Warming up in the traditional sense by which in this article will mean light jogging and muscle stretches is a staple of the football training session and match preparation. We all know warm ups are essential to preventing injury and preparing the muscles and mind for training or matches, but in the younger players that we coach, is there really any point in warming up?
Benefits
The benefits of warming up are obvious as previously stated, but in younger players whose muscles are more durable than those of older players and adults, do they really need to warm up? Well some of the benefits of warming up younger players of the game are that it gets them into good habits. Knowing themselves that warm ups prevent injury and having them warm up before training and games will allow them to continue the good habit long into their playing days. Along with this it can be educational, during the warm up is a perfect opportunity to get the players to name the body parts they are using and the muscles that they are stretching and preparing.
Negatives
Warming up often means time away from a ball and that’s what all children who go to football want to do is kick a ball around. Say a warm up lasts for on average 10 minutes, then that is 10 minutes out of your session that your players have spent away from learning the game. Children below the age of 10/11 have much more elasticated and durable muscles, it isn’t until adolescence that muscle strains and pulls can take effect as a result of not warming up correctly. So why warm up if you don’t have to?
What to do instead of warming up
There are different ways to “warm up” away from the traditional sense of the term. For example warm up games where every player has a ball at their feet and are played at a slower pace are a great way to get moving straight into training without straining your players. Another way of warming up is to create a space away from any goals (because we all know what happens when a ball is near a goal) and just allowing players to have free time with the ball to do as they please, dribbling, heading keepy ups, controlling the ball. This gets the players moving at their own pace and ready for training. Finally, and this is my personal favourite, going straight into a match. Yes, this might sound crazy but how many of you can admit that the most popular question at you coaching sessions is “Are we playing a match yet?”. Well why not play a match to begin with and get it out of the way. Of course I also allow time at the end for a match so that players can practice any skills they have learnt during the session.
Personally I believe that at the younger ages of playing football, between 7-11, warm ups are not that important. Participation, enjoyment of the game and time with the ball is. Each team is different though and you know your players better than anyone and if you believe your team would benefit from some alternative warm up methods then feel free to use some of the examples above.
