Acceleration
Aerobic Power
Agility
Speed
Foot Control
Injury Prevention
Acceleration is the amount of time that a soccer player requires to reach top speed. Soccer players rely heavily on acceleration to perform fast, explosive movements during soccer-specific offensive and defensive plays.
Aerobic Power:
Cardiorespiratory fitness or endurance is referred to as "aerobic power" or "physical fitness". An improvement in aerobic power will enable the soccer player to better adjust to changes in demands of the soccer activity and recover faster within shorter periods of anaerobic activities (short bursts of speed). SSC uses the lactic threshold theory during the aerobic power component of the conditioning program.
Agility:
Agility is the ability to accelerate, decelerate, and quickly change direction while maintaining stable body control. Agility also involves the ability of the soccer player to maintain body control when coming into contact with other players while controlling the soccer ball, defending against attackers, or getting off the ground quickly.
Speed:
Speed is the ability to travel from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time possible. Speed is the product of stride length and stride frequency. In the speed component of the program, SSC participants will perform various speed drills and undergo sprint analysis to improve their speed.
Foot Control:
Footwork involves quickness and control of the feet during athletic movements. Soccer, more than any other sport, requires a player to have a high level of footwork ability to achieve an elite soccer status.
Injury Prevention:
In a recent article (Physiotherapy Canada; 56 (2) April 2004, pages 67-79), a research team determined that a pre-season conditioning program can reduce the number of sport-specific injuries.
