As preseason begins, so does the fitness craze. Beeps, ladders and hurdles. Circuits and sprints. I get it. Being fit is important to play the game. No argument there.
But being fit and being a fabulous footballer are not synonymous.
Football is about finding and exploiting space in context under pressure.
Vision and precision.
Character.
Let’s promote fitness as needed. Eating nutritiously while building mobility, stability, and strength are important indeed. We could all benefit from being a bit more lean and agile, most certainly.
However, let us not make fitness the end in football.
In the end, we will nurture intelligence.
In the end, we will nurture a positive character to compete and cooperate respectfully. In the end, we will nurture a life-long passion for the beautiful game. In the end, we will promote learning and joy.
Run your tests. Moving to better requires a baseline. Go for it.
Then get on with expending exponentially more time, energy and resources developing intelligence in your athletes. You may not have the same timers and toys to do so, but nonetheless nurture vision and precision.
In the end, let’s understand that fitness in football is a means to an end.
Reprinted with kind permission from Todd Beane
Founder of TOVO Training and TOVO Academy Barcelona. In TOVO Training, Beane has combined proven pedagogical practices of experts in the field of education with the visionary components of a total football legend into a dynamic and practical training methodology.
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