distance of about 20 yards. what makes this difficult is that they aren't allowed take any extra touches, only the shot each time. i've never seen anybody manage more than three without missing. good for winding down when your players go to do something they think is easy only to make fools of themselves.

Pre season training routines/drills

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