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Speed Conditioning

As the game becomes faster fitness and endurance levels have to rise accordingly, but soccer speed conditioning is fast becoming the No1 topic of any worthwhile soccer fitness training programme. Soccer players today now have to run faster, play faster and play more often than at any time since the beautiful game began. To remain as injury-free as possible means taking your speed conditioning seriously (and not something you have to do just to get by) and building a solid foundation of speed techniques.

If you were asked to define the difference between Speed Training and Speed Conditioning, would you be able to answer this question with any degree of accuracy? The coaching gurus would probably say it is all about the science of the exercise; but for me, the main difference is the number of repetitions and the recovery time. It's rule of thumb but you get the idea.

 Statisticians tell us that the number of sprints players do in a game has actually doubled in the last eight years so get your speed ladders out folks and get pumping. I know I have mentioned this before, but a speed ladder is probably the best piece of speed training/conditioning kit available today. And the best thing of all is that you don't need to buy one if you are struggling with cash. Just make your own...it's easy. Trust me. I've made loads of them.

During a game there are races happening all the time – first to the ball, tactical positioning, player support and closing down defenders to limit positions to name but a few. So your speed conditioning programme must reflect what you do on the field to be effective.

We recommend two soccer speed programmes on this site, but there are many more out there so you have a great deal of choice if you are looking for a soccer speed specific schedule.

Soccer Speed Training     Ultimate Speed Development  

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