The following two tabs change content below.
Mike Young
Director of Performance at Athletic Lab
Mike is the Head Fitness Coach for the North Carolina Courage and North Carolina FC. He is also the owner and Director of Performance at Athletic Lab sports performance training center. He previously served as the fitness coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps and Carolina Railhawks. He has a PhD in Biomechanics, an MS in Coaching Science, and a BSS in Exercise Physiology and has coached Olympic and professional athletes in Skeleton, Track & Field, MLS and NASL Soccer, PGA Golf, NFL Football, MLB Baseball and Olympic Weightlifting. He has lectured around the world and authored 2 books and dozens of research and coaching articles.
Latest posts by Mike Young (see all)
- Brilliant Hamstring Injury Observations from Dave Joyce - September 26, 2018
- Sprint exposure for speed enhancement AND injury reduction - April 4, 2018
- Variance in the Soccer Warmup - April 3, 2018
At what point (minutes wise) in their warm-up do they start touching the ball?
Typically, we do 3-4 minutes of casual unorganized ball work. Then they come in with me for 10-12 minutes. Then back out for passing / possession type drills with the ball and then a final short high-intensity portion.
Mike,
Love the blog. Great info. The pre-game warm-up by Manchester looks pretty thorough but for two things: 1) no ball work/passing? 2) After the warm-up they go back down the tunnel to sit in the locker room, thus negating most, if not all, of the warm-up benefits.
Yeah I thought similar. Perhaps it was segmented like we do and maybe started with ball work. If done like that it can be used as part of the general warmup. Heading back in to the locker room is mandatory though and something that players at higher levels have to deal with. The key is staying warm in the locker room and then trying to get in something right before the start.