Date of post -Wednesday, December 09, 2009
I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. This is my first Winter in Charleston, SC and although I am enjoying it already the weather is a little frustrating. There has been a lot of rain and fluctuations in temperature everyday. At least when I go home to Wales for Christmas I know it's going to be wet and cold.
Unfortunately the 3v3 tournament I was directing got postponed due to bad weather and has now been moved to January. This weather has also made training tough and somedays almost impossible.
We have had to adapt our training schedule and locations constantly. Sometimes we have trained in a park or in the car park of our soccer complex, we have trained indoors at a big complex, or even in a large garage and back garden. The point is that you have to be adaptable and have a plan B. You can still accomplish a lot in small spaces whether it be for speed training or soccer training.
Juggling and tight space moves require little space to improve your touch and confidence on the ball. Strength training can be done in a very small area. Even speed training can be done without requiring the size of a field. Plyometrics, flexibility, power and balance training can all be done in the confounds of a small space. If you want to work on conditioning try using a jump rope. Even speed expert Lee Taft uses his garage to train young athletes who want to improve their speed.
The point I am trying to make is that no matter what the weather is like or how much space you have there is always something you can do to achieve your goals. Don't make excuses this holiday season. Have fun adapting to reach your long term goals.