The Dreaded P-Word… PRESEASON!
We know many of our athletes this week are preparing and packing their things for the dreaded P- word.. PRESEASON!! If your fitness isn’t there yet, please don’t kill yourself this week. You want to be going into preseason fresh and NOT SORE!
That doesn’t mean you should skimp on the touches though. You can never get enough touches in! And, of course we have the resources for that. Just check out our at-home training systems in our STORE
At the very least, try to get 10,000 touches in this week! Here’s a quick way to get 600 touches in 6 minutes! —

Here’s are list of tips to get you ready for preseason!
1) Don’t go too hard this week!! Would you run a marathon the week before your marathon? This is the time to take it easy, but not too easy. Get out and get some light runs in and don’t forget those touches!
2) As we said before.. get those touches in. You want the soccer ball to be your best friend. Take the little guy around with you everywhere… this goes with out saying… NO HANDS. Take him from the living room to your bedroom, lifting the ball over the stairs or obstacles in your way. Juggle, juggle, juggle! Juggling doesn’t necessarily make you an awesome soccer player, but do you know of any awesome soccer players that can’t juggle.. Makes sense. Get comfortable with that ball. Lastly, if you have a wall, brick mailboxes, whatever you can find to hit the ball against without getting in trouble, get some passing and receiving in. You don’t want to go into preseason not having touched a ball in ages. And we hope you have been getting touches in all summer, but we know how it goes. It’s never too late to start… #ownyourdevelopment
3) Hydrate!!! August is usually the hottest month in most places of the USA. So make sure you are drinking plenty. You know the drill. If your pee is yellow, you are dehydrated. If you are thirsty, you are dehydrated. If your pee is neon, well that might be your multivitamin!
4) Speaking of multivitamins!!.. Start taking fish oil if you are not already on that train! Make sure you do your research though and find a good source. Some fish oils have too much filler and you would literally have to take 20 liquid gels to get the benefits. What are the benefits? For the athlete especially, fish oil helps with inflammation on the cellular level. Try to avoid anti-inflammatories such as Advil. Use the natural one- FISH OIL! Fish oil has also been shown to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of cancer. A really good source for fish oil is Pure Pharma
5) Sleep and sleep and sleep. Get the rest your body needs especially because you know what it is in for. Sleep isn’t just for beauty it is for beast!! We had to.. On a serious note, sleep is one of the most important things in athlete performance and recovery–if not the most important. You want to be mentally and physically sharp, so log in at least 8 hours a night! Having trouble sleeping at night? Don’t be all up on snapchat stories and instagram before bed. Stop staring at the screen. Read a book instead. Make sure you are in a cool room with preferably zero lighting when it’s time to fall asleep. Now would be a great time to close your eyes and visualize! This is part of one of our tactics for success, which can be found in “Mastering the Inner Game”

6) Eat clean. No need to fatten up before the gauntlet. Just make healthy decisions this week. Your body will thank you! Imagine running your fitness test bloated and sluggish.. no thank you!! Lots of protein, vegetables, and healthy fats this week- and every week for that matter! We do touch on this in The Soccer Vortex with a whole section dedicated to nutrition. Details at the bottom!
7) The last tip we have for you is increase your mobility/flexibility. You will be doing a number on your body as a soccer player. We’ve tracked down a simple, yet effective mobility routine for you to do at home. All you need is a foam roller and a lax ball. Trust us, this might be worst than the dentist, but your body will seriously love you. You can get the whole routine down below! Thanks to Joe Defranco for this amazing routine.
The Limber 11
1. Foam Roll IT Band: 10-15 passes
2. Foam Roll Adductors: 10-15 passes
3. SMR Glutes (lax ball): 30sec. – 2min.
4. Bent-knee Iron Cross x 5-10 each side
5. Roll-overs into V-sits x 10
6. Rocking Frog Stretch x 10
7. Fire Hydrant Circles x 10 fwd/10 bwd
8. Mountain Climbers x 10 each leg
9. Cossack Squats x 5-10 each side
10. Seated Piriformis Stretch x 20-30sec. each side
11. Rear-foot-elevated Hip Flexor Stretch x 5-10 reps (3sec. hold) each side

