I used this session to introduce the players to a more refined area of body conditioning and its importance in the game for injury prevention and ensuring performance levels would sustain the demands which the game delivers. I explained how sport specific stretching can have a more direct positive influence on the targeted muscles than other types such as static stretching. Asmussen & Boje (1945) noted that in addition to whole body exercises, a standardized sport-specific warm up should also be performed. Not only will this help to minimize the risk of injury but it also optimizes the functioning of various physiological mechanisms which can affect performance. To get the players more involved in shaping the session, and helping them gain a clearer understanding of physiological demands, I asked them to each choose and demonstrate a movement which could occur during a game of football. This was then isolated, for example, making a pass, then slowed down, exaggerated and repeated. Reilly & Stirling (1993) maintained that the incident of injuries over a season were less for players who paid attention to jogging, technique, and game rehearsed skills than those who warmed up for the same duration but who had a more general type of warm up regime. When running through the individual movements I asked the team to name which muscles they felt they were conditioning and why it was important to ensure the given muscle was correctly warmed up. The result was that they had taken in much of the information I had passed on to them regarding physiology during previous sessions. I felt that the democratic way I conducted this part of the session was a good way to monitor the players’ knowledge and understanding of the warm-up process and the role it plays in conditioning for the game ahead.
The follow up to the stretching was a fun use of imagery whereby the full size football pitch represented the U.K. and that players were to make their way down from one end to another. The manager and I would give descriptions of certain obstacles the team have to overcome, for example, a mountain in Scotland that had to be run up. On this signal a ten second sprint on the spot was required by all. This routine worked well as it took the players’ thoughts off the physical demand of the task, and on concentrating on overcoming what was being asked of them. Thadani (2006) recommends focus techniques when warming players up, for example, giving players short questions to answer quickly, such as arithmetic or spellings. This can result in the promotion of the mental side of the players ensuring they are alert and ready for the task, which in turn can be seen as a vital component in retaining their interest. I feel that this approach heralded a good response by the team and reminded me that as young teenagers they require stimulation in the form of fun to maintain their interest in what they are doing.

Asmussen, E. & Boje, O. (1945) Body temperature and capacity for work. Acta Physiol. Scand. 10, 1-22

Reilly, T. & Stirling, A. (1993) Flexibility, warm-up, and injuries in mature games players, in Kinanthropometry IV (eds W. Duquet and J.A.P. Day), E & FN Spon, London, pp. 119-23.

Thadani, S. (2006) Soccer Conditioning, A & C Black, London