Youth Soccer Drills - Speed and Endurance Drills

Because soccer is one of the most physically demanding sports, it is important to gear your youth soccer drills towards building speed and endurance. Soccer players constantly run up and down the field, and if your child does not have the speed or endurance to be competitive, they will be embarrassed.

Building speed and endurance can be a very long, and painful process. It requires consistency and dedication. There will be times when your child will want to quit, but remind them of their goals, and if they are really interested in becoming the best soccer player that they can be, they will follow through with all of your youth soccer drills.

Building Speed:

It is important to remember that speed training for soccer should only be done every 2-3 days. The muscles used to run fast take quite some time to recover, and if your child participates in speed training, they are often are at risk for injury.

The best way to build speed is to sprint. Start your child off small, sprinting for maybe 10-20 yards. Once they become comfortable with that, move the distance to about 40 yards. For every 10 yards that they sprint, give them a 1 minute rest between the next sprint. For instance, if they run 40 yards, let them rest for 4 minutes after they finished the sprint.

Building Endurance

Besides actually playing the game, the best way to build endurance for youth soccer is to jog. Jogging gets the heart and lungs used to working for longer periods of time. If you are a jogger, take your child with you one day! I'm sure that they would be pleased to spend some time with you, doing something that grown-ups do! You may have to slow your pace down considerably, but doing this for you child every now and then isnt too bad.

Do not be hard on your child if they get tired. As long as they jog for as long as they physically feel like they can, let them walk! Walking is also a great way to build endurance! As long as the heart beats at the lungs breathe at a higher pace, they will build endurance.

Professional athletes spend months and months on building their endurance, so it's definitely not an easy task, but with the right motivation, your child will be excited to build his/her endurance. Youth soccer drills are meant to be fun, and the same theory applies to endurance training, as well as speed training, so be sure to keep it fun, and your child will become quick, and have the endurance of a race horse!

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