Over the past few weeks we have been running our Summer 2011 Game Speed Camps at the SoccerFIT Academy. This 4 day camp aligns itself with our philosophy of “bridging the gap” between physical preparedness and the speed of skill execution on the field. Below you see the model for this developmental process as we take the elementary, specific and non-specific motor abilities of rhythmic movement patterns and technical ball skills, and integrate them into specific situations that teach reactive speed or Game Speed.
The first 3 weeks have mainly focused on offensive speed with the ball. We have worked with a simple focus of getting into positions that allow you to react to the defender, and then separating with speed and precision. We started off day one with simple technical ball skills and progressed to dribbling and tight space 1v1 drills against a passive defender. On day two we worked on moves that allowed us to be quick and explosive with the ball and progressed to live 1v1 drills. On day three, we integrated our agility with our simple target passing to work speed off the ball and receiving in a balanced position that gives us options and then played 3v3 games with restrictions on number of touches and passes to funnel the play towards a more aggressive, attacking style. And finally, on day four, we brought it all together with drills that focused on movement off the ball to create passing lanes, receiving under control, turning and attacking 1v1, finishing on small goals against a live defender.
With 150 players attending these sessions, each getting over 2000 touches a week on the ball, we are getting over 300,000 touches in what many players feel is a speed and agility camp. I don’t know too many camps out there that get that kind of repetition and still have time to focus on speed and agility!
In our next phase, weeks 4-7 we will be utilizing many of the same drills, but with a teaching emphasis on defending and reactive agility. This doesn’t change things too much, but our coaching cues will be directed more towards the defender and shutting down quick offensive play with smothering speed and quickness. In the final phase we will focus more on play and live games that bring in the fitness components and allow players to utilize their newly acquired skills in a live game like environment as they build a base of fitness. Here is a 3 minute video of last weeks camp…
This camp also includes a 30 minute indoor session in our training and research facility where the players learn about strength, power and body control. We utilize boxes, med balls, cones and ladders in these drills and then we show the players how the physical aspects of strength, power, speed and agility come into play as we take the field in our 60 minute on-field sessions. We will touch on these aspects in this blog in weeks to come.
We are also taking video of each session and putting it into an online journal and eBook that will be on sale at the end of the summer. You can order last years eBook which focused more on the physical aspects of strength, power and speed, and how they all can be integrated into simple drills on the field, by clicking on the link below…
Here are what some of the parents and participants of the Summer 2011 Game Speed Camp had to say…
“Colin has mentioned how much he has enjoyed working with you the past couple of weeks. After watching the daily videos you sent us, I now know why. It is truly some of the best work I have seen done with him (and I am sure the others too). It is exactly what players should be focused on. I was sharing the videos with his coach and he was blown away by the attention to technique and some of the core fundamentals you are working on. Truly great stuff! “
“I would like to take this opportunity to compliment you on the program. I was truly impressed when I looked over your plans for the camp program this summer. It is obvious that you have continued to fine-tune and continually evolve and shape your training around the needed skill sets for soccer players. Your passion for what you do and an awareness of and sensitivity to what the kids need is evident.”
“I can not tell you how fortunate my wife and I feel to have your organization train our daughters. I know you truly live the values you speak about and for that we a grateful. Our daughters are better because of it.”
“Just wanted to tell you that my daughter Maggie really enjoyed being challenged by the camp. Combining speed/racing with soccer is a great motivator for her. She came home every day and told me how well she did at the various exercises.”
Come back to the blog for weekly updates and videos of how we are integrating speed/agility with the technical/tactical and for more daily clips and tips follow me on twitter at @athletefitcoach.
Our newest product is now available for download! Get the 2012 Game Speed and Skill eBook today!
As soccercoach I search almost daily on the internet to gather interesting information (preferably videos from Youtube) to help my players to develop themselves the best they can.
I am very happy I bought the eBook for soccerplayers because of all the ready to use examples in it.
Next week in Italy (Norcia) I will test some exercices during a soccercamp for girls U20. Together with their feedback I am sure this type of exercices will improve a lot the speed and agility of my players in Belgium the next season.
If possible I would like to visit AthleteFIT next year. To be continued !
We would love to have you out for a visit! Thanks for the kind words on the eBook, we are almost done with this years version which has much more on-field activities (like you can see in the highlight video in this post). Be sure to let me know how it went in Italy!
Scott