The reason defenders need endurance is because they have to keep up with any opposing players whilst under attack and if a team is constantly defending the defenders have to be in very good shape to be able to cope.
Goalkeepers don’t particularly need endurance for running around as their job in a team requires them to stay inside the 18 yard box, however they do need to have a good level of endurance to be able to stay in a constant position of readiness for a whole match
Bent knee sit-ups are a good method of increasing muscular endurance, as you have to push yourself to perform well
SPEED
Speed is the maximum rate at which a person is able to move their body. Good ways of testing for speed are sprints; extended training of sprints can also lead to faster times. It is not just leg speed that a sprinter would have, but athletes who can throw a javelin require arm speed.
All footballers need to be fast, the flow of the game depends highly on this and to keep up with the play you cannot be slow.
Attacking players have to have speed when on the ball or making crucial runs. It is important to beat defenders using speed or getting behind them to collect the ball.
Midfielders need speed so they can get back and forth on the pitch and wingers especially need it so they can bring the ball forward and get into advantageous crossing positions.
Defenders speed is crucial in the game when they are tracking attackers, man marking or getting back from attacking set pieces.
One of the best methods of training to increase speed is by doing shuttle run training. This makes you push the body increasingly to get to higher speeds in shorter distances.
Components of Motor Fitness
Motor fitness is the capability to perform successfully at a particular game or activity.
AGILITY
Agility is the ability to change the direction of the body quickly. Goalkeepers and gymnasts are good examples of people who have this ability to do this.
A situation when attackers may need to be agile is when a challenge is made upon them. They may need to avoid the tackle and changing the shape of the body whilst evading any harm is a necessity.
Midfield players need to be agile when taking opposing players on, being able to twist and turn with the ball and able to confuse a player so you can beat them is a good skill to have. Also, being able to skip challenges is a good skill to be able to do; this also applies to strikers and attacking players.
Defensive players agility is required for trying to challenge a player with the ball, if an opposing player manages to turn the defender they have to be agile enough to reposition themselves quickly enough to stay with the game.
Goalkeepers, as mentioned above are required to have great agility as they need to be able to get to the ground or dive across the goal within a split second to save any shots. Shuttle runs are also a good way of improving agility with training, as you have to turn quickly in small spaces.
Warm Up
Warm up and cool down improves the performance. Warm up prepare the body for competitions or exercise and reduce the chances of injury. Muscles stiffness is thought to be directly related to muscles injury therefore the warm up should be aimed at reducing muscles stiffness. The warm should include exercises that prepare the muscles to be used and activate the energy system required. The warm should be related specifically to the activates that follows. For instance, sit up or push-ups not useful as a warm up for running 100meters. Instead, jogging or run through is the best preparation. 5 to 10 minutes jogging - to increase body temperature, jogging is often used as a continues activity that increase blood flow therefore increased body temperature. 10 to 15 minutes mobility and stretching exercises - reduce muscle stiffness. 10 to 15 minutes general and event specific drills - preparation for the session or competition for example lower leg drills, leg drills, technique drills. I think all warm should include flexibility exercise to prevent muscles injury during the strain of a game or work out. Should be carried out until you are sweating , which shows increased body and muscles temperature. Warm up should take much longer on cold days. Some of the advantages of the warm:
- Increased speed of contraction and relaxation of warmed muscles
- Dynamic exercises reduce muscle stiffness
- Greater economy of movement because of lowered viscous resistance within warmed muscles
- Facilitated oxygen utilization by warmed muscles because haemoglobin releases oxygen more readily at higher muscle temperatures
- Facilitated nerve transmission and muscle metabolism at higher temperatures; a specific warm up can facilitate motor unit recruitment required in subsequent all out activity
- Increased blood flow through active tissues as local vascular beds dilate, increasing metabolism and muscle temperatures
- Increased viscosity in the muscles, so they can contract and relax quickly.
