FITNESS4SOCCER: Training.: Introduction.
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With the world having entered the new millennium, football will see some dramatic changes, in the marketing, the global league systems, the way it is viewed but most importantly, the way it is played. The speed of the modern game is totally different from 40 years ago, and in 20 years will be unrecognisable from today, but how?
The player's speed may improve minimally with the further advances in sports science, the playing surfaces also, the ball technology, but the major changes will be in the creativity of the players agility , range of movements, and unusual ball skills ( different from the norm).
If through a series of highly specialised, safe, legal, but extreme body shapes and positions, a player can kick the ball with more spin, power, and above all disguise than his opponent , then that player/team will have a distinct advantage over a player/team who trains and plays traditionally. The ball will be played in the air more, but not in the old way high and as far as possible, but just above waist height, so the future player will need much more flexibility/agility, and a sensitivity of touch and refinement only possessed by a handful of "superstars".
The ability to do reverse kicks, back kicks, spinning kicks, as well as all of the traditional kicks, but with total control, and application.
These "extreme" kicks will also add an interesting problem for defenders, how do you stop a ball reaching an opponent if the ball is played just above waist height legally.
Another bi-product of this "extreme" football will be the added spectacle and excitement for the spectators.
Taking the lead from many other sports and sources, the world of "extreme" football can take the spectator into new levels of excitement and experiences. The jumps of grace and beauty from ballet, the power and spectacle from the martial arts, the intricate multi- play interaction from grid-iron, to mention just a few possibilities. The other bi-product from "extreme" football will be that Maximum Performance Extreme training will become an entity to itself, a training tool that has an identity of its own either as a training aid for football, or as a training form per se. There will be Maximum Performance Extreme training schools/classes world-wide, for all age groups, both sexes, multi-level and progressive, with licensed instructors and practitioners. There will be a grading system so that every participant is recognised as achieving certain standards, so that safe practise techniques, and progression is monitored.
Maximum Performance training encourages through a series of drills, movements and applications, the participant to explore the imagination and creative side, and the extremities of their being.
Most training drills are, by their very nature linear and very "left-brained", but the right side of the brain that is the so called "creative centre" needs to be worked to the same degree. When most people have a problem they are encouraged to work harder to overcome that problem, but what if they are working to their limits, what "Maximum Performance" training proposes is to imagine harder and more extreme to solve the problem.
The balancing of the training is of fundamental importance in the needs of the modern player, a strong body and a strong mind. The need for creativity, that spark of genius , that unexpected movement, can and does upset the most sophisticated team systems, tactics, and organisation. So alongside the tactical/ technical and physical drills, creative and reactive drills should be given the same emphasis. To train the creative side of your brain equally as much as the logical side, creativity does not just happen it is trained for and can be greatly strengthened and improved. As one trains the body to get stronger through the overload principal then that very same rule applies to the mind, and through a series of progressive drills that continually make the mind and body expand the creative juices start flowing.
Do not be limited to past experiences, constantly strive to explore new horizons and ways of thinking about the game. Why use only one ball in a game or drill, why only play two teams against each other, why only have two goals to score in and defend, if you remove these barriers it makes the coach/team think differently to overcome the new problems!
By filling the mind with these tasks the body also has to adjust to compensate, and in turn becomes more flexible, strong, and mobile.
By working on multi-levels( ground, air, and after a bounce or deflection), a state of continuous adjustment and re-adjustment takes place, so each and every player is always prepared for all eventualities that can happen during a game. Using a series of training drills a new mindset and body awareness is achieved.
Once all the basic concepts of Maximum Performance are understood, team games, drills, and competitions are introduced. The essence of Maximum Performance training is to give each participant a rounded, rhythmic, development, which gives mastery of the ball, wherever the play demands, left foot, right foot, front foot, back foot, back, side, reverse. or whatever, and above all makes every training session a very enjoyable experience. What makes Maximum Performance training unique in the world of football fitness, is it's ability to be done solo, in a group, indoors, outdoors, all ages, sexes. and at any time. High knee kicks, inside and outside knee kicks, inside and outside crescent kicks, preparation kicks (in all positions), heel kicks, volleys, combination kicks, spins, turns, pivots, mental and physical freedom. Isolation movements, low walking, slide walking (front and side)foot shapes, and emphasised high knee lift. Sole trapping. knee trapping, rear trapping, , forward sole rolls, reverse rolls, sideways rolls, repeated on both feet in tempo to the music. Stepovers, inside and outside crescent kicks, with the emphasis on exaggerated and extreme movements. Combinations of all of the above techniques (using your own imagination).Running and bopping to the beat of the music at all times, the ball being touched as gently as possible without moving it. This sensitivity of touch is vital in teaching ball control and football fitness. For the more skilled and experienced player, the ability to control the ball at whatever speed, angle, and more importantly height it arrives at, is of the upmost importance. So all of the previous Maximum Performance techniques are practised at three different levels. Level one is doing all of the Maximum Performances with the ball always on the ground. Level two is repeating them all on the half-volley (all drills to be done after one bounce of the ball).Level three is doing them all on the volley (the ball never touches the floor), All levels are executed on both feet at all times, to encourage bilateral development.
To make the player aware that all his movements are just like dance steps or a coach is in reality a choreographer, and all of the aspects of these disciplines are at their disposal, opens up a whole new world of possibilities.
The world of "extreme football" is just around the corner, are you ready to handle it ?
