Clarkson Sheridan Soccer Club - Mississauga, ON

Please read the following article on the merits of our training programme and the disadvantages of indoor soccer - small sided games 6_v_6, 7_v_7, etc.
 

1. Introduction

To introduce the content and intent of this article, I would like to start by posing some questions….

Every September regular season competitive soccer play ends for clubs throughout Ontario and Canada. Many teams begin to think about winter league play, which runs for about 6 months using a structure of play completely different to what players experience on the field during the summer season on an outdoor field. Is it really reasonable to assume that this approach would benefit young soccer players with serious aspirations?

Some clubs, even some of our neighbouring clubs, advertize the benefits of participating in winter competitions (indoor soccer) for the young, particularly for those ranging in age between 13 and 18 years old. Would you think that this approach would benefit young soccer players with serious aspirations?

When most clubs implement development programs where the content has poor planning and contains few hours spent training, where participants have a regimen inconsistent throughout the year, for example, the months of October , November and December, would you think that this approach would benefit young soccer players with serious aspirations?

Let me tell you, in my humble opinion, we believe in everything contrary to these approaches.

2. Challenge

Undoubtedly, in this part of the world, we have some challenges, including the weather, which force us to develop a better programme that will increase the normal performance of young soccer players.

However, when we analyze all the variables, we firmly believe that you can build a serious development plan for the entire year and thus comply with the objectives of incrementation for the development of soccer players at the competitive level.

Our development programme runs year-round, is well underway, substantiated and without room for improvisation. We believe that soccer players from 13 years of age and older are at the proper stage to specialize in sports, and their training program should not change abruptly throughout the year; nor should the structure and realism of play. This certainly happens when soccer players change their training and structure of play every six months. As a consequence, it causes players, not only to forget the actual structure of the game itself, but it also produces stagnation and in some cases deteriorates areas that are actually essential to development in these age groups (such as physical preparation and introduction to tactical-strategic knowledge of soccer).

These points in mind, we can easily explain and justify our philosophy while making clear the disadvantages of playing indoor soccer.

3. Fitness

The physiological and metabolic profile of game situations for indoor soccer are not specific to the demands of energy that the body needs to provide in traditional (outdoor) soccer.

As for physical preparation, soccer has seen a radical change in the last two decades thanks to the contribution of science to exercise. Scientists in this specialty have published studies over the years which identify and determine soccer-specific training, and thus deliver the tools and knowledge to the coaches, physical trainers, etc. to develop serious and consistent training programs. This knowledge allowed them to formulate the proper training regimen to have a substantial impact on athletes, and thus achieve maximum increases in performance. It may seem that this approach would only be needed by professional athletes, but it should be noted that the physique of a soccer player begins to develop at an early age.

Research has shown that this sport has a both a physiological and metabolic profile where spending energy occurs between 60-65% at the expense of aerobic metabolism (runs of low intensity) and between 40-35% anaerobic (runs of medium, high and maximum intensity), where mostly dominated by alactic anaerobic metabolism (no production of lactic acid). The energy system dominant in soccer in many situations, as determined by the same profile, is the ATP-PC (which produces instant energy for the muscles when it produces intense contractions with high speeds), but this system will provide energy to the muscle power with in very short time. This is why it is not the only energy system which requires the organism to respond to the physical demands of the sport.

Soccer is mainly characterized in this way, by many repetitions of maximum exertion (explosive) but short duration followed short breaks at its most active, and where the process is repeated many times in 80-90 minute segments, regulation time for youth soccer of children age 13 years and up.

That in mind, we ask: Does indoor soccer provide the physiological and metabolic development necessary to properly train young soccer players? We dare say "No".

Why?

Players who participate in indoor soccer competitions "in most cases are not participating in the game a long enough duration of time to really stimulate the aerobic system, which begins to produce results from approximately 4-5 minutes after first becoming active. We know that most teams maintain team rosters during the winter with approximately 16-18 players, the coach would have to alternate players in very short periods of time to allow everyone an opportunity to participate in a game that lasts approximately 50 minutes. By the end of the game, most players have not actively played the game a total of more than 15 or 20 minutes and, as we said earlier, this play time was in shorter timeframes. When individuals have too many interruptions when engaged in aerobic physical activity, this activity will first of all fails to meet its goal, of increasing the capacity to participate in said activity, but also depending on the number of minutes for the individual’s body to recover, the body returns to its baseline – without achieving any net gain or result.

