Dehyrdation Effects on Athletic Performance

For all ages, hydration is key! ...the key to making you feel energetic and good in your body when you step on the field or start a work out. Dehydration can cause: sluggishness, change in mood, change in alertness, decrease in blood pressure, increase in difficulty for the heart to pump blood efficiently, and overall decrease in performance.
Hydration doesn't mean pounding a water or gatorade right before the game. Rather, drinking good fluids throughout the day!
Here is a great article that explains how  dehydration affects the body. For example, did you know that dehydration can reduce your athletic performance by 7%- 60%? and, if you wait until you feel thirsty to drink you will still be 25-50% dehydrated after you quench your thirst!


Check it out: http://www.livestrong.com/article/531789-dehydration-in-sports-performance/

Hip Flexibility

Athletes tend to have extremely tight hips. Hip flexibility is extremely important for any running sport, especially soccer, when you are swinging the leg out of the hip joint. Pulling a groin or hip flexor is extremely prevalent in the sport of soccer. 

Increasing your hip flexibility will help to increase speed and agility and also help to prevent injury. 

Here are a few stretches to work on- I recommend every day! 

Injury Care: Icing

Last fall I partially tore my MCL. Patiently rehabing was awful. All I wanted

to do is get back on the soccer field. This thought made me think of an important lesson to share about injuries. The general rule of thumb is when someone is recently injured it is important to use ICE... NOT HEAT. When you bruise or strain a muscle or ligament the injury will swell. Once swelling pushes into the injury it starts to inhibit blood flow and normal movement in the muscle. The muscle will imobilize and can not get the healthy circulation and important nutrients it needs from the blood to heal itself. This is why ICE is important because ice helps to push out the swelling in the injury allowing normal blood flow to the injured area.

The more you ice, especially initially, and the more you can push out the swelling the better. 20min on, 20 min off, repeat. Invest in your recovery and you will recover faster!

Don't apply heat until the injury is healed and you only need it to loosen up! 

The Post-Game Talk

Ask anyone who played youth sports reflect on something their parent said to them after a game or some sports incident with their parents and I guarantee almost every person will have a story for you. Parents have more influence on their kids in sports than any coach or trainer will ever have.

It's shocking how intense some youth soccer games can get and often times parents cannot wait until their kid gets across the field so they can talk about the game! Next time your child plays in a game notice how quick you are to discuss the game when its over. While you may have some great advice to give, your #1 job is to support and encourage. This does not mean that you cannot discuss the game, just be careful about how you approach it. Instead of offering up your opinion, begin the conversation with, "Good hustle today! How did you think the game went?" This will allow the kids to reflect on how they did and open up the conversation in a positive, encouraging way.

Pick and choose your moments. Wait for the kids to ask you what you think. Let the coaches do the coaching. I guarantee you will always get more out of your kids and your kids will enjoy themselves the most when you play the primary role of the encourager/supporter.

Off-Season/Outside Practice Training

Off-season training in addition to normal activities is a great chance for players to develop their skills. During the season a lot of time is spent on teamwork and team concepts. The off-season is a great opportunity for individual players to concentrate on improving certain areas of their game like comfort with the ball at their feet (footskills), passing accuracy, 1st touch, shooting, speed, agility, etc. These are things that professional soccer players continually improve on and sharpen up. You can never get "good enough." Kids should not underestimate the importance of skill work.

That being said, it is extremely important that parents provide the opportunity for the kids to improve and then let the kids choose whether or not they want to do it. Whether its signing them up for individual training with me or simply taking them out to practice some skills with you. Ask them if they want to do it. Leave it up to them.

Improving in this sport, or any sport I guess, is quarter parent encouragement and three quarters self-motivation. You could have the next soccer prodigy living under your roof or your kid might just want to play high school ball or rec. Whatever they choose is a good choice because, after all, we want the kids to be happy. The important thing is that you provide the opportunity.

Welcome!

This blog is for all my soccer players, parents, families, and friends. I hope that everyone enjoys my thoughts and finds them helpful. If you have any questions about anything please feel free to ask and I will create a blog post out of your question with some (hopefully) helpful advice! I will also throw updates about my different programs, camps, and my thoughts on how everything is going and progressing as the year goes on.

Feel free to send comments and questions in! Please keep all questions and comments clean, productive, and positive!

Thanks!

Ali Andrzejewski