Strength and Conditioning for a nearly 10-year-old?
August 20, 2012 2:11 PM Subscribe
[KidsSportTraining/StrengtheningFilter]My son has been asked to play "up" an age division in soccer (football). He is excited about this, but a little nervous about some things...
So my 9-and-1/2-year-old son has been asked to play up an age division (U12 instead of U10). He's a pure striker, with a nose for goal, a good sense of driving toward goal with the ball, and being in the right place for a pass (thus his being asked to play up).
I'd say that most of the kids are 10-16 months older than he is. He is a bit concerned about his size disadvantage, and is looking to increase his strength and balance.
I'm not sure how much I want to encourage a nearly 10-year-old to conform to some sort of exercise "regimen," but I understand his concerns. He is a bit skinny, but not ridiculously so. I've observed some stamina issues in him by the end of a game, too.
What would be some good strengthening and conditioning drills/exercises for him to concentrate on? Or should we just let the chips fall where they may? I don't want to introduce too much of an athletic mindset (unless that's what he wants, but this may change).
I'm not looking for tactics or training drills, as I'll leave this up to his very competent coach.
So my 9-and-1/2-year-old son has been asked to play up an age division (U12 instead of U10). He's a pure striker, with a nose for goal, a good sense of driving toward goal with the ball, and being in the right place for a pass (thus his being asked to play up).
I'd say that most of the kids are 10-16 months older than he is. He is a bit concerned about his size disadvantage, and is looking to increase his strength and balance.
I'm not sure how much I want to encourage a nearly 10-year-old to conform to some sort of exercise "regimen," but I understand his concerns. He is a bit skinny, but not ridiculously so. I've observed some stamina issues in him by the end of a game, too.
What would be some good strengthening and conditioning drills/exercises for him to concentrate on? Or should we just let the chips fall where they may? I don't want to introduce too much of an athletic mindset (unless that's what he wants, but this may change).
I'm not looking for tactics or training drills, as I'll leave this up to his very competent coach.
I would let the chips fall where they may.
Both my brother and one of my cousins were bumped up age divisions in the various sports that they played, and I (dorky though it may be) was bumped up from the middle school to high school quiz bowl team. We were bumped up because they were considered good enough at our current level to roll with the older kids. It would be one thing if he were older (example: 8th grader asked to play varsity), but as it is I think he'll be fine. He'll be practicing a little harder with the older kids, which will help him get to their level.
If he's got stamina issues, you could always encourage him to take up jogging (maybe once around the neighborhood every morning or something? You could even go with him, which would be nice), but I think any sort of formal exercise thing would be overkill at this point.
posted by phunniemee at 2:21 PM on August 20, 2012
Both my brother and one of my cousins were bumped up age divisions in the various sports that they played, and I (dorky though it may be) was bumped up from the middle school to high school quiz bowl team. We were bumped up because they were considered good enough at our current level to roll with the older kids. It would be one thing if he were older (example: 8th grader asked to play varsity), but as it is I think he'll be fine. He'll be practicing a little harder with the older kids, which will help him get to their level.
If he's got stamina issues, you could always encourage him to take up jogging (maybe once around the neighborhood every morning or something? You could even go with him, which would be nice), but I think any sort of formal exercise thing would be overkill at this point.
posted by phunniemee at 2:21 PM on August 20, 2012
Best answer: I think the most important thing in that age group is to focus on endurance. I have a kid who's played soccer through that age, and strikers who could sprint the longest did the best. If you can get him to do a combination of sprinting and distance running, that would probably be best. Just make sure he has good shoes, runs on healthy surface, and "listens to his body."
If you're concerned about too much running being bad for children, check out this article from Running Times. It's a nice overview.
posted by GnomeChompsky at 2:22 PM on August 20, 2012
If you're concerned about too much running being bad for children, check out this article from Running Times. It's a nice overview.
posted by GnomeChompsky at 2:22 PM on August 20, 2012
Best answer: Former teenage international level soccer player here. I'm naturally a shorter guy, and I remember at 16 I was the only one on our team who could do anything to slow down this giant 6'6" >250lb Italian striker who I still suspect was more like 20. If he's good, it's more about understanding where and how to use your weight than it is about raw strength.
