With having 4 boys in competitive soccer, we have a guy – our PT Guy. If your player does not have an injury yet, please do yourself a favor and find a Sports Orthopedist and a Physical Therapist. Get a PT who will be your players therapist for all appointments or have very direct eyes on them when they work with their PT Assistant.

Disclaimer – again – I am “just a mom” NOT a medical professional. I am just sharing routines we have been given to prevent future injury. It is up to you to determine if they will be beneficial and should you need to check with a medical professional before performing.

Things to note on Soccer players ; typically they have one leg stronger than the other, yes the dream would be that they be ambidextrous footed 😉 However, in reality they have their plant leg and their power / dominant leg. Strength training both is ideal.

Also, you will be a nag. Accept it and have your child accept it. We are greatful that our program has an Agility, Strength and Conditioning program. There are some practices that are only 1 hour – so the Coaches don’t “waste” time on stretching. If this is your son or daughter’s Coach, get there early so he/she can get a good warm up in, and then do dynamic stretching. Ok, let me back up, huh? So between about 10-18ish (this is very individualistic) our kids grow at an exponential rate! Our 14 year old grew 1.5″ in 2 weeks! When this happens – their bones are growing faster than their muscles creating that tension that if the wrong pressure or strain is applied they will get injured. Hip and groin injuries are very common.

When at home, static stretching is a good idea.

Areas to target:

1. Calves
2. Hamstring
3. Quadriceps
4. Adductor
5. Abductor
6. Gluteus Maximus
7. Hip Flexors

At Home Strengthening Program Equipment needed and instructional videos:

Resistance Bands 

Step 

After performing the static stretches here are some suggested PT exercises for strengthen:

Lying Clam Shell

Thank you for bearing through all the YouTubes. Again – disclaimer – I am not a medical professional. Exercises are performed at your own risk.

Please see Increasing Player Explosiveness link for exercises that will help with explosion.