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Developing Explosive and Injury-Free Soccer Athletes (Part 3 of 3)

by Cody Carter, BS, CSCS

To get your body to perform at an elite level it has to be trained in a way that prepares the body for those situations. As a coach or a soccer athlete you have to ask yourself, what is your desired outcome? Muscles and joints that are used when kicking, jumping, or running fire quickly while taking on a great deal of force. Prepare them for that using controlled movements and environments like practice. If you want your team to change direction more quickly on the field, in practice you have to set up those situations. A lot of movements aren’t preprogrammed in games. So, don’t let your change of direction exercise be predictable.

The following two plyometric movements encompass everything that has been discussed in the previous two newsletters. These are rapid, powerful, and explosive exercises for the body that absorb the force to prevent injury and gain an edge on the competition.

Tuck Jump: This exercise enhances the body’s ability to extend at the ankles, knees and hips in an explosive fashion. The tuck jumps trains the body to explode in the vertical plane, while challenging your hips to flex rapidly in the air, just as they would when accelerating your leg to make contact with the soccer ball. You’re also absorbing the force with an eccentric landing which is making your more injury resistant. Perform the exercise 3 times per week with 5 sets of 5 repetitions.

Tuck Jump (Quicktime movie 1MB)

Split Squat Jump: The split squat jump is the “one-legged” brother of the tuck jump. It has all the same benefits but now each leg is forced to work more independently, so it’s more running specific. Start in a split stance and begin by lowering the back knee to the ground. Rapidly explode upward, switching feet in mid-air. The arms are being used to jump, upper body stays tall, and the landing is being absorbed. The type of explosive movement is similar to the amount of force that is put into the ground as a soccer player makes a cut or when running in a linear direction. Every time you absorb a landing you’re making your body more injury resistant. Perform the exercise 3 times per week with 5 sets of 5 repetitions on each side.

.Split Squat Jump (Quicktime movie 1MB)

Chaos Training: Athletes should be training their bodies in a way that mimics what happens on the soccer field.  Try using unexpected cuts or reacting to different stimuli (voice or a person) to make your workout even more soccer-specific.

Organize your team in two lines. At your “go” the first group begins sprinting. On your command, athletes have to quickly switch and sprint in the opposite direction. Do this 5 times. Make the runs between switches long or short depending on what type of situation and conditioning you want to achieve. The next group goes while the first group rests.

Variations to these “chaos runs” could be to add a backpedal option to the sprints, a carioca or lateral shuffle – all on your command. The next progression to this “chaos” training is to let the captain of the team lead the sprints, forcing the players to watch him/her out of the corner of their eye to see when the switches are occurring.

The content covered in this 3-part series is just the tip of the iceberg if you want to prevent injury while building explosiveness. Contact your nearest Velocity Sports Performance to set up a free trial session to continue this type of training in more detail.

About Velocity Sports Performance:
Velocity Sports Performance is a national network of training centers where athletes of all sports, ages and skill levels go to improve their core athletic skills - speed, power and agility. Athletes train in small groups with degreed and certified performance coaches. Velocity Sports Performance is the Official Performance Training Partner of Cal South Soccer. Players who train with Velocity Sports Performance can expect to get to the ball quicker, cover more of the field faster, increase their shot power and reduce their chances of injury. Velocity Sports Performance has training centers throughout Southern California including Irvine, Redondo Beach, Anaheim, Carlsbad, San Diego, West LA and Santa Clarita.