In the nine years I have been writing this blog I have written many times about the role of warm-up. Despite that I continue to be amazed at the lack of understanding about this crucial part of the training process. There is so much more to this than meets the eye on first glance. Last week I had a phone call from a colleague (One of the best in sport – he has worked with some of the most high profile teams & individuals of our generation). His pre- soccer training warm-up was evaluated by a representative of a national federation (Best unnamed, it could be one of many) and it was rated poor and ineffective because it did NOT include the soccer ball! I almost dropped the phone – how ridiculous. The purpose was to warm-up for soccer, not to play soccer to warm-up, a subtle but very important distinction.
This just underscores a huge problem in soccer (and a myriad of other sports). Soccer is plagued by injuries at all levels of play and varying degrees of severity. The trend is to do more with the ball including warm-up, 
the theory is that more touches will produce better players faster. Injuries have increased there is an epidemic of niggling groin, hamstring and calve strains that result in missed practices and matches. The solution is really quite simple and it what my colleague was given a poor evaluation for – Warm-up to play don’t play to warm-up! 10 to 15 minutes of an active warm-up that emphasizes all planes of motion in multiple directions based on fundamental movements on their feet (no rolling around on the ground) gradually building in intensity will get the job done. Then and only then introduce the ball. The result will be quality ball touches and a reduction of injuries. In some ways it is just too easy because it is common sense. The clear message is: warm-up to play do not play to warm-up. Other sports take heed this is not just a soccer phenomenon.
martincatt
i like traveling… i had been traveled many times…
Soccer Training
As time has gone on the science behind Soccer has grown and grown, now we have research available to us about all aspects of Soccer, including the warm up. This research is done to optimize the level of performance, and injury prevention. As this research is available we should use it the best we can, and I agree that the warm up should be done without a ball. Eventually I will bring the ball into my warm up, but this will be when the heart rate has been raised and the muscles and joints have been activated. It is unlikely that getting a few touches on the ball before warm up will cause injury or poor performance, however, players cannot be trusted not to smash balls around and start to hit long passes and shots. So for me, the balls stay in the bag until the body is warmed up and ready to go.
Kristofer
I respectfully disagree. The warm up should include the ball. The coach’s job is to modulate the the intensity and pace of the warm up so that the progression is modulated correctly. This can and should be done with the ball.
The muscles and connective tissue that will actually be used when playing the sport should be the ones that are gradually warmed up. Thank you for this fine blog and all the best to everyone.
Cheers.
K.