SOCCER SKILLS AND TRAINING: Plyometric Exercises for Soccer

Plyometric exercises typically focus on developing explosiveness in sports. This comes particularly important in soccer(football), where quick and explosive jumping ability pays major dividends for a player.

A soccer player should be capable enough to face every challenge in front of him in the field. So he needs to focus on the fitness, whatever be the kind of it is, he must prove himself to be fit and capable enough to perform exceptional in the field. This fitness and capability comes by doing different sort of exercises. Among them, plyos is the one.

Keys to remember:

Here are some key points to remember when participating in plyometric exercises.

Avoid Knock-Kneed Position.
Keep your chest over your knees and knees over your feet.
Absorb shock with your ankles.
knees and hips land toe to heel.
And also jump as high and as hard as you can.

So now we are going to discuss some plyometric exercises which definitely help in improving speed, strength and agility and improve soccer game.

Plyo Lunges:

Start out with one leg in front of the other while squatting. Your back should be straight and eyes focused straight ahead. One knees should be in front with your opposite knee pointing straight down. Jump up with a burst and switch the leg that you land on. Ultimately, you will always remain in the same position, but you’ll just be switching sides upon landing. Raise your arms high in the air.

Plyo Skips:

Stand up straight, skip up in the air and raise one knee high out in front of you, all while raising your opposite arm at your side at the same time. Always switch sides, back and forth. Really get a good burst.

Speed Skaters:

In a similar form to a speed skater, you will be jumping here using just one foot on a zigzag and then landing with the opposite foot. Meanwhile, your other foot will trail behind and remain in the air like a speed skater would do.

Some of the most important plyometric exercises that should be kept in daily routine and will produce great strength for soccer player to maximize his performance in the field are

1. SQUAT JUMP:

Starting Position:

Feet parallel shoulder width apart, fingers locked behind head.

Motion:

Athlete squats to a parallel position approximately 136 degrees to 110 degrees knee flexion, then move vertically in an explosive rapid movement raising knees parallel to the waist then returns to starting position.

2. LEG TUCK:

Starting Position:

Feet parallel shoulder width apart, fingers locked behind your head.

Motion:

Athlete springs upward using a single foot takeoff, until thighs are parallel with the ground. Next he grabs both knees with hands and pulls toward chest, then return to starting position.

3. SPLIT SQUATS: