It's Time to Prepare for the Soccer Offseason Training

Summer is around the corner and it’s time to start prepping for your offseason training. These next 60-90 days can help you elevate your game for the fall season.

Whether you are 10, in middle school, or in high school, I’ll lay out some foundational things to keep in mind.

My goal in this article is to show you how you can develop your own plan and only focus on the things that matter. Let’s get to it.

Take a Rest Week After the Spring Season

If you want to make a big leap in your game, your offseason will be a (fun) grind. You’ll be working hard.

To help you prepare and overcome any aches and pains, it’s important to take some time off after your spring season. Taking a week off will get your body and mind right for training.

During this week, just veg out. Go play video games. Go hang out at the beach. Hang out with your friends in the woods. Do whatever you missed out on or makes you happy.

A hard reset is healthy for the soul. Next week, you’ll be ready to go!

Set Your 90 Day Goals

As you prepare for the fall season, think about the kind of player you want to be. Do you want to be stronger, faster, or more skilled? Probably all three, right? Let’s make them more tangible.

Write down three clear goals you want to accomplish in the next few months. Keep in mind, some aspects are hard to define but you can put a time on it. Here are some examples…

Build better stamina: Be able to run 5 miles without stopping
Get stronger: Be able to squat 180 lbs. and bench 135 lbs.
Get faster: Improve my 40-yard dash to 4.7 seconds
Become a better finisher: Spend 2 hours per week on finishing drills
Get better on the ball: Spend 1 hour per week on wall drills and 1 hour per week on cone drills
Get stronger leg muscles: Spend 30 minutes every other day doing X, X, and X workouts.

Choose three aspects of your game to work towards. Nothing more and maybe less if you have to.

I wouldn’t set realistic goals (don’t take the easy road). Set ambitious goals you can get excited about.

For each goal, establish your baseline. For example, you might be able to run a mile without stopping today.

Write them down on a wall. Keep these goals top of mind.

How Often Should I Train?

The amount of training you do will depend on your age and ambition. You can do whatever you want but here’s a general guide for the driven:

Ages 5-9: 2 days a week for 30-45 minutes per session
Ages 10-13: 3-4 days a week for 1-1 1/2 hrs per session
Ages 14 and up: 4-5 days a week for 1-2 hrs per session

For the days you aren’t training, it’s important to recover. Continue eating healthy and taking care of your body. Foam rolling and stretching are great for your off days.

What Should I Work on in the Summer?

I’m all about focusing on the things that matter. You can spend a lot of time doing drills and exercises that improve your game by 5% or 80%. It’s up to you.

Here are some things that will get you closer to the 80%.

1. Strength and Conditioning

To perform at your best, you need to be in good physical shape.

Use the summer to work on your strength and conditioning. Focus on exercises that will improve your speed, agility, and endurance. Here’s a great video…

2. Ball Control & Technical Skills

Your ball control and technical skills can transform you into an elite player.

Use the summer to work on individual drills. Repetition is key here. You should be spending at least 75% of your training on ball control and technical skills.

3. Small Sided Games

There’s no substitute for game-like scenarios. All your individual training should be used in games.

Small sided scrimmages are great because they get you more touches. Get some players together and play 3v3 or 6v6 if you can.

Even once a week can pay dividends.

As a bonus, if they are on your team, it’s a great time to bond.

4. Mentality

Let’s face it…the soccer season can get hectic.

As a young athlete, your mentality can break or make you. I’ve seen some of the best players phase out because they let the coach or the game get to them.

I’ve also seen mediocre players become great because they had a growth mindset and could overcome difficult challenges.

To start, I would watch motivational YouTube videos like this classic…

Develop a Weekly Plan

To ensure that you are making progress during the offseason, it is important to plan out your workouts.

Here are some helpful tips:

Dedicate your days: For example, dedicate Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to ball and technical training.
Progression is important: During your trainings, you want to progress into your next drill. For example, do light freestyle dribbling first. Then, implement cones into your training. From here, introduce dribbling moves when you get to the end of the cones.
Keep your goals in mind: Remember your 3 goals? Match your plan to your goals.
YouTube is your friend: Spend 30 minutes each week to plan your workouts. Write them down on a piece of paper…nothing fancy. Just understand what you need to do.
Reward yourself: If you can get your workouts in the am, the rest of your day is gravy. On your off days, reward yourself with something like an ice cream. Everybody loves ice cream, right?

Create Some Accountability

Training alone is hard. But, in most cases, it’s the only option.

Having someone pushing you and holding you accountable can make things easier. This is especially true when you have days where you are lacking motivation.

This accountability partner can be a teammate, sibling, parent, or coach.

If you don’t have anyone, you can use social media as a means to hold yourself accountable. Tell your audience you are in #grindmode and take a quick video of yourself training.

Don’t do it for the likes. Do it for the accountability.

Final Thoughts

If you put in the work now, you will naturally become a better player in the fall. Hard work always pays off. You’ll create your own luck.

It can be hard to get started but I hope these tips help!

If you are looking to really elevate your game to a new level, your identity has to change. Who do you want to become in the fall? Be that person today.

It might require you to create an alter ego for your training sessions. Instead of being a shy, passive player. You are The Playmaka who works his or her butt off every day. You don’t let mistakes get to you. You push through the pain of hard work.

Good luck from now until September. I’m rooting for The Playmaka!