Lastly, a really good resource to invest in is The Soccer Vortex. It will cover everything you need to become a the total soccer player. We include TECHNICAL work (over 400 drills), TACTICAL info (knowing your role/position), PHYSICAL fitness (in season, off season, and preseason), NUTRITION (what to eat and when to eat it), MENTAL (upgraded version of Mastering the Inner Game; MIND ARMOUR), and other bonuses including ACL Prevention. Find out more info here:

The takeaway from this… these players worked hard to become National Champions! Some would argue that Nationals is when these champions were made.
We would argue differently. These players didn’t just wake up the morning of their final and decide that they were going to win Nationals. They set their goals from the beginning. They put in the extra work. The extra touches, extra sprints, and the extra minutes–all of these things were factors when it came to their time to shine. Not to mention the sacrifices they made. We have all faced those choices… soccer or prom, soccer or friends, soccer or anything!.
Soccergrlprobs got it right with their “I Can’t, I Have Soccer” Shirts!

But back to our argument… these players prepared for this! The last year and maybe even longer went into preparing for these championships. When they had to make that clutch through ball, that last second tackle, that big time save, or that wicked rocket shot, they were able to do it!
The question is… do you have what it takes to be a CHAMPION? Are you willing to put in the extra work? Champions aren’t made at Nationals. They are made the second you decide to commit yourself to being one! Don’t know where to start?
Start with our FREE training program:‘The 12 Essential Footwork Drills To Develop Technique’
#OWNYOURDEVELOPMENT
You can check out the 2015 US Youth Soccer National Champions HERE

Today I will show you a video of two players, and tell you why they are my favorites to watch, purely because of their absolutely sublime first touch. Check this short video out:

Obviously by now you know that I am absolutely OBSESSED with players technique. I have studied Dennis Bergkamp and Dimitir Berbatov for literally hundreds of hours, and our ‘touches’ series in The Soccer Vortex is basically based on these guys and other world class class players. I highly recommend that you read Dennis Bergkamp’s book ‘Stillness and Speed’, where you can find out exactly HOW he managed to achieve such a worldy first touch.
Remember, first touch isn’t just ‘killing’ the ball dead. You need to be able to manipulate the ball so that it goes exactly where you want. We teach the kill touch, but more that that we teach ‘progressive’ first touches, teaching players to look for space to play the ball into in order to set themselves up for their next movement. The second touch is JUST AS IMPORTANT as the first!
To show exactly what I mean, check out one of my all time favorite goals by Dennis. It’s the quarterfinal of the World Cup in 1998. It’s the last minute and the game is tied 1-1. De Boer gets the ball, makes eye contact with Dennis… Plays a great ball. Dennis brings the ball down with an absolutely world class first touch… Now at this moment, most players in the world are going to take that ball to the right… It’s the correct decision, you’re shielding the ball from the defender, who’s moving at pace and you should be able to get a shot off or at least hold the ball up to wait for a better option… However… This is Dennis Bergkamp. Watch his SECOND touch. This absolutely makes the movement. Anticipating the defenders speed of movement, Dennis cuts the ball back with the inside of his foot immediately after his first touch. The defender fly’s past. Now… Most world class players would use their left foot to power that ball home… But again… This is Dennis Bergkamp. Spotting the left corner of the goal open, he delicately and gently uses the outside of his right foot to curl the ball around the advancing keeper. Absolute genius.

ll you need to get a first touch, and second touch is a wall, a ball and a few cones.

Today we take a look at passing maestro Xavi and how he is ridiculously consistent with his passing ratio! This video does a great job of also breaking down Xavi’s incredible vision, reaction and awareness. Check this video out

As you can see, Xavi is amazing at ‘finding’ that pass. He is so calm on the ball, his vision is superb and he seems to ‘see’ passes that other world class players wouldn’t. Check this video out we shot showing a drill I use to train players to be able to thread the ball through small openings.

What always amazes me with Xavi is his confidence of knowing where his passes are going. In our training program, The Soccer Vortex, we have a complete section dedicated purely to vision, reaction and awareness that teaches players to pass on reaction, over different lengths, using different styles of passes, just like Xavi. You can check that program out The Soccer Vortex