Dynamic Warm up for Soccer Players
Schedule time for dynamic warm up, skills training and play at every practice. Here are the first 2 phases of warm up: Gathering – when they arrive, have something for them to get started with. Otherwise, girls will chat and await instructions. Boys will see how far they can kick it into the woods. A team […]
Are Sports Too Much for Your Kid? Dismantling the Dagwood Sandwich, An Equation for Healthy Youth Sport
Everybody’s talking about injuries. Coaches, doctors, league administrators, and parents are worried about the increase in injuries from SO much soccer! Kids are stuffed with teams and tryouts, tournaments and competitions. What used to be a tasty part of a balanced diet, now sits on their plate like a dagwood sandwich, daring them to eat […]
Ramping up for Pre-season Fitness: Chantilly Coaches Clinic
Hey Coaches, Great session last night, introducing warm ups and pre-season fitness ideas for your players. Special thanks to Mike Jorden’s U-16 Strikers team for being our demo’s and putting on a good show. Here’s a re-cap of the highlights from me and from Mike. (I am going from memory with Mike’s stuff.) First, ask […]
Len Oliver Can Predict Your Playing Position by Your Personality
Len Oliver has been playing and teaching the basics of soccer coaching approximately forever, I suspect. He’s a fixture in Washington, DC and the Mid-Atlantic region and is a USSF ‘A’ licensed coach and referee. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1996. Of course I didn’t know any of […]
What Color is Your Fitness? Take the Quiz
What’s your fitness color? Really. Your fitness has a personality and a color. So says author Suzanne Brue, who wrote The 8 Colors of Fitness: Discover Your Color-Coded Fitness Personality and Create an Exercise Program You’ll Never Quit. Take her quiz here. Find out your “fitness color.” See if you agree. Author Suzanne Brue, building on the […]
5 Things to Look for if You’re New on the Soccer Team
Just joined a new team or are considering one? How do you know whether it is a good fit? Here are 5 things to consider: other players, other parents, the coach, the team feel, your own kid. Other players … watch these at tryouts and practice: Does your kid fit in? Can she keep up with […]
Pain AND Gain: On the Edge of Injury AND Glory
I got to spend my mornings last week with the First Ladies of soccer, the Washington Spirit. I have never seen that kind of soccer quite so up close and personal. These women are phenomenal. Just standing by, I can hardly believe the power and accuracy and quickness of their ball drills and their small-sided […]
Training the Fittest, Be Smart About Functional Over-reaching
Don’t call it over-training, they say, call it over-reaching. Or better yet, call it under-performing. All that to get away from the accusatory tone that comes with the word. How much is too much? Well, it all depends on how they play, right? At the ACSM conference I attended a session on “Over-training” in high-performing […]
Your Iliotibial Band Is Not Your Enemy
Your iliotibial (or IT) band travels on the outside of your thigh from your hip to just below your knee. Science speak says, “The IT Band is a lateral thickening of the fascia lata that rises from the tensor fascia latae and gluteus maximus, courses down the side of the leg to lateral femoral condyle […]
The Art and Science of Sport Concussion
“You’d rather be the hammer than the nail,” says Kevin Guskiewicz, from the Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. He’s on the forefront of the war we’re waging against sports concussions. His talk was billed as “translating data into concussion prevention.” I’m not sure we’re there yet. But here’s what I learned […]