And why do soccer players tire so quickly when playing indoor soccer?

Since the energy system that is imposed on indoor soccer is anaerobic lactic. The intensity of the game in tight spaces of this system requires maximum effort with little recovery between them, this leads to excessive accumulation of lactic acid and the muscles, as a result, will have a decrease in performance; the body becomes fatigued.

Faced with these situations, many coaches may think "My players don’t tire or become fatigued when playing these kinds of games." So we respond: "These players are not achieving the intensity in these games that they would in real competitive soccer: MAXIMUM sprints, 1 vs. 1 challenges, pressure when possessing the ball, etc.… “

All facts considered, it is clear that soccer players who take part in indoor soccer for six months every year do not gain any benefit nor do they improve their physical conditioning in preparation for the summer season. Quite the contrary, for most age groups, this approach hinders an athletes' development.

4. Tactical

Without a doubt, this is the area of the game most negatively impacted by indoor play. In ages where previously the main focus was the training, where the introduction to the tactics group has to be consistent over time to achieve adaptations to the different systems of play that the player must assimilate. These adaptations and knowledge are achieved with permanent work, maintaining the structure of actual coaching.

Indoor soccer has no correlation to the tactics used in real soccer - for various reasons (such as the number of players per team, dimensions of the field, rules, etc.). This is why after playing indoor soccer, participants notoriously lose the concepts of time and space developed in a regulation-size field. Consequently, time is lost in the development of the sport.

For the above reasons, we therefore believe that indoor soccer will not produce any benefit towards the development of soccer the player but actually quite the contrary.

5. Technical

This area is the only one in which indoor soccer has a substantial, positive, impact. This is due to the use of technical habits needed in game situations with small spaces (which makes for more complicated moves) and forces the soccer player to make quick, accurate decisions with the ball. Furthermore, if the player remains on the field, he/she could make several repetitions and moves with the ball because of the size of the field and forced movement that it demands.

But in contradiction to this possible benefit, we should keep in mind, as we've previously discussed, the low participation rate of athletes (in terms of number of minutes) on the playing field limits a player's contact with the ball - which is crucial for improving one's technique. To summarize these facts we should point out that many times, the player resolves bad situations with the ball due to the fatigue that indoor soccer produces (accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles) because of the intensity and format of the game.

6. Psychological

The most important fact to highlight in this area is what athletes feel when they take part in indoor soccer. As we discussed earlier, due to the number of players participating in these smaller teams and the rules of the game, which only allow a few players on the field, it means that these participants have very short play time due to constant substitutions, generating malaise, anger, frustration… And often players feel that they are wasting their time. This certainly does not benefit the athlete, but instead impedes him/her!

7. Our Proposal

We as an organization planned, and have already begun, to rollout a serious development programme which introduces our youth to a sports training philosophy that focuses on better performance. We facilitate their participation in a development programme where, together, we work towards individual growth but we do this on the basis of collective work. Our training programme focuses on a comprehensive approach, in the medium-long term timeframe, which is the only way to expect permanent results. We would like to provide our players the tools required to participate in a sport where soccer is truly competitive. Thus, we need to implement a coherent, well planned and well executed programme with the greatest possible discipline.

Simply put, with the publication of this information, we hope to inform people in our community and report the facts to all those interested in soccer of the "basic truths and myths" of indoor soccer for young people aged 13 years or older - from our perspective. Our teams are not involved in those competitions and we have explained the training and development methodology which we have implemented for our Representative Teams.

All successful competitive sports, which achieve high levels of performance, are supported by a strong foundation and long-term commitment - values instilled in its athletes. Our club will deliver a comprehensive, in-depth, training programme implemented in the medium to long-term timeframe. The young athletes in our club will be the beneficiaries of a development programme unlike any other in our region.