Tosh Farrell Soccer Magazine June 2020 | Page 23

To start with it is important that you know your players, or at least get a feel for what they have been doing over the last couple of months as this allows you to plan your starting point and program your training accordingly. With a general idea of the players levels you should look to plan the training for the entire period and work towards the end point (first game). One of the biggest mistakes I see is the lack of focus on the big picture and then coaches adding more ‘stuff’ to individual sessions throughout the period, that means being aware of days which are going to be easier on the players. Have a plan and stick to it! In planning you need to be aware of 2 general considerations (1) volume (how much) and (2) intensity (how hard). As previously mentioned with the isolation/layoff period there is detraining effect and the longer the break the greater the potential drop in physical performance. Herein lies the first problem, which physical attributes are we taking about? We can separate these attributes into many different categories with many different names but I like to think of them the lowing way, We have cardiovascular fitness, which some would call central fitness, and then muscular fitness which some would call peripheral fitness. Think; can I (1) Jog, (2) sprint, (3) do repeated sprints, (4) accelerate, (5) decelerate, (6) pass the ball short, (7) shoot. Chances are that your players will have done (1) and (2) and maybe (3) but the really high speed football specific tasks have probably not been performed for a couple of months. What’s the first thing players do when they arrive a at pitch with a bag of balls? Try and hit the crossbar from the half way … then wonder why there hamstring feels a bit tight!