A new year with the same ambitions: getting the best out of yourself as a football player! These are the 3 things you may not have always focused on in 2021, but with which you can make a difference! We have listed and explained them below so that you can get started with them.
Learn to read the game
The difference between amateurs and professional football players is very often the number of correct versus incorrect decisions in a match. By analyzing the best players in your position, you can see what they do in certain match situations. Look for certain situations in matches where you often lose the ball, make wrong passes or are not in the right position. Write down in a notebook what professional players do in those same situations. Before you go to your training, look at 2 or 3 situations you want to focus on. When it is a competition, you are extra dangerous because you can make the same right choices as the pros. This will also help you recognize certain situations or opportunities more quickly and therefore act more quickly. And that is exactly what trainers and scouts are looking for!
Don't have a subscription to watch football matches? Search Google for a club (preferably from the world's top) that you want to watch and add 'Full Match'. You will find a whole range of matches that you can (re)watch for free!
Turn your strengths into indispensable qualities
The best players in the world are often known for a few strengths that are indispensable qualities for a team:
- Arjen Robben = cut inside and score at the far post
- Ngolo Kante = Stamina and ball recovery
- Kylian Mbappe = Speed
- Frenkie De Jong = Freeing himself in small space, moving through midfield
- ...
Decide for yourself what you are already good at. If you don't know it yourself, you can always ask your coach or teammates. There are two benefits to working on your strengths: 1. You get a lot of satisfaction from your training. You can do extra challenging exercises because you already master this part of football. This means there is a lot of challenge, you learn a lot and you will often complete your exercises well! 2. Your quality becomes indispensable to the team! This will give you extra confidence from the team and you will become more and more of a strongman!
For additional exercises you can always visit our Instagram, YouTube and TikTok channel!
Think about your recovery
You want to be even better this year. Then recovery will become even more important. You can only train as hard and as much as you have recovered. If you have not recovered sufficiently, you will at best have a worse training and at worst you will sustain an injury. Below are 3 things that you can immediately apply to recover better and faster:
- SLEEP enough. Your night's sleep is sacred. Make sure you get at least 7 hours of sleep per night, preferably a little more.
- Do recovery training. Have you had a tough training session or just had a competition? Plan a recovery training 2 days after your heavy effort. A recovery training is very simple and should not take too long: a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 40-45 minutes. You can quietly cycle, swim, jog,... Even a light technique training involving some juggling and ball-technical exercises is sufficient!
- Eat and drink enough after training. Not only in the summer, but also in the winter, you lose a lot of fluid during exercise. So make sure that you drink enough water not only during, but also after your training/competition. Avoid alcohol immediately after exercise. This slows down your recovery. Also avoid greasy food, which will also delay your recovery. Within half an hour after your training/competition, it is best to consume something that contains sufficient carbohydrates and sugars. About 1h30-2h after exercise, eat something that contains sufficient protein (chicken, skyr, white fish, eggs,...). Why that order? First you need to replenish the stores of glycogen (which comes from sugars and carbohydrates) in your muscles. Afterwards, especially during your sleep, proteins will be the building blocks to strengthen your muscles.
Now you know what you can focus on this year. We only promise you progress if you work on this!