During warm down always finish the training with the lighter exercise. Go directly form hard training to rest. Light exercise shortens the recovery time necessary by helping to remove carbon dioxide, lactic acid and other waste product, which have built in our body. It also ensures that our blood continues to circulate well. Pooling can cause a rapid lowering in blood pressure and make us feel dizzy. It is sensible to carry out flexibility exercise during a warm down period. This is because our muscles are thoroughly warmed and less likely to be over stretched and injured. These exercise also stop our muscles from losing heat to quickly and will prevent muscles soreness. 5 to 10 minutes jogging/walking - decrease body temperature and remove waste products from the working muscles 5 to 10 minutes stretching- decrease body temperature, remove waste products from the working muscles and to increase range of movement
Advantages:
- Aid in the dissipation of waste products - including lactic acid.
- Reduce the chances of dizziness or fainting caused by the pooling of venous blood at the extremities reduce the level of adrenaline in the blood
Acquiring and Performing Movement Skills
Essential Skill- BALL CONTROL (DRIBBLING)
Warm-up Game: Soccer Shark - 15 minutes
Setup: Place disc cones in a 20-yard diameter circle. All players except 1 have a ball. Remaining player is the “shark”, wearing a different colored vest.
Players dribble around inside of cone circle. On the coach’s signal, the shark enters the circle and attempts to dispossess the dribblers and kick their ball out of the circle. Players who have their ball kicked out of the circle must dribble around the outside of the circle, changing direction each time another player’s ball is kicked out. Instruct that players dribbling around the outside must watch for balls being kicked out and shout “CHANGE!” The last to maintain possession inside the circle is the shark for the next round. Stretch for 1-2 minutes every 5 mins.
1st Skill Building Exercise: “200 Touches” – 10 minutes
Setup: Every player has a ball across a line; beyond fingertip touch apart, all facing the same way.
Players perform these ten ball control moves, 20 repetitions for each.
1. Face forward, dribble forward with front/top of foot.
2. Face side, dribble (sideways) with outside of foot.
3. Face back, tap ball behind with heel, turn forward & stop by putting opposite foot on top of ball, face back.
4. Face forward, dribble forward with front/top of foot, stop ball suddenly by putting same foot on top of ball.
5. Face side, push ball with inside of back foot, stop ball with inside of front foot.
6. Face back, foot on top of ball roll ball straight behind, turn with ball, stop with opposite foot, face back, repeat
7. Face forward, dribble forward with front/top of foot, step to the side with dribbling foot and “fake” with body, step other direction with opposite foot and “fake” again with body.
8. Face side, back foot on top of ball, roll ball across body & step down (cross-over), step with other foot, stop ball with back foot.
9. Face front, roll ball forward, reach out and stop ball with sole of foot and roll back, tap forward with same foot.
10. Face front, “scissor step” by starting right foot behind ball and swing foot around inside and front of ball and step outside of ball (include upper body “fake”), push forward with left foot. Alternate scissor with left/right.
Coach should make sure movements are crisp - don’t accept slow/lackadaisical movement. Look for players moving feet quickly to stay in position relative to the ball. Encourage them to stay “light” on their feet. Watch for players touching ball too hard/not hard enough.
2nd Skill Building Exercise: Ring of Fire - 10 minutes
Setup: Using disc cones make 4 goals, each goal centered along the side of an imaginary 10 yard square, goals 1 yard wide, as shown. Players are equally divided into 2 teams, each team wearing a different color. Each player on team 1 has a ball. Players on team 2 are defenders, matched against a certain player on team 1.
All players start outside of the square. On coach’s signal players with ball attempt to dribble into the square, then dribble through one of the cone goals. A “goal” is scored each time the ball is dribbled through one of the goals, providing the ball is dribbled from the inside of the square toward the outside. The same goal may not be scored through by the same player twice in succession. Switch sides after 1 ½ minutes.
