Thank you for visiting California Soccer Shop. At California Soccer Shop we are dedicated to bringing you the latest and most innovative products and methods needed to for proper training and conditioning at the elite level of play. Soccer is a fast sport that demands repeated high-intensity sprints, alternated with jogging, walking and striding. Throughout the entire game, not only do players sprint distances between five and 30 yards, but they must also turn quickly, dodge, twist, weave, jump, leap and accelerate and decelerate. They must possess explosive power to kick, head, pass and tackle the ball. Over the course of a ninety-minute match, players face a variety of quick, agile, and explosive movements that are the basis of all tricks and turns.

For these reasons soccer players must be superiorly conditioned in order to overcome fatigue and continue to play at their best. Their conditioning program, therefore, must address all the physical demands of the game, because players who can outrun, outplay, and outmaneuver their opponents have the winning advantage.

For example, heading the ball successfully may require the player to out-jump the opponent, so training for a high vertical jump is crucial. A farther throw-in can put the ball into the strike zone, increasing the chance for a goal shot, which is why a strong and explosive body -- especially around the trunk, hips, and shoulder girdles -- is highly desirable. First-step quickness (five yards) and pure acceleration (five to 30 yards) are important, so training for sport speed is crucial. Quick changes in speed and directions allow the player to avoid and beat an opponent, thus foot-speed, agility, and quickness must be trained. Moving against an opponent demands great strength for body contact and shoving, therefore strength for the entire body must be maximized.

But strength doesn’t end there; it has many qualities and many use. Soccer has become such an intense and physical sport, so athletic injuries are not uncommon. Injury areas most common in soccer are ankle, lower leg, knee, upper leg, groin, and face. Injury types are primarily sprain, strain, contusion, and fracture. For those reasons, structural strength in joints, bones, connective tissues, and muscles is critical. Strength in these areas lowers the risk of athletic injuries during inadvertent hard contact with other players, when falling to the ground, or after doing a bicycle overhead kick and landing on the back. Superior performance is highly desirable, but injury prevention cannot be neglected.

The metabolic process that drives the soccer athlete is a mixture of the ATP-PC system (for explosive maneuvers like kicking and jumping), the anaerobic system (for sprinting), and the aerobic system (running, jogging, and walking). Soccer requires tremendous aerobic endurance so that players can last the duration of the game, but it is especially important for the recovery of multiple high-intensity actions. This allows the players to race to the ball quickly, move into positions more readily for teammates, switch from offense to defense rapidly, and preserve mental concentration for quick decisions as well as to commit fewer technical and tactical mistakes.

Although the requirement for aerobic conditioning is high, it is equally critical that anaerobic conditioning is maximized, for it is the metabolic support for fast, powerful actions that are key to successful tactical maneuvers in soccer.