Football/Soccer Session (Academy Sessions): Pre Season - Session 8 - SSG Fitness focus

SAQ Warm Up (25 mins)

Organisation - SAQ Warm up - TECHNIQUE & TIMING

Players to join back of their line

1 - Sprints through ladder - 5 x through

( Focus on knees up , pump arms )

2 - Lateral Sprints through ladder - Change sides after 5 times through

( Focus on knees up , pump arms, don't twist body face outwards )

3 - Iky shuffle - 5 x through

Introduce a ball to hands - Working with group opposite

( Thinking now about timing of run through ladder )

Sprint through ladder and transfer ball to opposite player who then repeats, timing is key now so a player is there ready to keep the ball moving. Player to join back of opposite ladder to repeat.

Ball in hands - Sprints through the ladder pass the ball clockwise and the put pressure on the receiver who passes to his left and does the same. Player joins the back of the line he has just passed to.

P = Get 2 footballs going.

P2 = Balls on the floor play with feet.

SSG - Fitness (60 mins)

Game 1 - 5v5/7v7 - Play for 3 minutes & rest for 2 minutes (repeat 4 times)

Game 2 - 3v3/4v4 - Play for 2 minutes & rest for 2 minutes (repeat 4 times)

Game 3 - 1v1/2v2 - Play for 1 minute & rest for 2 (repeat 6 times)

Can play these with goals or as a possession game (line game, run through gates to score etc for smaller set ups)

Idea is the team without possession do not stop pressing the ball, they over press individually or as a group. Team in possession need to play quick & find ways to play through an aggressive press.

Don't worry about shape or quality of play, its purely to get lots of short sprints and changes of direction out of them - it should test them, if it don't they are not running hard enough.

When the ball goes out of play the game ALWAYS restarts at a goal, this forces the players to react quickly & recover back to their goal to restart play.