What he needs is core strength. That's how you shoulder someone off of the ball or keep from being shouldered off of a ball. That will develop on its own and either he'll be able to deal with being smaller and come out with a huge advantage at college level when the sizes level out, or he'll have to drop back a division in a few years and still have a huge advantage. He can do bodyweight exercises if he wants, but as far as I understand ten is a good bit too young to be weight training.
posted by cmoj at 2:28 PM on August 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
What he needs is core strength. That's how you shoulder someone off of the ball or keep from being shouldered off of a ball. That will develop on its own and either he'll be able to deal with being smaller and come out with a huge advantage at college level when the sizes level out, or he'll have to drop back a division in a few years and still have a huge advantage. He can do bodyweight exercises if he wants, but as far as I understand ten is a good bit too young to be weight training.
posted by cmoj at 2:28 PM on August 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
Also sprints. Suicides (ladder runs). His first step, that is how fast he can ramp up to full speed, is the single most important factor for a striker and arguably any soccer player. If you can move that 5 yards before your defende gets off his feet, nothing else matters.
posted by cmoj at 2:29 PM on August 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by cmoj at 2:29 PM on August 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
Best answer: A tiny footnote from a pediatric provider here: before he makes the move, have a sports physical visit with his pediatric provider to review concerns and safety measures. There are a a few things to consider when actively growing kids (versus adolescents, who are growing, but have some hormonal support for bones/muscles) start to engage very competitively with their sport. The last thing you want is your young athlete to be sidelined with growth plate overuse fractures, or to otherwise compromise his relatively more plastic musculoskeletal system (there are quite a few training adaptations that should be made, for example, to avoid injury or growth alterations). Where I see the most injuries, by far, is in very competitive pre-pubescent kids. This is NOT to say kids shouldn't compete and play hard, but you are extending his injury-able years by playing up, and careful prevention of cumulative damage so he can reach the level he wants is really important.
posted by rumposinc at 4:01 PM on August 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by rumposinc at 4:01 PM on August 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks to all for the responses. I've encouraged him to do some running/jogging to increase his stamina, but this bores him quickly. I'll try to point out the benefits of being able to sprint quickly and keep his wind.
@rumposinc - just had his physical that his mother and I insist he have before the beginning of each school year (only two more days away, REJOICE!).
posted by kuanes at 5:23 PM on August 20, 2012
@rumposinc - just had his physical that his mother and I insist he have before the beginning of each school year (only two more days away, REJOICE!).
posted by kuanes at 5:23 PM on August 20, 2012
Distance running is much less important than you might think. A mobile midfielder might run 6 or 8 miles during a 90 minute game, but at that he's still walking or standing half the time or more. Actually, with modern play it might be a little more than that but still. Don't get me wrong, running is good, but the kind of running that happens in a game is a totally different thing. His 2 hour practices should already be preparing him well for the kind of conditioning that helps most during a game. If he can run a 5k in decent time, he'll be doing very well in combination with normal training.
posted by cmoj at 7:23 PM on August 20, 2012
posted by cmoj at 7:23 PM on August 20, 2012
I've encouraged him to do some running/jogging to increase his stamina, but this bores him quickly.
Do you have an iPod/iPhone? My 11 year old loves running with Zombies, Run! to liven things up.
She was in a similar situation last fall - she missed the age cutoff to play on U10 by two days, there was no U11 team so U12 it was! Add to that she is in the lower 5 percentile for height/weight and we had some concerns, but she had a great season and her game definitely improved. She is not afraid to get in there and mix it up and is fast. Plus for the first part of the game she usually has the element of surprise!
It sounds like he has the skills so I too would emphasize running. Even if you kid is fast for his class, there are some long-legged 12 year old kids out there.
posted by mikepop at 5:19 AM on August 21, 2012
Do you have an iPod/iPhone? My 11 year old loves running with Zombies, Run! to liven things up.
She was in a similar situation last fall - she missed the age cutoff to play on U10 by two days, there was no U11 team so U12 it was! Add to that she is in the lower 5 percentile for height/weight and we had some concerns, but she had a great season and her game definitely improved. She is not afraid to get in there and mix it up and is fast. Plus for the first part of the game she usually has the element of surprise!
It sounds like he has the skills so I too would emphasize running. Even if you kid is fast for his class, there are some long-legged 12 year old kids out there.
posted by mikepop at 5:19 AM on August 21, 2012
Correction: Zombies, Run is available for Android/Windows phones as well.
posted by mikepop at 5:21 AM on August 21, 2012
posted by mikepop at 5:21 AM on August 21, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
He needs to run, run, run. That will build leg strength, and develop the cardio he needs.
In my experience, young players who play up often develop to be much better players. Those older kids have a year of growth on him. If he can learn to play with them while having a size disadvantage, then when he grows, he will be better than them when the size is equal.
But adding weight and muscle mass just to have the same size now - that is crazy. Then, when he grows, he will be heavier (aka. slower) than the older kids. He is younger - he should be smaller. That doesn't mean he can't out run, out kick, and out play older kids.
posted by Flood at 2:19 PM on August 20, 2012 [2 favorites]