warm-down's

[eckyboy]

Originally Posted by irishtrash

hi, i have been coaching now for about 3/4 years and might not have the same experience as some of the coaches on here but I am very surprised at coaches attitude towards warm downs, In our club we believe in starting as you tend to go on and with this in mind even if children as young as 8 don't need to warm down it is good practice and discipline for them to do it at this age so as they get older it just becomes second nature to them and they know they have to do it. Also i find it a very good time to get feed back from older age groups to stop and ask them "how did you'd enjoy training tonight" and "did you understand the propose of the drill that we done tonight"... forgive me if i seem harsh on this subject as i don't mean to but as i said already it's easier if you start as you mean to go on than changing the rules after them getting use to just heading off...

100% agree m8 i was going to write the same thing but you got there first. its like riding a bike once youve got it it becomes second nature and you never forget it. At young ages u8s they never stretch properly anyway but its enough to let them think they are and good practice for years to come.

[sie71]

Hi eckyboy for many years ive been teaching football and martial arts and at both my clubs we teach all to warm down and i mean all from 5 year olds to 50 year olds what people forget is when you stop exercise your body cools down a lot faster than it does when warming up due to the nature of your sport and thats when the problems begin .
What i find as a good cool down is gentle streches and at the same time to keep the young ones focused use the alpherbet and list football clubs with the first letter I.E Albion ,birmingham , chelesa. etc

[mcolwell]

I always do a warm down with mt 1o year ols boys as they are getting to the stage where they may start to lose some of their youne child flexibility. I always go straight in to it after a match finishes for a few minutes as when it is cold i do not want them standing about for a few minutes whilst we chat and the parents get restless as it is cold or wet. So my tip is go in to it straight away and include stretching and some fun movements and get it done.

[jm2209]

When i was working within schools a gentle warm down was hugely improtant to bring the children down and the refocus them before going back into class... if we ever over ran and the warm down was cut the difference in the first 10 minutes or so of the next lesson was vastly different in behaviour with children still being "UP" from the previously activity.

I am not hugely sure as to the physical benefits (although i always feel a bit better after a proper stretch 30 seconds on each muscle after excercise) but psychologically i do beleive a good warm down has its merits!

[AdamStothert]

low intensity juggling is like shaking the legs which reduces DOMS....best time for static stretches too/isometric or pnf's....

no matter the age everyone has a laugh with partner stretches.

psychologically, if they re young kids get them to score a bunch of goals before they leave so they can smile to mum and pops and feel great....check International Soccer Coaches Association for more stuff on the fitness conditioning course