How to Train Your Soccer Team in Inclement Weather
When you are running a year-round soccer team, the winter months can be quite a challenge. Whether it is rain, hail, sleet or just generally cold weather, getting your team to train can be a rather difficult task. Nonetheless, if you have any real desire to make sure that your team has the best chance of competing in professional or amateur games, you need to make sure that they are training all year-round.
The trick can be knowing which measures you should put in place in order to make that dream a reality. Thankfully for you, this guide has been created as a means to outline a few ways that you will be able to train your soccer team in poor weather. Please feel free to read on now to get the full overview.
Install an Artificial Pitch
If you are in an area with high rainfall, muddy pitches can cause slips and injuries and can just be generally unenjoyable to play on. That’s why it’s worth installing a synthetic turf to make sure that your players are best protected against the effects of highly inclement weather. This way you will be able to focus on passing, pressing and quick movements without having to worry about the effects of the pitch on your player’s health.
Mandate Warm Clothes for Training
Cold weather can be dangerous for your players, meaning that you should do everything that you can to make sure that they are as warm as possible. While you might have players who insist that they are fine wearing just shorts and a T-shirt during practice, it is good to insist they wear undergarments and gloves during practice so they can stay warm.
Do Regular Check Ups For Players
As the tragic death of Patrick Eking shows, it is important to make sure that you regularly check in on the health of your players. This is especially true in the winter months, with the added risk of them catching a cold or pneumonia during a particularly chilly training session. By making sure that you have regular check-ups of your players, you will be able to see if someone should actually skip training one day to focus on their health or if they are fit to train for and be ready to play on the weekend. This will also have the added bonus of optimizing your performance come match day.
Train Inside
The best way to fight against inclement weather is by avoiding it completely. This is why it is so important to be able to invest in inside training facilities. While the feel of the game will be completely different to playing outside, this could be a chance to get your players to focus on man-marking, close control ball play and finding space in a smaller setting, the types of very useful skills that can be easily transferrable to playing on a wider and more open soccer pitch.