Soccer is a game full of sudden, swift movements, that can bring enormous strain onto the players and injury can only be avoided by gradually introducing the muscles and minds of each and every player to the physical tasks that lie ahead. This is the process of warming-up and it needs proper preparation and planning by coaches and the individual players for all training sessions and matches. Of equal value is the process of warming-down. The gradual relaxation of the body's muscular and skeletal structure after physical activity helps to prepare it for the next session. In this book the authors provide some 35 programmes for proper warming-up and warming-down for soccer. The programmes are full of variety to avoid monotony and are based around the game of soccer itself, within a team situation.
The book proceeds from a basic understanding of the needs of every individual to stretch and ease their muscles and tendons, through a series of simple games and exercises using the football and other aids, that will help teamwork and mutual understanding between the players, at the same time as preparing the team for the physical and mental tasks that lie ahead. The book is ideal for coaches and trainers involved in the well-being of a soccer team.