All strong buildings need solid foundations, and it’s no different when it comes to developing a fit and strong football team.

Knowing your players, how you want them to play and preparing them for the physical challenges they will face is vital for any successful side.

The age of the player, their position on the pitch, and their gender will mean the approach to readying them for the physical demands of the game, and maintaining their fitness levels over a period of time, will differ.

It’s therefore important when planning a training programme for coaches to begin with the end in mind.

In the first module of the MiMentor Conditioning For Football CPD course, our experts will teach you about how to structure a fitness programme specifically for your team.

Football Conditioning coach Mark Armitage and Nick Harvey, who between them have more than 20 years’ experience working in professional and international football, help coaches understand how to make players better able physically to compete and train at higher levels.

The course introduces the Conditioning Continuum, and looks at how you can use integrated training methods, as well as more isolated work, within your player or team-specific training sessions.

Mark and Nick also investigate the importance of strength in the modern game and how it can both support on-field performance as well as help avoid injury.

The course also highlights the science and theory behind a warm-up, sharing some video examples for you to take away.

The aim of this module is to help you as a coach to understand how to apply this knowledge in your own environment, whether you’re at a professional, semi-professional or grassroots level.

We are currently offering FREE access to the Structure & Philosophy module for a limited time, to help you prepare for the rigours of a hard season.

So, give it a go, click here to start the course and take your coaching knowledge to the next level.

If you’ve not yet signed up to MiMentor, click here to register for free and gain access to this and even more free coach development content.

Are You Preparing Your Players Right?
We are currently offering FREE access to the Structure & Philosophy module of our Conditioning For Football course to give coaches the knowledge to prepare for the rigours of a hard season specifically with their team.
Resources
Elliott Ward, former Premier League defender and now UEFA A Licence coach at Colchester United's academy, speaks to the MiMentor team for the Coaches Coffee Club
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In this leadership guide we look at some of the important things you should be considering ahead, or during your early days, of becoming a manager or head coach.
Articulate
Daryl McMahon, boss of National League outfit Dagenham & Redbridge, joined MiMentor's Ross Embleton and James Baker to talk about his thoughts and experiences on his journey into coaching in the professional game

The former West Ham United and Stevenage midfielder moved into management with Ebbsfleet in 2014, before a spell in charge at Macclesfield.

In 2020, Daryl took the helm at the Daggers and this season steered them to an eighth-place finish.
Daryl talks in the Coaches Coffee Club about his career in the game, as well as his views on what makes a great coach, while also sharing with us one of his favourite sessions.
Download this thirds practice, 'Finishing From Outside The Box'. This comes from our full 5v5 sessions booklet in our new CPD course 'Developing A Successful Team: The Transition To 7v7'
Document
Whether during pre-season or through the campaign, strength has become a much more important element of the game in recent times.
Encouraging young players to dribble with the ball not only helps them develop key skills, but also plays an important role in maintaining possession.
In this webinar, questions were put to our expert conditioning mentors around conditioning with regards to youth players, pre-season, in-season and technology.
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In our Mentoring Soccer Coaches Diploma course webinar, tutor Sarah McQuade led a case study exercise between herself as a mentor and MiMentor's James Baker as the coach mentee.
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Callum Tongue talks about his desire to learn from different people that took him from Manchester City to Ipswich Town.
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