Demanding More from Your Team with SoccerPulse
Guest post by John Adams - Follow him on Twitter @coachjqa
I am thankful to have connected with Matt Danaher via Twitter (@mattdanaher). We are both Connecticut guys, but don’t think we have ever met. A few months ago he tweeted out information about his new app for soccer fitness that was in the beta testing period. I was intrigued, reached out and was able to be one of the guinea pigs.
My spring coaching gig is with FSA FC United based in Farmington, CT. I coach the 2001, 2000 teams at the NPL level. Our spring season looks like this…We have regular practice 2x a week (Tuesday, Thursday) and training on Wednesday night with our strength and conditioning coach.
On the weekends, we play a game on Saturday and Sunday with travel to MA, NY and NJ. During my Tuesday and Thursday practices, we use the FIFA 11+ warm-up as an injury prevention measure. Keeping the girls healthy is of primary concern with a busy schedule.
I have turned into one of those “Periodization guys”. Fitness is built into every training session using game-like exercises. You will not see any of my teams doing
“straight fitness” anymore.
During the fall, I am the Assistant for the Albertus Magnus College Women’s Soccer team. This past season, we used our preseason to play soccer, not run. It was a big shift in philosophy for us.
In season, our weeks were planned using Wednesday and Saturday games as the cornerstones. For example, Tuesday and Fridays were used to activate in preparation for the match the next day and Thursday was a recovery day from the match the day before. The team was given Sunday off and Monday was used to work on our style of play.
Through the year, we built up our fitness and were playing our best soccer in October. We made it to the conference finals. This was not the one single reason for it, but I believe one of the reasons. We had an incredible group of leaders, who bought into the shift and the atmosphere that they created was fun and enjoyable each day.
Whether it be for the college or the club, my sessions are very detailed. Having the SoccerPulse app at my disposal all spring was a very important component. It was simple of use. You log into the app and request information about sleep, fatigue, mood, etc from the players. But you need players that are upfront and honest, which I feel my club players were.
My players would have strength training on Wednesdays, so my Thursday session was vital in keeping them fresh for the two game weekend. The information gathered from the SoccerPulse app was so helpful for the Thursday training session and managing their minutes in the weekend games.
Both of my club teams are playing great soccer heading into the PDA College Showcase this Memorial Day Weekend. I am excited to see how they finish the year against some really good competition in the tournament.
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