Skills & drills for women’s football

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What it looks like

Preparation & routine » Warm up for the match

How?

“There are various exercises you can do to warm up. These are listed in the drills section. In general, your movements should be smooth, not jerky. Don’t over stretch. Slight pain is normal; you should feel the muscle stretch. However, you should not feel any stabbing pains. If you do, stop immediately. Breath normally during these exercises . Repeat each stretch several times, and hold for several seconds (5-10 seconds).”

Why?

The warm-up before a football match or training session need only take a few minutes. It is done to avoid serious injury, with the stretching exercises promoting agility. If you pull a hamstring or get a back injury, you can be out of the game for weeks if not months. The reason for the warm-up is to avoid injury and to be able to play at your peak right from the starting whistle. At the same time, the stretching exercises promote agility. Any warm-up programme should gradually raise the heart rate and body temperature (by c.1deg) and stretch and warm the muscles.

Tips & drills

Make sure you warm every set of muscles before you run onto the pitch. If you don’t feel ready, don’t start.