Soccer warm up drill for leg power

Here are three warm-up drills designed to increase your soccer players' leg power so they have more strength and stamina when it comes to recovery runs and tackling.

Hopping soccer drill

Players hop on one leg and try to get as much distance between each step as possible.
Hop over a five-metre distance and players should get three or four hops in.
Don’t do more than three drill repetitions in a session and make sure you work both legs equally.

Shadow runs soccer drill

Players should work in pairs and run around an area - the size of your penalty area - one player in front trying to shake off the other player who is trying to be his shadow.
The shadow should start with his hand on the shoulder of the player he is following.
Play for two minutes then swap over.

Squat jump soccer drill

Players perform a squat.
The feet are slightly wider than a shoulder-width apart. The toes are very slightly turned out. The back is straight with the shoulders back.
The hands can be touching the side of the head or holding an imaginary bar.
From the bottom point, players push up explosively, getting as much height off the ground as possible. On landing they regain their balance and repeat the soccer drill.
Do three or four squat jumps in a set and not more than three sets in a session.

Click here for warm-up drills to work on your soccer players' upper body strength.

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