“Is it different to enjoy a game of soccer on a field than to play it on the beach?” That is a good question. “You bet it’s different,” he answered.

Beach soccer, as the name implies, is a game played on the beach, usually in the spring or summer. Although soccer on the beach has been played in an unorganized fashion for years, it was given its official name and rules only recently, specifically in 1992. Since that time beach soccer has managed to become a rather popular game and I believe that if you definitely want to educate yourself about soccer you should begin to play soccer on the beach in the sand.

Playing soccer in the sand is thought by many to be the best place for a newbie. Learning on a soft sandy beach can correct some usual errors for a beginner, because the soccer ball often doesn’t roll well on the sand. Actually, the element of sand doesn’t only facilitate the efforts of new players, but it can actually be thought of as a large barrier even for the long time players that want to demonstrate their proficiencies. In addition, the smaller field – measuring 28 x 37 meters if you can find an official beach soccer complex- is by far smaller than a normal grass pitch and therefore scoring is easier, even for athletes who want to give it a go for the first time.

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A great advantage of beach soccer is the fact that the athlete doesn’t have to have any unique equipment to join in. An adequate size soccer ball and the sand of the beach are just what you need to start learning the nature of this unique game’s play. Even when no organized facility on the beach exists, those interested in enjoying a game of beach soccer need only two canes to symbolize the area of a goalpost. Sticks or maybe a pile of clothes are preferable in comparison to especially huge blocks of rocks, which are a hazard for stubbed toes, because footwear is not permitted in this game.

My son’s soccer coach has his team out in the sand during the summer off-season building up their leg muscles and their basic skills on the sand. They start out running on the soft sand, head to the harder sand near the ocean’s edge and then back to the soft areas. The fact that they are not wearing shoes acts as an incentive to learn to kick the ball using the insides of their feet, not their toes.

The team does some skill drills and then they enjoy a short game of five-on-five to get them motivated and happy to be at practice. By the time the fall playing season rolls around they will all be in the best shape of their lives.

When practice is over the boys head, on the run, for the ocean to cool off and play in the waves. They go to practice in their swimsuits so there is no delay getting into the cold water. Soccer at the beach is a great way for kids and adults to play and build up their stamina, strength and endurance. It is after all, much easier to play on a grass field right?

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Stamina is a huge factor in the game of soccer. Unlike hockey where the players take shifts or baseball where you take half inning breaks from standing in the outfield, soccer requires constant motion up and down a regulation field measuring 100 yards long by 60 yards wide. The fitter the player and his team the longer and faster they will be able to play at their A level.

Stamina is what separates the pros from the weekenders who play soccer. In matches like the FA Cup where there is no such thing as a draw, players are required to go all out for the full ninety minutes. Coaches at all levels need to work on stamina training with their clubs in order to maintain a high level of fitness for the entire soccer season. Stamina and strength go hand in hand on the soccer pitch. A player needs strength and the ability to play a complete game while moving in spurts and starts all over the field.

Warming up before any practice or game is crucial in the prevention of injury. Imagine your star player earning $75,000 a week while he is sitting on the bench with a pulled hamstring because he didn’t stretch properly before pushing himself.

Loosen up with five minutes of jogging in place. Follow that with a series of exercises such as jumping jacks, heel flicks and high knee steps. Finally, stretch it all out for roughly five minutes. All of these will help to improve your agility and stamina over time. Try running at different paces (especially fun for kids). Start with a fast run, slow it down to a fast walk then revert back to jogging. This will simulate game situations and help to preserve the player’s energy. Here is a list of warm-up standards any athlete is familiar with: crunches, resistance bands, squats thrusts with weights and push ups.

The following is an example of working out your legs and mid-torso: start jogging for five minutes, try sprinting for 20 yards, slow it down to a jog for 300 yards,  turn around and run backwards for 20 yards, face front again and sprint for 30 yards, walk it off for about 50 yards and then finish up with a short 300 yard or so jog. When you have finished with this phase of your warm-up stretch out your calves, quads, lower back, groin and most importantly, your hamstrings.

Because soccer requires such an extreme level of stamina, endurance training is an integral part of a soccer training program at any level. How do you think the players on your team will feel late in a game when their opponents are fading and they still have the energy to finish off a winning match? Endurance training means lots of aerobic exercises to reduce the strain on your heart and keep you playing for longer and longer periods of time.

