What Is Functional Soccer Training?

Something that is functional, as in the case of training, is an action or series of actions that need to take place to achieve a specific objective. This is also often called sport-specific training; in our case, soccer. There are many different phases of the game that require mental, physical and emotional tactics that are directly related to the training. This can be accomplished by focusing on training the same way the game is being played.

In the game of soccer, there are many different skills involved that take place all through the game. It is very important to have all the skills necessary to attack, defend, pass, dribble or know where to be and when to be there on the field. This will lead to a well-rounded player.

There are three different levels of functional training that are applicable to soccer. They are human functions, athletic functions and the soccer functions themselves. Human functions are things such as breathing and walking. Athletic functions translate more into higher intensity actions such as jumping, running and pushing. Soccer functions are directly related to the game: dribbling, jumping to head a ball, shooting, making decisions when to shoot, and so on.

When doing functional training, actual drills related to the game are utilized. Players will be split up individually or in groups by their positions, and they will run drills specific to those positions. An example of this would be a line drill where two forwards are defending another forward coming towards them.

Another aspect of functional soccer training is physical conditioning. The game involves a lot of jumping, running, jogging and lateral movements. So functional training to match these demands might include body weight exercises, core exercises, interval running, long distance running, plyometrics and agility drills.

The acronym SAID stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. This means that training for a specific sport will not translate into other sports. Functional soccer training, for example, is specific to soccer, and other than maybe creating cardiovascular strength, it would be of no value to, say, football.

To be a well-rounded player, take into consideration all the variables. The human function leads to the athletic function, and the athletic function leads to the soccer function. Another thing to take into consideration is that soccer training should start from the ground up with lower-level training and progress to more complex training.