Important Fitness Drills for Football Players
Physical fitness is of the utmost value for a career in sports, and when it comes to a game like a football that requires you to run across a hundred-yard field, it becomes all the more vital. Your stamina and speed on the area play a key role in your game, apart from fast reflex and football tactics.
Enhancing your physical endurance for a game doesn’t happen overnight; it takes years of practice and dedication to achieve that stamina and speed that can take you at the top of your game. Here are a few drills that can help you build up stamina and endurance:
1. Interval Sprints
Interval sprints require you to run a few yards and rest and then repeat the drill. These drills will help you prepare for the stop and run nature of the game. Here are a few variations of interval drills that can benefit you:
Sprint-Stride Intervals: This technique will include alternate intervals of sprint and stride across the field. For instance, a player can run 20 yards of a sprint, followed by 20 yards of stride, and then repeat it until the endpoint of the field; this will make up for 1 set. Take a short break, say about 20-30s, and then repeat.
Tempo Run: Start at the corner of an end zone and stride for 100 yards. Jog across to the opposite side of the field and stride 100 yards again. Now jog back to the starting point and take a break. Repeat this drill for four times.
Huddle Sprints: Players sprint 20 yards to duplicate the action of a game and then jog back to the starting point. Take a small breather for about 15s and then repeat the drill. This is a very effective drill for replicating the aerobic and anaerobic conditions of a live match.
2. Dribble and Run
This drill requires a ball. You start at the touchline and dribble the ball at your best speed across the width of the pitch until you are parallel to the center. Now leave the ball there and run to the opposite side at 80% of your initial speed. Pace back to the center, maintaining your speed, and dribble the ball to the starting point as fast as you can. Take rest for the same time in which you finish the first set and then repeat the drill.
3. Around the Pitch
As the name suggests, this drill requires you to run across the field. For warming up your body, jog across the perimeter of the field until you reach back the starting point. Now run at 70% of your maximum speed and try to cover half of the lap maintaining it, and then jog your way through the rest of the lap. In the next round, increase the area you cover by a sprint to 70%. Slowly, but steadily keep expanding the area you cover with sprints until you finish the entire perimeter in one go.
4. Figure of Eight
Almost everyone has heard of the infamous figure of eight drills. Just like the name suggests, you have to make an ‘eight’ while dribbling the football. Take two cones and place them 4-5 yards apart. Now Dribble across the two cones while making an oval around each at your maximum speed. Throughout the drill, take short steps, and keep the ball near your feet, hit it with every step. It will give you better control over the football along with fitness conditioning. Condition training and physical fitness are as necessary as a solid command on the ball for a football professional. These are just a few examples of the various methods that you can adopt to increase your endurance in a game.
The Sports School is the first school in India to have a FIFA Qualified Pro Certified Artificial Football Turf where we train our students for professional-level football. We, along with our Sporting Partners for Football Bengaluru FC, provide the best possible training to young enthusiasts and take them to the next level. Along with the regular training program, we also offer other programs like Monthly Sports Training & Weekend Sports Camp so that you can train and grow as per your convenience. Be it for fun or professional training purposes; we got you covered!
