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The following is an example of a "Skills and Fitness" Circuit Training set up.
This is a 30 minute program and designed for players to work at high intensity. There are 6 stations with players working for a total of 5 minutes at each station. The coach should first explain each station to the entire group and the pattern of rotation.
On the coaches command players must jog quickly to their next exercise to maintain their working heart rate.
Click on the station on the diagram above to see drills. Circuit training can be adapted to make skill, agility, and strength practice fun. Circuit training is a method of attaining fitness, which uses intense work with a number of repetitions interspersed with rest or running.
Parcours exercise programs are an example of this type of training and are excellent for developing and maintaining off-season overall fitness.
With a little imagination, circuit training can be adapted to in-season soccer practice with drills or exercise stations designed as tests of fitness or to add variety to practices.
When designing a circuit, see that activities using the same muscle groups do not follow one another; this allows the different muscle groups to recover between exercises. Usually a circuit will have from 6 to 8 stations and take from 2 to 10 minutes to complete. For soccer, stations can include skill, agility, and strength activities.
The diagram above gives an example of a "skills" circuit for soccer practice. Allow players to complete the circuit once, return to the stations where they felt they needed improvement, and then have them repeat the entire circuit against a stopwatch. For a circuit to be of maximum benefit, the players must not be held up at any station by other players. To avoid this, make enough stations to spread out the players and ensure there are sufficient soccer balls throughout the course.
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