Getting Ready For Football Pre Season Training: Tips For Any Age

There's a particular feeling that comes with pre-season... a mix of excitement and a bit of natural uncertainty about what's ahead - and it shows up just as much for an eight year old buzzing to get back out with their team as it does for an adult wondering how the first session back is going to feel after a few weeks away from the game.

Pre-season doesn't care how old you are, and getting it right matters just as much at either end of that spectrum.

There's a version of this feeling for parents too - watching their child bounce off the walls with excitement while simultaneously quietly wondering if last season's boots still fit, or if training's going to clash with everything else that they've got going on in September.

I get asked a lot at this time of year about how best to prepare - and the honest answer is that it's rarely about doing more, it's about doing the right things in the right order.

So, with that in mind, here's a simple but realistic guide to getting ready - whatever your age or level.

Football Pre Season Training: Ease Back In, Don't Sprint Back In

The single biggest mistake I see in football pre season training (at every age) are players trying to get fit in a week after perhaps doing very little for a month or two beforehand... It doesn't work - and more often than not it ends in a strain, muscle pull, minor injury, or just complete exhaustion inside the first proper session back.

Fitness built up gradually holds up far better than fitness rushed in a panic. If you've had time off, the few weeks before pre-season training starts properly are for building things back up steadily i.e. a bit of light running, some ball work, general movement etc. rather than trying to undo months of rest in a handful of intense sessions.

There's often a bit of pride wrapped up in it too (nobody wants to be seen as being the one struggling in that first session while everyone else looks sharp), but that pressure is exactly what leads players to overdo it too soon.

Your body adapts to load over time (not overnight - remember, Rome wasn't built in a day) and respecting that early on - even if it's just twenty minutes of jogging and some light touches on the ball a couple of weeks out, tends to save a lot of frustration later in the season.

Fuel The Restart Properly

Pre-season puts a real demand on the body - often more than any other point in the season, and what you're eating in the weeks leading into it matters more than people tend to think or realise. This isn't about anything drastic or restrictive, it's simply about making sure your body has what it needs to actually cope with training loads picking back up.

Hydration, regular meals, and not leaving too long a gap after training before eating again all make a genuine difference to how quickly you adapt and how you feel doing it.

It's also worth expecting your appetite to change as training ramps up (and that's completely normal rather than something to fight against), a lot of players unintentionally under-eat during this period simply because their routine hasn't caught up with how much harder their body is now working.

My sports nutrition coaching page goes into a lot more detail if this is an area you'd like extra support with heading into the new season.

Recovery Still Counts, Even Before The Season Proper Starts

It's tempting to think that recovery only matters once competitive matches are underway, but pre-season is exactly when the body needs it most (since it's adapting to a sudden jump in activity after a break).

It's easy to overlook... mainly because there isn't an actual match to recover from yet, so it doesn't feel especially urgent - but the body doesn't really know the difference between a friendly and a fitness session when it comes to what it needs to repair and adapt properly afterwards.

Sleep, proper rest days, and simply not stacking too many hard sessions back to back all play a part in how well pre-season actually goes.

I've written a lot more about why this matters in my other blog post on the importance of rest and recovery in football (which is worth a read if you want to understand the reasoning behind it a bit more).

Sort The Boring Stuff Out Early

This one isn't glamorous - but it saves a surprising amount of hassle.

Boots that no longer fit properly, kit that's gone missing since last season, shin pads that have mysteriously vanished... sorting all of this out before the first session back means you're not scrambling the night before - or worse, turning up without something you actually need!

This applies just as much to adults as it does to younger players... a pair of boots that were perfectly fine last September can easily have worn down over the season without you really noticing (until you're back out on firmer ground and it suddenly becomes obvious).

It's also worth double checking that training days, times and locations haven't changed over the summer - since assuming everything's exactly as it was last season is a surprisingly common way to turn up in the wrong place at the wrong time (I speak from experience).

It sounds like a small thing, but starting pre-season already a bit behind because of something completely avoidable tends to set an unnecessarily stressful tone for the weeks that follow...

Get Your Head In The Right Place Too

Pre-season isn't just physical.

For a lot of players there's a mental side to returning as well - sometimes there's nerves about fitness levels, some uncertainty about where they stand compared to before the break, or simply the adjustment of getting back into a routine after weeks of not having one.

It's easy to compare where you are now to where you left off before the break and feel like you've gone backwards - when really, you've just had a normal rest after a long season.

That comparison rarely helps, and most players find their touch and fitness come back a lot faster than they expected once they're back into a regular rhythm.

None of that uncertainty is unusual, and it's worth being kind to yourself about it rather than expecting to feel completely sharp again immediately.

If nerves around returning to football are something you find yourself dealing with, I've written more about that in my post on football anxiety and how to manage it, which might be worth a read alongside this one.

Ready When You Are

Pre-season doesn't need to be complicated, and it definitely doesn't need to be about doing everything at once after a break...

Building fitness gradually, eating and resting properly, sorting the practical stuff early and giving yourself a bit of grace mentally will get you (or your child) into the new season in a far better place than trying to cram it all in during the final week before it starts.

None of this needs to be done with absolute perfection either...

Missing a session here or there or not quite ticking off every part of this guide, isn't going to undo anything - the goal is simply heading in the right direction rather than getting everything exactly right from day one.

If you'd like some support getting ready for the season ahead - whatever your age or starting point, my one-to-one football coaching page has more on how sessions work, and my beginner football coaching page is worth a look too if you're starting fresh or returning after a longer break.