The Coaches' Room
General•Adult•Player Development

Work, training and matches – how much extra football is actually useful at 34?

Asked by AfterWorkFC
4348 views 6 replies
I train once with the team and play at the weekend. I sometimes feel like I should be doing extra ball work because younger players are, but I also have work and family stuff around it. From a football-development point of view, is a short extra session worthwhile or am I better focusing on the team sessions I can do properly?

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@CoachJulienMoreau

UEFA A Coach

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At 34, extra work can still be useful, but it should have a clear football purpose rather than being added because younger teammates are doing more. If you already train once and play once, I would ask what you are actually trying to improve. Ten or fifteen minutes of ball work, passing against a wall, receiving on different feet or some light technical repetition can be worthwhile because it is specific and easy to recover from. Adding another hard football session just to feel productive may not give you much. Your work and family week matters too. A session you can do consistently is more useful than an ambitious plan you are too tired to sustain. Keep the extra work simple, football-specific and optional around the demands you already have. If the issue is physical conditioning or recovery, that is where individual advice from an appropriately qualified professional becomes more important.

COMMUNITY DISCUSSION

Join the football discussion. 6 replies

W

WhiteVan82

Player-Coach

The people who do a small bit consistently usually get more from it than the ones who smash an extra session once every three weeks. Especially when work is already taking a lot out of you.
H

Hannah9

Player-Coach

Agree. I also think adult players underestimate how tiring the rest of life is. A rough work week changes what 'extra' should look like, even if the football week hasn't changed.
T

TwoTouchTuesday

Player

I think the useful question is what you actually miss in your normal week. If team training gives you lots of games but very few touches on your weaker foot, a short bit on that makes sense. Extra for the sake of extra doesn't.
E

ExtraTimeTea

Player

I'm 25 and I can already overcomplicate extra work. If I give myself a full 'individual session' I end up turning it into another thing to optimise. Ten minutes with the ball is probably more realistic than pretending I've got a pro schedule.
G

GreyCloud

Player-Coach

This is where I land too. If the extra session makes you worse at the team session you actually care about, it's probably not helping much.
B

BrightonCharlotte

Player-Coach

I’m in the player-coach bracket and I think extra work gets overrated when the rest of the week is busy. Fifteen useful minutes with a ball is better than forcing another full session because younger players do more. If I know there’s one thing I’m not getting enough of in training, I’ll work on that. Otherwise I’d rather arrive fresh for the session and match that actually matter.

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