Fitness training for soccer is crucial to the development of the player. Only those players that are physical fit can involve themselves in the game of soccer. At what age should [tag-tec]soccer fitness training[/tag-tec] start and as a soccer coach, what kind of training should you incorporate into your overall [tag-tec]soccer fitness program[/tag-tec] for your team?

There are a number of factors that need to be taken into account when addressing these questions.  To obtain total [tag-tec]soccer fitness[/tag-tec] a player needs to develop a range of abilities including speed, endurance, flexibility, co-ordination, alertness and strength.  As a coach, your soccer fitness training will need to incorporate all these facets into your soccer fitness program over time.

Soccer fitness allows players to develop their technical skills such as heading, dribbling, passing shooting etc.  Once a player becomes fatigued, their concentration levels drop and they start to make mistakes on the ball.  If you are a coach of an older youth team, this is something that is worth practicing at a soccer training session.  If you watch closely after an extended session on the ball, those players that have not had the same level of soccer fitness training as their teammates will start to become fatigued make ball control and passing mistakes.  

As far as what sort of soccer fitness program to implement and when that program is implemented will depend on you as coach, the age group you are coaching and the current level of fitness of your players.  Personally, I do not think that younger children need to undertake specific fitness training in soccer. In general, I have found their fitness levels are adequate to play the game at the level they compete at.  A properly constructed soccer training session where the players are active and involved will provide all the fitness a young child requires.

For the older youth players, I have a very basic program that involves a fair bit of leg work pre-season with a combination of 400m, 200m, 100m timed sprints. I then taper this off leading up to trial matches where ball work is introduced into the fitness program while still maintaining their overall [tag-tec]soccer fitness training[/tag-tec]. This is what I have favored as a coach but there are a number of good programs available to assist you as coach depending on the level you are coaching at and the age group of the players.  In coming posts, I will talk more specifically about speed and weight training programs for soccer.