Game On! (In the Off-Season...)

Game On!

So you know you gotta keep your head in the game between seasons.  You know that Champions are made in the off season.  Now what do you do?  You can only run back and forth through cones so many times by yourself before you lose your mind! 

So What do you do???

 

There are several things you can do to keep your head in the game.  Some involve playing, some just involve being around the game.  Let's talk about the ones that involve playing in this post.

1. Indoor Soccer

Indoor soccer is great for many reasons.  Because it is a much smaller field and there's no out of bounds, you get alot of touches on the ball.  The speed of the game is much faster, causing you to think faster and react faster.  This can be a fun way to stay in shape and keep your touch on the ball!

2. Tournaments

In many areas you may be able to find soccer tournaments that you and your  buddies can enter.  Sometimes you can find 3v3 or 5v5 tourneys.  These are great because the smaller fields and team size force you to play offense and defense, and allow you a lot of touches on the ball.  You also get to play against other players that you may never play against otherwise.

3. Pickup games

You are probably not the only person around that loves the game and doesn't want to go 3 or 4 months without playing.  Call up your buddies.  Roll down the windows of your car, crank the stereo and have a blast!  Just because you're honing your skills doesn't mean you can't have fun doing it! 

4. Camps

There are always soccer camps around in the summer.  These are great to hone your skills.  You get to learn from different coaches, thus learning new ways of doing things.  This will expand your knowledge and give you some great ideas of things to practice before the season starts.  You'll also get a T-shirt out of the deal and maybe a plastic water bottle...

A Word of Caution

While these are all fun, and will go a long way in your quest to get a leg up on the competition before next season, you do need to be cautious of a few things. 

Make sure you don't sit around for 3 or 4 weeks and then decide to get some buddies together and go to a tournament.  That is a great way to hurt yourself.  Your mind will pick up right where you left off at that last game, but your muscles very quickly lose their edge.  Do yourself a favor and make sure you keep yourself in shape.  That way you won't get embarassed when you are winded, or worse yet, get injured and screw up your entire off season and perhaps the next season! 

Make sure that, while your having fun, you are challenging yourself.  While its fun to run circles around your 6 year old little cousin, it does little to increase your skill level.  It could even lead to bad habits as you get sloppy in your moves and your training.  Seek out players who will challenge you, thats how you grow!

Whatever you do, have a blast!  Soccer is fun, enjoy it! 

If you find value in these posts, please pass them to all your teammates! 

Follow me on Twitter: @Skropp2

Score Big with Off Season Training

So the season is finished.  What do you do now?  Sit back, relax? Grab a bag of potato chips and the remote and cue up the latest MLS game? Maybe.  If you did, you'd be pretty normal, thats what most of your competition is gonna do. 

But you aren't your competition are you?  You're a champion.  You're going to dominate the pitch next year! You're gonna use these few precious months to gain the competitive edge on your competition huh?  But what do you do?  How often do you do it? What are you hoping to accomplish?  These are all questions you've gotta ask yourself in order to make the most of the off season--because you know, Champions are made in the off season.

Are you a champion?  I'll bet you are, if you weren't, you wouldn't be reading this...you'd be watching the latest episode of American Idol or Will Smith's latest action flick. 

So why should you train in the off season?  What exactly will you gain from giving up a few minutes of sleep or TV time?



Reduce the Risk of Injury

By training through the off season, you will greatly reduce your risk of injuring yourself when tryouts come around next year.  Going from 0-100 in a brand new car is much harder on the engine than a gradual acceleration.  Likewise your muscles will be much healthier if they are kept in shape, or slowly worked into shape rather than going from All-Star channel surfer to Starting Striker wannabe...

Be Ready for Tryouts

We've probably all been there.  First week back to practice and we're sucking wind after running back to our bag to grab our water.  If you're trying to get back into shape during those first few practices, you won't be able to focus on the drills as well, and consequently you won't perform at 100%.  You'll have plenty of energy to accomplish all that the coaches ask of you.If you have been training throughout the off season you will be weeks ahead of that guy thats trying to beat you out for the starting spot!  Your obvious off season work ethic will impress the coaches and show your commitment to being a first class player.

 Gain the Competitive Edge

All the time you spend working on skills in the off season is bonus time.  Its time that your competition is probably not spending.  This will move you ahead of the other guys!  Hard work trumps talent every single time.  Going into the season knowing that you've busted your butt to hone your skills, develop new skills, and maintaining your fitness level will give you the confidence to take on anyone that lines up across from you on the pitch.  You will know that you've done everything you could to become a stellar player, and that, more than likely, the person standing across from you didn't.

You get out what you put in.  Put in the time during the off season and you will kill it in the regular season!  Like I said, Champions are built in the off season. So get out there and make yourself a champion After Practice!

Question: What do you do in the off season to grow and develop as a player?

If you find benefit in these posts please share them on Facebook, Twitter, and Email with all your soccer mates!

Twitter: @Skropp2

Photo copyrighted: Linda Sieverkropp, All Rights Reserved.