Soccer is a sport filled with complicated movement patterns. Contorting your body in all different ways is the norm for these athletes. But what happens if that contorted body wasn’t in a good enough position to move that way? What if I told you the majority of our athletes aren’t in an optimal position to play soccer? What if I told you it was because of your liver? The human body is going to the right. The way we are set up, naturally pulls us to the right. On a basic level, our diaphragm (the primary breathing muscle) sits on top of a liver on the right but not on the left, allowing us to breathe easier on the right as opposed to the left. The diaphragm’s attachment to the ribs is stronge

Within the context of soccer, each position on the field requires a specific set of skills, both physically and psychologically. When analyzing certain situations within the flow of a game, the inverted-U theory is applicable. The inverted-U theory addresses the relationship between arousal and performance. The theory states that an athlete achieves optimal performance at an intermediate level of arousal while both low and high levels of arousal will lead to poor performance (Murphy, 2005). The text contended, “behavior is aroused and directed toward some kind of balanced or optimal state” (Williams, 2010). With regards to applying such theory to soccer, one could make the assumption that ea

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Barcelona, Spain. Here at the MBP School of Coaches, we just completed our 8th week of the Master in High Performance Soccer, which means we are officially half way towards becoming a ‘Master’ in the MBP Methodology. During the 8th week we completed the line fundamentals (defensive, midfielder, and forward lines). Without any further ado, let’s get right into it. As I alluded to in the previous post, the line fundamentals are synchronized actions that all members of the line must be cognizant of in addition to their Individual Fundamentals per Position (IFPs). Similar to the IFPs, the line fundamentals are also categorized into ‘folders’ so the players are

“Biomechanics is the science which applies the principles of mechanics to the unique study of how human beings move and to the athletes how they should move to achieve optimum performance” (Peter Stothart, 1980-1981). As athletes and soccer players in particular, continue to progress along the developmental continuum, more emphasis is placed on the importance of sound biomechanics in all aspects of the sport such as speed, power, accuracy, force, and balance. “As the athlete’s performance level increases, so increases the sophistication of his technique, thus placing a greater dependence upon the coach’s knowledge of biomechanics. For sports in which technique plays a large role, and for inc

“Under pressure you can perform fifteen percent better or worse.” – Scott Hamilton According to Williams (2010), “anxiety is negative in direction in that it is an emotional state or reaction characterized by unpleasant feelings of intensity, preoccupation, disturbance, or apprehension” (p. 227). When an athlete feels anxious, their body responds physiologically by “a racing heart beat, a dry mouth, butterflies in your stomach, cold and clammy hands, trembling muscles, or an inability to clearly focus thoughts” (Williams, 2010, p. 221). According to Murphy (2005), “When an athlete gets anxious, his or her focus of attention changes and so does his or his intellectual functioning. This means

Hello everyone and welcome back to Barcelona, Spain! As you can see, my new website is now live and I am excited to be working in the new platform! I am excited to share my experiences in Week 7 as we completed the IFPs and moved onto the next soccer structure, the constellations. To start the week, Dr. Rude taught us the tactical fundamentals for the strikers. After Dr. Rude completed the lesson, it became clear as to why professional clubs break the bank for strikers. Let’s get right into it. For the striker position, the tactical fundamental blocks include: Offense Providing depth to the attack Mobilizing the attack Offering support Side balls and crossing Shooting in the finishing zone D

Hello again, and welcome back to Barcelona, Spain! In this edition, I will discuss the #10 position in addition to sharing our second sport psychology session with Xavi Garcia. Let’s get started. In order to best describe the #10 position (offensive midfielder), I want to start with this video. When we began the lesson on the #10, Dr. Rude explained to us that depending on the coach’s system of play, there could be 1, 2, or 3 #10s. Normally, the #10(s) look to exploit the space between the midfield and defensive lines. The #10 IFP Offensive Blocks Offering Support Side balls/Crossing Defensive Blocks Defending the Space As you can see, compared to the other positions that we discussed, the #