warm-down's

[nelson]

i've got all the warm-up's sorted...but does anyone do warm-down's and if so what?

and can you make a warm-down fun?

Thanks!

[ian.curry]

Topic for debate this one. I had a lecture/seminar with an ex-PE teacher/OFSTED inspector who had been referenced and used for expert advice in court. I asked him about how much importance there is for a warm down, because I am pretty unconvinced about it.
In 30 years of teaching, he never had an injury as a result of not warming up or down specifically.

If your players are walking back to the changing rooms, riding home, kicking about for another ten minutes - this is an adequate warm down.
What the guy said was, if he was to run the 100m in 10 seconds at the Olympics, then he couldn't just get up and do it, obviously he would need to prepare his body, and bring it back to normal. In training, they are not using this much energy.

When I have done them, not for a long time, they were often a slowed down version of the warmup, with longer static stretches.

[riverviewcoach]

i dont tend to do warm downs but if i did they would only be very light jogging progressing to a walk and some very light stretches. adults need to do it more then children.

[mcolwell1959]

I guess at a young age they dont really need it but it can be a wind down after a session or match. What i do with my under tens for a couple of matches is:

1. Form a circle around the lines of the centre circle with the coach on the penalty spot with a ball.
2. All jog on the spot and when i kick the ball turn and sprint for two seconds and then jog back to your spot.
3. All bob and weave on the spot and then when the ball is kicked turn and sprint as before.
4. repeat with various movements that are fun such as spinning around on the spot or disco dancing on the spot or irish dancing on the spot as well as normal warm up exercises as a variation.
5. Finish by mock shadow boxing or kung fu where they have to get the coach on to the floor.

[kenteagle]

I was told by my level 2 tutor that from the age of 12 the flexibility starts to go.

With my U14,s i do some light stretching working primarily on the legs for approx 5 mins.

[mcolwell1959]

Originally Posted by kenteagle

I was told by my level 2 tutor that from the age of 12 the flexibility starts to go.

With my U14,s i do some light stretching working primarily on the legs for approx 5 mins.

Flexibility can go depending on someone's maturity at different ages, so some go at 10 and others at 14. It is always best to do a warm up and a warm down especially in cold weather i think.

[74offsuit]

Good info here


BBC SPORT | Football | Skills | How to plan for pre-season training

[djasha68]

Flexibility can start to go as young as 5.
Warm downs after matches I have never done, I find with my team that once the game has finished, parents are waiting to go straight away, Are warm downs beneficial? I would say they are, especially prolonged stretching. Martin Keown reckons that when Arsene Wenger took over he made players do more stretching, Keown used to do upto an hour or more after games and training, he reckons this put another 2 years on his career.

[74offsuit]

We have been doing warm downs for a few years now.

I like them, as once we have conducted 'The post mortem!' a five to ten minute cool down, gives the lads a chance to get the collective spirit together wether we have won or lost. It's part of our routine that says we are about improving over the whole season not just the match that has just been played.

Having said all that, I agree with Ian about wether there is any real physical benefit.

[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...