Coaches should look for manipulation of ball with all parts of the foot, change of direction to avoid defender, shielding with body between ball and defender to temporarily avoid pressure. No turning into defender, shielding too long. Encourage creativity, use of fakes, and sudden change of direction.
3rd Skill Building Exercise: Zone Dribbling Game - 10 minutes
Setup: Mark a 30x20 yard grid with orange disc cones. Divide the grid with yellow disc cones, making 2 lines connecting the long sides 10 yards from the center. The grid should now consist of 3 10 x 20 zones. Divide players into 2 teams, each team wearing a different color. All players on team 1 are attackers and have a ball. All players on team 2 are defenders. To start the game 3 attackers stand along one end facing the grid. All remaining attackers stand behind them. 3 defenders are placed in the zone closest to the attackers, 2 defenders in the center zone and 1 defender in the last zone.
On the coach’s signal the 3 attackers dribble into the first zone, attempting to dribble through all three zones and over the other end of the grid. Defenders in each zone attempt to dispossess the dribblers and kick their ball out of the zone. Defenders may not leave their zone. When an attacker’s ball is kicked out of the grid they go behind remaining attackers and wait their next turn. A goal is scored when an attacker dribbles the ball over the opposite end of the grid, with the ball no more than 1 yard away. After the last of the 3 attackers scores or has their ball kicked out of the grid, the next 3 attackers begin. Previous attackers must quickly get their ball and return to the beginning. Teams switch roles after 5 minutes.
Coaches should look for manipulation of ball with all parts of the foot, change of direction to avoid defender, shielding with body between ball and defender to temporarily avoid pressure. No turning into defender, shielding too long. Encourage creativity, use of fakes, and sudden change of direction.
4th Skill Building Exercise: Knock Over Cones - 10 minutes
Setup: Divide players equally into 2 teams, each team wearing a different color. Form groups of 4 with 2 players from each team per group. Place 3 standard cones in a triangle, approximately 8 yards between each cone, one triangle for each group of 4.
Coach begins game by serving a ball outside the triangle in a random direction. Players from both teams contest for possession of the ball them attempt to dribble the ball over one of the cones. A goal is scored when the cone is knocked over. The ball must be played from no more than one yard away to knock over the cone. A player from the team opposite of the one who scored must stand the cone back up. Failure to do so means the next goal scored by the other team results in 2 points. Rotate new players in every two minutes.
Coaches should look for manipulation of ball with all parts of the foot, change of direction to avoid defender, shielding with body between ball and defender to temporarily avoid pressure. No turning into defender, shielding too long. Encourage creativity, use of fakes, and sudden change of direction. Also look for creativity and variety of moves to avoid defenders. Encourage movement and communication from the attacking player without the ball.
Scrimmage Game: “Half-Court” scrimmage - 20 minutes
Setup: Place a 10-foot wide flag goal on the goal line. Take-back line is top of penalty area. Choose a goalkeeper. Divide remaining players into 2 equal teams wearing different colors. Goalkeeper is neutral.
Coach serves ball into middle of penalty area. Players contest for the ball. First team to win possession takes ball outside of the penalty area, then back in to attack the goal. On each clear change of possession the team now with the ball must take the ball outside of the penalty area before the can score. Remind players to use the dribbling skills emphasized in this practice. Freeze play when coaching points need to be made. Offer praise every time you see a good dribbling sequence.
Finally make sure everyone cools down.
Contemporary studies in physical education
The following information I received from the football organizations website.
Grassroots
The Football Foundation brings together The F.A, Premier League and Government in a partnership for its funding at grassroots level. This body is designed to fund development of children’s football to help them recognise their sporting potential. The F.A put £7million into the Foundation, with the sum certain to rise significantly in the future. The main beneficiaries of initial funding will be projects to develop facilities such as pitches and changing rooms.
