Why Fluid Intake Is So Important For Soccer Players
September 3, 2008
Honestly, how much water do you drink in a day? Do you drink more soda water (carbonated drinks)? If you are not drinking at least 96 oz’s or 8 standard glasses of water a day you need to increase your rate of fluid intake.
What fluid intake looks like?
Fluid Intake - is your ability to consume the correct type and quantities of fluids for maximum performance.
Focus On The Right Rehydration
Focusing on what you drink as a player is a very important practice. Generally, you should really make it a point to drink as much water as possible and stay away from carbonated soda waters and drinks that you know are unhealthy for you.
As a player you should carefully consider what fuel you put into your engine. The better the fuel the better your performance. Adequately providing your body the fluids it needs takes a certain measure of responsibility and accountability. A good rule of thumb to keep yourself on track is this, “if not water it’s a waste”. Straight water is the best! So, focus on putting the best fuel in your system.
Performing At The Highest Level
If you expect your body to perform at the highest level you must take care of it by providing yourself sufficient fluids. Remember that about 85% of your body is made up of water and with out sufficient rehydration you run the risk of dehydrating your body which leads to muscle cramps and spasms. Additionally, if you are not hydrating your body correctly you will begin to lose mental focus and thus control of your body.
When you are disciplined to adequately rehydrate your body you will benefit by increasing your mental clarity and body control. With sufficient fluid intake you will also detoxify your body, lubricate your organs and joints, increase your metabolism and improve your overall vitality as a player.
A good and positive habit to get into is training yourself to drink a minimum of 1 gallon of water a day. Water is the absolute best, highest octane fuel you can pump into your engine. Training yourself to drink a gallon of water a day to where it becomes second nature is the practice of a professional.
5 Ideas for Action:
1. Get yourself a gallon water jug, fill it up, drink it and refill it daily.
2. At meals, always drink a glass of water even if you have another drink.
3. Carry a bottle of water with you and see how many times you can drink and refill it in a day.
4. Create a competition with your teammates to see who can drink the most water in a week.
5. Offer your friends water and see how many glasses of water you can get them to drink in a day.
As part of FFC’s series on, “24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer” we are discussing each key element in 24 successive blog posts every Monday, Wednesday & Friday over an 8 week period inside the respective Game, Body and Mind sections. For more information about the 24 Key Elements get our Players Assessment Kit here.
What ideas, input, experiences or resources can you share about rehydration?
Playing Smart Soccer With Positional Play
August 25, 2008
When you’re in the heat of a match do you find yourself relaxed and setting the pace of play? Or, do you feel hurried trying find an opportunity to breath? Read more
Upscale 4 v 2 with 4 Goals
June 19, 2008
4 v 2 is a common warm-up game for challenging your possession capabilities and control on the ball. It is a great game to get the blood flowing and the mind sharp but, what I love so much about football is how much you can adapt and build upon simple games like 4 v 2.
For instance, what I have diagrammed above is a 4 v 2 game that increases the intensity, forces the orange team to focus on shape, transition, width and making smart attacking and defending decisions. Playing in this situation with 2 wingers, 2 field players and 4 goals presents players options to learn beyond what a simple 4 v 2 game of possession play represents.
As you can see in the diagram above we have illustrated a narrow field of play where you have a 2 v 2 situation and these players are restricted to this area of play. Whereas the wingers are support players to provide shape and quick outlets for transition play. The wingers are to remain outside the lines (or cones could be used) and should stay in this respective area of play. Other restrictions could be placed on these players like 1 or 2 touches or not having the capability to shoot and score.
But enough about restrictions. To play in short man situations and how players are able to cope with and make smart decisions in an intense environment like this make the best use of creating a game related environment. The great thing about a game like this is that all players are involved, active and are able to learn. Typically you might want to play 5 to 10 min short games to keep up the intensity and having the wing players serve as neutral players. The outside support players could easily replace two players in the middle every 5-10 minutes to really shake things up and thus provide mutli-dimensional learning opportunities.
What I think is really great with a game like this is that it forces players to move very quickly, allows for many touches on the ball and creates an opportunity to really test a players mental or tactical thought process. With that I am really interested to what you think about a game like this and what you might add?
