Long before the weather ever warms up, the most dedicated soccer players from all levels and ages are on the pitch getting ready for the spring season.
There are some very smart steps a player can take which can improve first touch, fitness, quickness, pace and technical skill, before the start of the season.
Take Time to Cross Train
Of course, indoor soccer and futsal are beneficial to a player's development, but today children are being forced into one sport at younger and younger ages. The truth is, basketball, tennis, indoor track, and indoor lacrosse are all great ways to improve a your footwoork, get your fitness level up, and improve overall agility.
Cross training is also key to developing muscles that aren't as frequently used in soccer, and for the player's overall mental development.
Get Your Feet in Order
For individual players as well as teams, it's hard to improve any part of your game unless your feet are in good form. A player who is light on his feet and can move swiftly throughout an hour-long, 90-minute or two-hour training session will gain much more from that session. Practicing at a high level ultimately means playing at a high level.
There are infinite footwork drills that a player can run through that will help get him into mid-season form.
Players should be involved a fair amount of backpedaling, changes of speed, changes of direction, quick bursts, hopping and shuffling - sliding with short steps fom side to side. Exercises with these elements also helps to strengthen the players' knee and lower-leg ligaments.
Get Used to the Ball at Your Feet Again
What is often done as a warm up by the end or middle of a soccer season, can sometimes be more beneficial as the main focus of a drill or session.
Simple moves, first touch drills, dribbling drills, simple tactical and shape drills and drills that involve lots of touches per player, help the player "shake off the rust". The simplest of soccer maneuvers are often done incorrectly after the player is stagnant for a few weeks. Even players who are well-versed in the skills need a number of repetitions to get back to proper form.
They will need minimal coaching on this type of skill set, but a player be focused for the more tactical and more difficult practices, because they wont be worried about the little things.
The sooner a soccer player can get down the basic moves and skills, work his feet back up to speed and raise his fitness level to match standards, the sooner he can do what he goes to practice for in the first place: improve as a player.
