How many of you believe that soccer warm ups are important? Most parents and to some extent coaches believe that young players do not have the need to warm up. But I’m here to tell you otherwise. By creating a structured training session with plenty of time for your players to warm up, you give them a gift that will last a life time. Young players will develop a great habit and reduce the risk of injuries.

Never allow your players to stretch before they have warmed up. The warm up should involve a light jog around the park until their bodies warm up and start to sweat.Once the body core temperature has risen a few degrees, only then should you allow your players to stretch. Once the core muscles are pumping with blood they become more elastic and have greater flexibility.

Once your players have completed a few laps of the field they can proceed to stretching. Always remember to get your players into good habits and steer them away from static stretches. In todays modern game dynamic stretching should always be employed. The stretching movements of the players should replicate those of a match or training. By utilising dynamic stretching you can gradually increase the working load of the session without running the risk of injuries.

For this drill each player takes hold of a ball. They hold the ball slightly away from their bodies while trying to hit the ball with their knees. They continue this exercise for about 30 seconds changing and using alternate knees. This drill is great for warming up the quads which are used to power your knee lifts. The motion is also great for stretching the quads, groin areas and hamstrings. The required knee lifts also ensures the players heart rate increases preparing the players for the rest of the session.

Toe to hand is another great warming up drill. This warm up drills requires the players to work in pairs. One player stands facing the other with the ball at waist height. The other player kicks the ball with his toes while alternating feet. This drill should last for 30 seconds and then the players swap roles. This drill is great for warming up the hamstrings and giving your heart a good workout at the same time. It also gives you a great stretch and increases your kicking range follow through.

The Toe to Hand drill is very easy. Each player tries to kick their finger tips with their toes. Instead of kicking a ball you reach out and try and kick your fingers. Obviously the left leg will then follow the right leg and vice versa.This drill gives your hamstrings are greater stretch and also replicates the motion of kicking which will be needed later on the session.

Once your players have warmed up and spent some time stretching, introduce some balls into the training session and continue to increase the pace and the work loads of the training drills.