2. Proprioception
PROPRIOCEPTION
What Is It?
Proprioception is when body parts communicate with the brain. Each joint and muscle tells our brain their exact position/movement.
Like all your soccer-performance training. It is important to orient proprioception training with similar and specific movements towards soccer.
How can you train it?
When performing each proprioception exercise, you have to look at 4 things:
- The type of pivot
- The type of balance
- Visual perception
- The type of surface
Aspects to consider:
Type of Pivot
👣 Bipedal
These exercises are performed with the support of both feet.
🦶🏻 Monopode
These exercises performed with the support of one foot.
Type of Balance
📍 Static
These exercises are performed focused on balanced without movement.
🤾🏻♀️ Dynamic
These exercises are performed with balance and movement.
Visual Perception
👀 Eyes Open
When performing exercises with your eyes open, all of the perceptual elements are activated, which help us position ourselves in the environment, control the situation and stabilize.
😑 Eyes Closed
When performing exercises with our eyes closed, we cannot identify objects as references to stabilize. Therefore, performing the exercises with your eyes closed makes them more complicated than with your eyes open. Until you control an exercise with your eyes open it is not recommended to perform the exercise with your eyes closed.
*Tip to help your balance when closing your eyes: Before exercising with your eyes closed, work on spotting. Spotting is when you look at a fixed point before closing your eyes and when you close them “you keep looking at that fixed point”.
*Another tip: When balancing on a BOSU, tighten your abdomen.
Type of Surface
⚖️ Stable
The most typical surface to perform proprioception is the stable surface.
Example: your soccer pitch is a stable surface.
🤸🏻♂️Unstable
Performance goal: as shown above, to perform soccer-related gestures on more complicated surfaces than compared to the usual stable surface you are comfortable working on. This will help your body be more prepared to perform these movements in active play.
💪🏼 Intensity: body weight (only use the weight of your body). It is not advisable to use weights.
🔁 Number of repetitions: 3-6 actions per set.
♻️ Number of sets: 2-4 sets per exercise.
🛌 Resting Periods:
Whenever the same muscle group is involved:
-
- Rest time between each exercise set: 15 – 30 seconds.
- Rest time between each exercise: 1 minute.
When do you need to train it?
When do you have to train proprioception? It depends on how many days a week you train.
It is advisable to perform the prevention two days before the next match.
For example:
If you compete on Sunday and train Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: You would have to do it on Friday, 30 minutes before training.
If you compete on Saturday and train Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday: You would have to do it on Thursday, 30 minutes before training.
What do you train it for?
This performance factor is works on “more complex” physical actions and situations encountered in football matches.
Therefore, you need to prepare the body for these kinds of gestures so you can execute them in the most satisfactorily and successfully way without any risk of injury.