Soccer players need stamina training. We have established that but how do they go about accomplishing that increased endurance needed on the soccer field? Cycling is a sport that will build up leg muscles and provide aerobic exercise. Jogging and hill running will work as well. Think about stair climbing in some taller buildings or a sports stadium.

If the player is serious about his strength and endurance training he might invest in some equipment such as a stair climber, treadmill or cross-trainer. Sprint training can be accomplished through the sprint-walk-jog formula described earlier.

Sprinting requires a lot of upper body strength. This is where strength training comes into play. Circuit and weight training will help to build up those pecs.

Here is a list of common activities you can do to increase your endurance:

• A full squat using your own body weight
• Clean and press three quarters of your weight overhead – remember to build up to these weights
• Curl half your weight
• Try 40 press-ups in a minute or less
• How about 40 bent-knee abdominals in under one minute
• Now 40 squat thrusts in about one minute
• Finally, Eight chin-ups (male) or three chin-ups (female).

None of these are easy feats. Stamina can only be increased by completing circuits of continuous activity at low to moderate intensities for three minutes or more. Stamina training can also include distance events where the athlete has to try to run a distance of 3000-5000 metres at about 70 to 75 per cent of maximal heart rate for optimum aerobic benefits.

Soccer Fitness

Conditioning plays an increasingly more valuable role in today’s soccer, so if you ever desire to develop into a professional, you should begin working on your fitness and endurance levels from the beginning. Unlike widespread thought, soccer conditioning exercises are not solely short-term, because you cannot forget how to remain healthy like many other areas.

Think about it. If you stay away from sports for some time and put on a few extra pounds, or just lose touch with your conditioning, you will not be able to run to the same degree like you had previously, your muscles will most likely be weaker and you will not experience the same tone.

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But you will not need to begin from scratch again, for the reason that after you have built up your stamina using soccer conditioning workouts already, it will most likely be so much easier to step up and obtain that level of fitness again.

What’s the best way to figure this out? It all depends on your body, but I want to go over what I believe to be two of the top soccer conditioning exercises, no matter what your build or natural fitness.

Unsurpassed Soccer Conditioning Exercises – The Pine Tree Sprints

This soccer conditioning drill is called this since you are making a make believe pine tree on the ground with your sprints. It is one of the greatest, all around exercises you might train with, as it helps with both your burst sprints and your prolonged sprints. Here’s how to get it done:

Place 5 cones on the ground, lined up perpendicularly from wherever you are standing and be sure the distance linking them is the same. So, the initial point might be located at 10 feet, the next at 20, the third at 30, fourth at 40 and fifth at 50. Otherwise you may possibly reduce distance connecting each one a bit.

At this point, remain on the line and leap, bringing your knees to your chest. Then get someone to assign an audio signal (blow a whistle, clap hands, etc) or give yourself the green light and start running toward the number one marker as soon as you reach the field.

Once you touch the initial marker, make a quick break and spin and run back to the opening line. Without hesitation break and spin and run to the next point and back. Perform the same with all markers and once you arrive at the final one, begin coming down again, to the fourth and back, third and back, and so on. This helps your endurance in a lot of great ways- you will be working on acceleration on sprints with the quick runs linking the opening 2 cones, longer sprints while running toward the 4th and 5th cones and you will in addition practice your breaking (mobility).

Greatest Soccer Conditioning Drills – The Full Court

Here is a different important soccer drill with the purpose of working most areas of your conditioning. Here is how it goes:

You begin in any corner of the soccer field, jogging leisurely at a 1/4 pace beside the span. Do that until you reach the opposite corner. At that time speed up the velocity a little on the fringe of the field, running at a 2/4 rhythm. Once you attain the next segment, get ready and run at a 3/4 pace, just about sprinting. The very last border of the field must be run through on complete race hustle. At that moment as you arrive at the original opening corner, come back down to 1/4 again.

You should breathe with control for the period of the 1/4 and 2/4 pace areas, since you will need to conserve your energy meant for the other two sides of the field. Make a bunch of these full court laps and you will quickly see an increase in endurance. If you cannot continue for more than a few of them, do not agonize. Definitely try to slowly but surely raise the amount of laps each time you workout.