total soccer fitness - your complete guide to soccer conditioning

Your FREE Soccer Fitness Course, Available Now!

You can now receive our FREE soccer conditioning course -- packed with powerful, scientific tips to help players of all ages play the best soccer they can...

Delivered in 5 e-mail installments, you'll receive a new part each day and yes... it's 100% FREE.





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TESTIMONIAL

"I played professionally for a number of years both in the U.S. and abroad. I currently coach at St. Joseph's College in Indiana and have used TSF as a guideline to develop a fitness manuel for the program.

Last year was my first season there and both teams had no previous training program and were clearly unfit. I like how TSF very clearly lays out the various stages of the year round fitness program, and explains the signifigance of each step.

With my experience as a player and as a fitness nut I found more truth in TSF than any other fitness manual."

Eric R, Coach & Ex Pro Player
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TESTIMONIAL

"I can't speakly highly enough of the Total Soccer Fitness package. It is so in-depth yet so simple to follow. I know it's something I will turn to at the start of every season to plan our training programme.

Total Soccer Nutrition make such an over complicated subject so easy to follow and there is so much information in there I can apply with my team. Outstanding!"

Jimmy P, Soccer Coach, UK
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TESTIMONIAL

"I bought Total soccer Fitness for my 16 year old son who is desperate to play professionally. He is very enthusiastic and took on board the principles in the book. He trains most days, either on his own or with his team and I know he is making great progress.

We don't know if he'll ever realize his dream of playing at the top level but this resource gives him the best chance!"

Christine W, Soccer Mom
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How To Kick A Soccer Ball With More Power


Modern day players kick the ball harder than ever before. Whilst a powerful shot isn’t everything, the harder you can kick the ball AND keep it accurate, the more goals you will score and the greater your range of passing...

While you may never hit the ball as hard as this man a few adjustments to your technique (or that of your team's players) can make a significant difference.

Here's how...

Any movement we make can be made more powerful and explosive with a rapid countermovement before it. Try performing a standing jump now. Just before you take off, there is a natural inclination to dip down slightly by bending the knees. This is a countermovement that makes the jump more powerful.

What's interesting is that the more rapid this countermovement is, the more power you can generate - in other words the higher you will jump. If doubt this, try this little experiment...

  • Stand with feet shoulder width apart
  • Slowly bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the ground and hold that position for a second.
  • From this stationary squat position jump as high as possible - maybe stand next to a wall and put some flour on your hand so you can make a mark.
  • Now repeat this exercise but this time dip down rapidly and the split second your thighs reach parallel to the ground, explode upwards. Do not pause at all during the movement.

If you follow this little test, you will see that a rapid countermovement increases your jumping height - something to think about next to go up for an aerial challenge. But how can we translate this to a harder shot...

Imagine kicking a ball powerfully - as in shooting. Your standing foot is alongside the ball, while your kicking leg is extended behind you. Your knee also bends so that your heel is pulled in towards your backside.



Powerful soccer kick



  • The more you flex your knee (i.e. the closer towards your backside it reaches), the more powerful the kick.


  • The more rapid the transition from when your knee reaches the fully flexed position, to when it begins to extend, the more powerful the kick.


    • Putting It Into Practice

    Practice shooting and kicking harder by first consciously bending your kicking knee to a greater extent. As your kicking leg naturally extends behind you just before a strike, try to feel your knee bend bringing your heel closer towards your back side. Just get used to the feeling before you start trying to strike the ball with 100% effort. It's important to gradually build up.

    Once that feels a little more comfortable, focus on making the transition from your knee bending to extending as quickly as possible. In other words, a very slow transition would involve you hold you knee in a fully bent position for a few seconds before extending it to strike the ball. You want the opposite of that. As soon as you feel your knee is fully flexed, extend it rapidly to strike the ball.

    Once you have mastered this technique, you can then focus on extending your leg from the hip as quickly as possible. Again, it's the transition (that split second point where the leg goes from moving behind you to in front of you) that is important and a conscious intent to make this faster is all that is needed.

    I hope you've found this little kicking tutorial interesting and useful. Please keep an eye out on your inbox for more.

    Best wishes,

    Phil Davies
    http://www.total-soccer-fitness.com