Mini Soccer is The FA’s approved form of football for the under 10s, using small-sided non-competitive games to encourage a fun introduction to football. With no winners or losers, teams play a maximum of 1 hour of football each. The emphasis is on enjoyment and participation.
To help encourage good grassroots development the F.A developed a charter. This seeks to reward and encourage good practice so that parents and children can demand a minimum standard of provision from schools, clubs and holiday.
Regional structure
Although UEFA are a huge organisation, they cannot control every single aspect of the game in all European countries, such as Wales. It is therefore essential that regional, intra-national organisations or governing bodies take as much control as possible and are aware of as much as possible in their area.
Wales uses a pyramid system to organise its football events/competitions. The Welsh Premier is Wales’ national league and the only national competition and all leagues below it operate on a regional basis, the leagues become more localised the further down the pyramid you go.
Governing bodies need to structure leagues into regional leagues so that they are more easily managed and are more organised. Like the British Premier League, many foreign countries have adopted segmented or divisional type football leagues. Wales uses this tiered league system to organise many competitions. The Welsh Premier is the top tier or first division and all those below this division are on lower tiers. The second tier consists of two leagues that each covers half of the country. The first represents South Wales and the second, central and North Wales. The champions of both these leagues are promoted to the League of Wales. However although this may sound quite simple, it gets much more complicated the further down the system you go. The similarity is that the teams that come top of the lower leagues are also eligible for promotion.
As I’ve said, the system gets a lot more mixed up and complex the further down the pyramid you go, with teams having less professional players, and a lower status. The lower less well known teams face a larger competition and less chance of getting promoted due to the larger number of teams.
Doping control and testing
It is now normal for most footballers, to be tested for doping and drugs that may affect their performance.
There are many different ways in which drug testing can be performed, namely, urine samples, hair samples, perspiration and residues found on the athlete or on items of their possession.
The urine sample involves the footballer giving a urine sample just before a game, which is tested for the existence of drugs or any evidence of doping. If the results come back positive then the footballer will be suspended and will not be allowed to play in the match or matches following the test until a governing body tells them they are allowed to play. Hair testing involves the footballer/athlete giving a sample of their hair, which, like the urine is tested for evidence of drugs, again, if the test shows that that person has drugs in their system, then appropriate action will be taken. The perspiration test involves the sweat of the athlete being analysed for the presence of any performance enhancing drugs. This is an effective way of doping control and testing, as there are not many ways in which you can avoid this sort of test, or any of the others for that matter. Residue testing involves the footballer giving an item of theirs to the drug analyst that may have residue from the footballers body on it, this could include a drinking flask, mug etc. that may have the persons saliva on it, or a towel that may have hair on it that could be analysed, i.e. anything that may have any residue on it that could be analysed in order to prove the existence of drugs or doping.
Here is an example of how the FA intends to deal with the increase in drug abuse in football; The FA is conducting random drug testing of gifted footballers as young as nine years old. These unannounced spot-checks on 9-16 year olds is being carried out at 147 centres of excellence across England and Wales. However, each of these drug tests costs the FA £230.
UefA
One of the main football governing bodies is UEFA. The Union of European Football Associations governs football all over Europe and makes sure the rules that are formed by this organisation are enforced and abided by, as well as organising competitions and so on.
Moreover, as I live in Wales I will talk about the Football Association of Wales or FAW. The FAW are more of a regional organisation that relay rules etc. from UEFA and make sure that there are competitions, and matches taking place all over Wales, as well as distributing limited funds to grass roots schemes and to various clubs in the region. The FAW are based in Cardiff, the capitol, of Wales, which is, in itself relevant as it means that it is easily located. Here are some details I obtained from UEFA.com:
President Address
Desmond W. Shanklin. Plymouth Chambers, 3 Westgate
General Secretary Street GB -
David George Collins. Cardiff CF10 1DP
Head Coach Telephone
Leslie Mark Hughes. +44 29 2037 2325
Press Officer Fax
David George Collins. +44 29 2034 3961
