Football (soccer) is one of the most popular sports in the world but in the UK we have been slower to adopt structured S&C based practices than other high profile sports such as rugby, golf and athletics. Although coaches, players and parents all realise that the modern game is more physically demanding than ever, we’re not prioritising physical development any more than we have done in the past. This article outlines some of the potential reasons for why this may be the case and explains some of the barriers contributing to the situation with the goal of helping you as practitioners, overcome these within your practice. We’ve put forward practical strategies to help practitioners engage coaches and players in S&C practices and enhance the physical development of youth football players. You can consolidate and share your learning with colleagues using the suggested group discussion topics at the end of the article and complete the elearning assessment for inclusion in your continuing education portfolio. To help you put together appropriate S+C programmes, we’ve included 28 videos of individual exercises appropriate for youth footballers, along with a ‘memory-prompt’ summary video containing all 28 exercises grouped together.
This content consists of a 11 minute video presentation professionally produced and presented at the Fisic Conference 2015.
This content consists of a 9 minute video presentation professionally produced and presented at the Fisic Conference 2015.
This content consists of a 8 minute video presentation professionally produced and presented at the Fisic Conference 2015.
This content consists of a 13 minute video presentation professionally produced and presented at the Fisic Conference 2015.
Dr Duncan French has over 14 years' experience in elite professional sport and is recognised as a leading practitioner in the field of strength and conditioning.
Dr French gained his PhD in Exercise Physiology from the University of Connecticut, USA in 2004. He is the Technical Lead for Strength and Conditioning at the English Institute of Sport in the North West Region.
Since 2004, Dr French has acted as the National Lead for Strength and Conditioning to both Great Britain Taekwondo and Great Britain Basketball's Olympic programmes, and has coached Olympic, World Championship, and Commonwealth Games medallists from a variety of sporting disciplines. From 2009-12, he was the Head of Strength and Conditioning at Newcastle United Football Club.
Dr French has contributed to over 53 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and four book chapters and has presented his work at scientific congresses across the world. He is a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology (Strength and Conditioning) at Northumbria University and a founding member and former Chairman of the UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA).
Dr Willem van der Merwe is an Orthopaedic Surgeon and the Founder of the Sports Science Orthopaedic Clinic at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. He graduated from University of Cape Town in 1997.
Dr van der Merwe is well known for conservative treatment using eccentric muscle action to enhance collagen formation and muscle strength. His current research areas are double bundle ACL reconstruction, eccentric muscle training in the prevention of osteoarthritis and patellar femoral pain, as well as 3D reconstruction for ACL reconstruction and rotational instability.
In collaboration with Dr. Tom Branch from Atlanta Dr van der Merwe is using a robot to measure stability in the knee post injury and Replacement. His other areas of specialty and interest include knee injuries, sports medicine, arthroscopic knee surgery for ligament reconstruction and meniscal repair and allograft. Minimal invasive total knee replacements, minimal invasive uni-compartment knee replacement, computer assisted surgery for knee replacements.
Dr van der Merwe is Past President of South African Knee Society and currently second vice president of ISAKOS and chairman of the Arthroplasty committee. He is on the program committee of the ACL study group and his extensive experience in knee injuries and surgery has seen him being invited to lecture at many orthopaedic conferences around the world.
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