“Football is all about decision making”, says Lemon Break FC coach Raj Shekhar

by Arjun Bangde September 4, 2021

In a conversation with Mr Raj Shekhar, Senior National Coach and former Mumbai FC (Youth Coach) and currently the head coach of 1st division team Lemon Break Sports FC, he tells us about Football Conditioning Training and its importance in football. 

Mr Shekhar says that Football Conditioning Training is always confused with physical fitness, drills and many such things because a lot of people blindly follow what they see on YouTube or Instagram of their favourite teams and stars. No one knows what and why are they doing it? But have you ever thought why? What are the goals and objectives of the teams and players, why are they working on physical fitness with specific drills, why are they using ladders and cones? 

While doing something just by watching it on social media, you should also know which part of the training program they are into? Is it the pre, post or off-season because training and objectives differ in all of them! The young generation usually doesn’t think much about the pros and cons and start following blindly.

“Some simple questions you should ask yourself! Have you ever seen a player on the field running or jumping as we do in training with cones, ladders, and hoops? Do you ever do quick feet before we take a shot or pass the ball? It sounds funny but then why do we do it during training ?”

The answer is, “It’s counterproductive.”

A footballer needs to be physically fit, but we are not athletes who run 100 metres in a straight line with ten other contestants. What we footballers do is run, sprint, jog, walk, jump, turn, head. Then why should we train like a 100m runner?

Football is all about decision making. Your training should also have all the components of decision making and reflex actions. We need to develop intelligent players, not robots who follow instructions.

You look at some amateur clubs or recreational clubs whose training sessions are solely focused on physical endurance.

People still feel running in circles will improve their endurance for FOOTBALL. Yes, definitely it will improve you if you are preparing for a marathon! Modern football philosophy needs to be implemented and practised, then only we can produce quality players for our country. 

Coach Shekhar in the end, mentions that Lemon Break Sports FC is a club that focuses on aspects like Teamwork, Discipline, Attitude and Respect instead of just endurance and fitness!

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