Advanced Soccer Fitness and Training Equipment
© CoachingAmericanSoccer.com®
These items go above and beyond the basic equipment as identified in the CoachingAmericanSoccer.com Soccer Coach’s Kit.
Training Equipment
Ankle Weights – Ankle weights are small, weighted straps that are placed around the ankles to increase resistance during exercise. By adding external weight, they force your body to work harder during movements such as leg lifts, walking, and other targeted leg exercises.
Agility Dots – Flat plastic disks used during training sessions, particularly for fitness drills promoting quickness. These are also very beneficial for field training where raised cones or disks may be an impediment.
Agility Rings – Multiple circular devices which can be laid out on the ground in different patterns for speed and agility training. Also known as “Speed Rings” or “Speed and Agility Rings.”
Agility Ladder – Flat, adjustable rungs placed on the ground for footwork drills. Improves coordination, speed, and agility.
Bungee Training Link – Typically used to demonstrate relative positioning in a 4-back defensive system, the bungee cord is long enough and contains straps to attach to four people.
Coaching Stakes – Short, colored rods or poles used by coaches for fitness routines or to mark areas. Also known as coaching sticks; slalom training poles; agility poles; or training sticks. Usually 5-feet high with spikes for natural surfaces or with weighted bases for artificial surfaces.
Jump Ropes – Typically, a single rope for an individual to skip over for fitness and agility.
Mannequins / Free Kick Dummies – Weighted or spiked figures simulating defenders. Used for practicing free kicks and dribbling around obstacles.
Medicine Ball – A “medicine ball” for strength training is a weighted ball, made of materials like rubber or leather and filled with sand, gel, or air, used for performing a wide variety of dynamic exercises that build power, core strength, and muscle endurance.
Mini-Hurdles – Lightweight hurdles for step and jump drills. Improves leg power and quickness. Also, can be used for plyometrics. Can come in same-size or graduated sets.
Passing Arcs / Gates – Usually semi-circular arches made of durable plastic with spikes on each end for natural-grass fields or weighted “feet” for turf fields. Most often used for dribbling, passing, speed and agility, they can also be used to mark the lower corners of a goal for shooting.
Portable Goals (full-sized) – A free-standing soccer goal that conforms to the regulation dimensions but is designed to be moved easily. Often made of aluminum, portable versions often include features like wheels, making them ideal for training sessions or fields that are used for multiple sports, or features that promote assembly and disassembly. Often used with rebounder nets.
Rebounder Net / Kickback Trainer – Angled or tensioned net that returns passes or shots. Trains first touch, passing accuracy, and reaction speed. / Elastic netting that is stretched over a goal and used to return shots to players; rebounders.
Resistance Bands – Elastic bands used for strength and movement training. Builds explosive power and balance.
Resistance Harness and Hold-Back Rope – Devices that create drag during sprinting. The rope is held by one or more teammates. Increases sprint strength and acceleration.
Resistance Harness and Speed Parachute – Devices that create drag during sprinting. The parachute allows a player to exercise without the need of teammates. Increases sprint strength and acceleration.
Rocker Board or Wobble Board – A rocker board offers controlled, single-plane movement, making it ideal for beginners learning basic balance, while a wobble board provides a multi-directional, 360-degree challenge, stimulating more stabilizing muscles and engaging the core more intensely. Rocker boards are typically rectangular and tilt back and forth or side-to-side, whereas wobble boards are round and sit on a rounded base to allow full 3D motion.
Ropes for Goalkeeper Training – Used to demonstrate cutting down angles, these usually consist of two, 75-feet braided nylon cords in a bright color. (Can be a single, 150-feet cord.
Team Shelter – Overhanging structure, usually made of clear plastic, covering the bench in the technical area where substitutes and team officials may sit.
Training balls with irregular shapes –
- Corpus training balls: “Created by the Austrian company Rasenreich, these are some of the most well-known irregularly shaped soccer training balls. They come in two different models, Corpus I and Corpus II, and feature a misshapen, lumpy form designed to bounce in unexpected directions. This forces players to sharpen their reaction time and concentration during drills.”
- Reflex/React soccer balls: “Designed specifically for goalkeepers, these balls often have a triangular or similarly unconventional panel configuration. The off-kilter design and unique weight system cause the ball to bounce and move erratically on the ground and in the air, helping goalkeepers practice reacting to unpredictable shots.”
- Reaction balls: Small, often six-sided, hard-rubber balls that bounce unpredictably when thrown against a wall or to the ground. Often used to promote first-step quickness.
Weighted Training Ball – Slightly heavier soccer ball for building striking strength. Enhances shooting power and ball feel.
Weighted Vest – Adjustable vest adding body resistance during drills. Improves strength and endurance under match conditions.
Advanced Tools
Ball Machine / Goalkeeper Training / Receiving Training – Mechanized feeder that delivers balls at adjustable speeds and angles. Allows consistent repetition of receiving and finishing drills. (aka “Juggs” ® machines)
Diving Pads – Gymnastics mats.
Foam Pit; Sand Pit, Diving Pit – An area, often filled with foam blocks or sand, used by goalkeepers to practice diving saves.
Goalkeeper Bungee System – Equipment used to improve a goalkeeper’s speed, strength, and agility through resistance training, the system typically consists of one or more elastic bungee cords, a harness or belt worn by the goalkeeper, and straps to anchor the cords to the goalposts.
GPS Performance Tracker / Vest – Wearable technology that tracks distance, sprint speed, acceleration, and heart rate. Provides performance analytics for training improvement. (aka Electronic Player Performance Tracking System – EPTS)
Heart Rate Monitor / Smartwatch – Chest strap or wrist-worn device to monitor cardiovascular intensity. Optimizes conditioning and recovery.
Pendulum Balls – Soccer ball with an attached hook that allows it to be connected to a rope for use with a pendulum training device.
Pendulum Trainer – A tall, “T”-shaped pole from which a tethered ball may be hung, with an adjustable-length rope, mostly used to teach and practice proper heading.
Plyometrics Boxes – A plyometrics box, or plyo box, is a sturdy, elevated platform used for explosive, high-intensity exercises like box jumps and step-ups to increase power, speed, and strength. These boxes are made of various materials like wood, steel, or foam, and are designed with stable surfaces to allow for repetitive impact safely. May come as “nested” sets.
Rebounder Wall – Often a constructed, flat, solid vertical surface used to bounce a ball back to a kicker; bangboard; kickwall. Usually made of wood or cinder block and built to the dimensions of a full-sized soccer goal, 8’ x 24’.
Television Monitor / Video Playback Devices – For soccer coaching, a television monitor is a display device used to show recorded or live footage of games and training sessions. A video playback system is the collection of electronic equipment and software that facilitates the recording, management, and analysis of this footage, allowing coaches to provide objective, visual feedback to their players.
Video Camera / Analysis Software – Portable camera and app-based system for recording matches and practices. Enables detailed performance and tactical analysis.
© John C. Harves