Winter Training Sessions

Last Updated on: 16th October 2024, 03:42 pm

Football Training Session

 

Winter Football Training

Winter training isn’t always a lot of fun for football players. You’ve probably had a match cancelled or postponed due to poor weather conditions. Your players might have rolled out of bed for training, seen the horrible conditions, and crawled straight back in! It’s not always easy to keep the momentum going when the weather gets colder. So, you should change your usual training routine to ensure you get the most out of your sessions. Add plenty of football training equipment and set up plenty of drills to keep everyone moving.

 

Winter Training Session

 

Objective: Keep your players active and warm in the lead-up to spring.

 

The Warm Up

 

 

A good warm-up is essential for all training sessions but it’s even more important in winter. Here’s a great one to get your players’ blood pumping and ready for the session.

1. Set-Up:
   • Mark out a large oval using cones, spaced about 1 meter apart.
   • Each player gets a football and dribbles in and out of the cones.

   Instructions:

   1. Players start by dribbling through the cones.
   2. Have them repeat the circuit, increasing their speed with each lap.

Step It Up

• Add more cones to the oval.
• Make the layout more complex by adding tighter gaps and sharper turns.
• Challenge players to use their weaker foot.
• Turn it into a race by making the players sprint back to the starting cone after completing the circuit.

 

Activity 1 – Speed and Agility

It’s important to keep players moving when the weather is cold, so you want to keep your players moving. This speed and agility activity provides a high-intensity workout.

 

 

 

 

Set-Up:

• Lay out two cones 10 meters apart (cones A and F).
• Place a third cone behind them to create a triangle (cone B).
• Set up three more cones directly behind cone B, about 1.5 meters apart (cones C, D, and E).

Instructions:

1. Players start at cone A.
2. Side-step to cone B and then sprint to cone F.
3. Walk back to cone A.
4. Repeat the steps for cones C, D, and E with the following movements:
   • A-C: Heel flicks
   • A-D: High knees
   • A-E: Crossovers

 

Activity 2 – Passing & Ball Control

This drill focuses on ball control and passing. It’s great for getting everybody moving and competing.

 

 

 

Set-Up:

• Use cones to set out a 20m x 20m square with cones.
• Mark a 2m x 2m square in the center of the larger square.
• Divide players into two teams. Have one neutral player standing in the smaller square.
• One player from each team stands on either side of the larger square, while the rest stay inside.

Instructions:

1. Players inside the larger square compete to gain possession of the ball.
2. Once they have the ball, they must pass it to the neutral player in the smaller square.
3. The neutral player returns the ball to a teammate, who then passes to their team’s outside player.
4. Award 1 point for each completed sequence.
5. Continue until one team reaches the target number of points.

Game Time

Wrap up the session with a game to let players apply what they’ve learned. Start with standard game rules, then adjust to focus on specific skills.

Instructions:

1. After 10 minutes, introduce a rule allowing players only 3 touches of the ball to improve first touch and spatial awareness.
2. To practice crossing, set a rule that goals can only be scored from crosses into the box.
3. For ball retention, introduce a 5-minute possession challenge where the team holding the ball at the end of the period is awarded a goal.

 

The Cool-down

A proper cool-down is essential after high-intensity activity to reduce the risk of injury. A good cool-down will gradually reduce players’ heart rates.

An easy and effective way to do this is low-intensity jogging or walking for 5-10 minutes. This will help reduce the body temperature and remove any lactic acid.

Winter Training Wear

The best way to get your players to winter training sessions is with great winter training wear. Check out our range to find everything you need to train in the cold weather. We have everything you need: winter jackets, training tops, snoods, winter hats and gloves.

 

Tags: football coaching, Football training, football training drills, training session, training sessions, winter football training, winter training