Practice for most young soccer players involves laps, sprints, and maybe the occasional sit-up, meaning that their physical training is almost completely limited to running and footwork. Although regular practice combined with these simple training methods may keep an athlete in top physical condition, failure to pursue alternate training methods may ultimately be holding you back from reaching your full potential on the field. Expanding your training outlook and workout regimen to include new exercises and approaches can help you become a better overall player and develop stronger skills that can transfer to a variety of sports.

To get a better idea of what kind of training you might want to focus on, let’s break down the field position by position. Note how each player’s role responds to different training approaches. Check out your position below and think about new techniques that you can try to improve your overall game. Consider the skills necessary for your position, think about your personal strengths and weaknesses, and then get together with a trainer or strength coach to develop a program that will accent the areas you want to improve on

Defenders- The perfect defender should have a balanced mix of strength, speed, and agility. They should have the quickness to match up with a speedy forward and the strength to box out and defend a corner kick. This makes the defender’s workout goals particularly difficult, as he or she needs to develop a variety of skills equally. Consider which of these skills you feel you are lacking, and then work to improve those skills and balance them with the areas of your game you feel are strong and developed. Also, take the time to work on the mental aspect of competition. Defenders must have a great deal of nerve and focus to do their job well, and if you can’t stand up to the stress of the position your physical game is all but irrelevant.

Midfielders- Like defenders, midfielders are well-rounded players that must stress different qualities and goals in their workouts. However, their incorporation in the offensive scheme makes speed and agility an absolute must. Design your workout to help improve your quickness and footwork while also remaining conscious of your need for strength and power. Think about your approach to play. Do you adapt a more attacking or defensive role as a midfielder? Adapt your workout to complement your playing style and get the most out of your training time.

Forwards- The workout for a forward can be a bit more specific than the other positions. Your role is to constantly attack, so your goal should be to hone the skills that you need to become agile and exceptionally quick. Focus more on developing speed than strength, as you don’t want added bulk and muscle slowing you down when you need to zip past the opposing team’s defenders.

Goalkeepers- Although stamina is important at every soccer position, the ideal goalkeeper should focus instead on developing lean muscle mass all over their bodies, with a bit of added

focus on the legs. Creating this muscle and learning how to use it can turn you into a spring-loaded shot-blocking machine, ready to jump or dive and defend the net in the blink of an eye. A far as speed training, work on sprinting and improving your quick movement over short distances, as you will need to make fast adjustments during penalty kicks and corner kicks. Also, incorporate some reflex exercises into your workout to help improve your immediate reaction and response time.