The 6 drivers of Neuro-Plasticity and its relation to Football-Soccer training.

 Author: Oscar Mendez.

I always remember when we were studying and learning in the 2000´s with Professor Horacio Anselmi in Rosario, Argentina and later here in Maldonado and Montevideo (Uruguay), one of the things he mentioned among many revolutionary things for the time , was that the future Books of Physiology and Training in Sport would no longer be about muscles and cells, but rather on Hormones and the brain and nervous system and its effect on the training process.

Now a days, 20 years later we are re discovering the role that   hormones play on our body and their influence on our health (Insulin, Cortisol, Glucagon, Growth Hormone etc) and how they affect our overall health since many of the diseases are based on metabolic issues.

Thanks to the new technology we have nowadays, we have discovered that many of the things we did many years ago were not correct and were based on assumptions that were made and that didn´t have the technology we do now.

This also applies to Tactics and Methodology, where Professor Frade was way ahead of his time and now thanks to the technology, we can see and prove it was really the way he said.

The term “Plasticity” was first used in 1890 to Behavioral Science by William James in the beginning of Psychology. The first person that used the term of Neuro-plasticity was a Polish Scientist by the name of Jerzy Konorsky.

It refers to the Physiological  changes in the brain that occur as a result of our interaction with our environment. From the moment that our brain begins to develop in the uterus till the day we die, the connections between the cells (neurons) in our brain re-organize to our  needs of adaptation.

This dynamic process allows us to learn and adapt according to our experiences.

Structural Neuro-plasticity refers to the strength in the Sinapsis and whether this connection is modified  or changed.

Functional Neuro-Plasticity refers to the permanent changes in the sinapsis due to learning and development  (Demarin, Morovic y Béne. 2014).

Definition of Neuro-Plasticity.

We can define  Neuro-plasticity as “The process by which the brain is constantly re-organizing itself all along our lifetime”.

These are events that occur constantly in our brain.

The Synapsis are constantly appearing and disappearing in our body.

 

Their influence on modern training.

For decades, Footbal-Soccer training in general, was based on track and field sports.

In sports that had very little or nothing to do with Football or were totally unspecific to our sport.

Now in modern training, we have seen how Football  has adapted to modern science and the new scientific findings , as well as other Paradigms (Paradigm of Complexity).

Now Physical trainers are not the ones in charge or have the initiative, they are not the most important in the coaching staff as before, but they are part of a Coaching Staff, along with other trainers or coaches, where of course the Physical Sub- Dimension is evaluated but we do not plan and do exercises based only on Physical Dimension but rather on the Football effect the task demands.

“Because  Fitness in football is not Physical anymore,  but rather Football-related exercises  due to the complexity of the game and the influence of the Tactical Supra-Dimension  has on the game”.

 

 

 

Does Transfer in functional training from an unspecific exercise to a specific one  really exist?

I do not know if this was applied in other countries and training cultures, but in South America and Europe we were taught that if we applied an unspecific exercise of Strength, Endurance or speed later we would have to transfer that load or stimulus to a specific one and later we would see the improvement on physical aspect.

This could apply to any type of exercise on the Physical Dimension, either strength, endurance-resistance or speed and quickness.

Many years after, many studies have concluded that this “transfer” does not exist, (going from working General Strength for example to Specific strength for example). This was made famous among others by French P.T. Gilles Cometti for example.

 

We went from training muscles to training movements and the nervous system now:

 

Many colleagues and Friends here in South America, knowing that I lived and worked in Spain for many years ask me when they see in videos teams in Europe training specific movement and actions of the game.

Do they really train this way or do the other type of training (General Exercises), do they do them somewhere else or in a Gym?

I remember that Rui Faria when he was working with Jose Mourinho in Chelsea in an interview mentioned this because he was accused of lying or not being honest when he mentioned that they do not do this type of training.

Well…the explanation or reason is this.

This is the reason why in Europe we train differently in relation to other places.

Here in South America we were taught to focus on the Hill Law, The recruitment of motor units while in Europe were based in more recent studies and evidence that suggests that we should focus on specific movement/motion patterns and Neuro-plasticity. They ware just based on other paradigms.

This way, strength for example is trained specifically in the Physical Sub-dynamic, performing specific movements similar or the same to the activity that a footballer does in a real match.

 

This way when we training the Physical Sub-Dynamic we base our tasks on specific movements where they have a high level of intensity that we have in a game, where we have many stops and starts, where the actions are short and very intermittent and also discontinuous , that use specific energetic systems that are related to the game and where we practice what the player will do in a real match with a low level of complexity (because if complexity is high, level of intensity will decrease).

 

Unspecific training and its relation with muscle injuries:

I think on this topic, Dutch Famous Coach Raymond Verheijen has mentioned many times the problems that unspecific training can have on footballers.

Before we use to think and were taught, that since we had this “Transfer” from a general /unspecific task to a specific one the physical load or stimulus was the same so we would not calculate them as two separate stimulus and both were not added.

Now that we know that we are applying twice the amount of Load since they are not transferred but added up, this is something that many Trainers and coaches do not seem to notice or know.

Of course we are not implying that when we have many muscle injuries it can done by only one factor since we know the use of other specific energetic systems, reutilization of residual substances, muscle imbalances and other reasons play a very important role but of course it has a relative level of importance.

This is not due to bad luck, this is why many teams have tens and sometimes hundreds of injuries and others have very little.

 

  

The 6 drivers that promote  Neuro-Plasticity in Football are:

1:  Repetition.

The more we do something the better and more efficient we become doing it.

As it is popularly known, Repetition is the mother of Perfection and latest research seems to agree.

 

2: Intensity.

The higher the intensity of the task, the more it will demand on our nervous system.

When  high levels of emotional and physical stress in an exercise are present, and when the footballer does specifically, when he will have to perform it in the game that stimulus will already be learned and it will not be a new stimulus where he has to adapt. He will be already familiarized with it.

 

3:Timing or coordination.

We can define it as “ The neurons that fire together wire together”. When we initiate a movement different muscles intervene in that movement that are activated on different parts of the brain and nervous system. The more we do this, the more efficient we become in executing this movement.

 

4: Dificulty.  

The tasks or exercises must have an optimum level of difficulty. Not too simple nor too difficult. Enough difficulty so that there will be an adaptation or learning but not too much where he/she will not be able to solve them.

 

 

5: Specificity or be specific.

We must train what we will do on the matches and games. As Jose Mourinho says “You will not see a pianist training, running around a Piano”.

Neuro-Plasticity will occur according to the specificty that we will train.

6:Prominence or that it has meaning.

We have sensory maps that allow us,when something is relevant or important to us, and in those cases there is a higher level of plasticity that when we do something that is not important or relevant to us.

This doesn’t appear to happen when we train something that has no meaning or significance, when it is boring or doesn’t attract us .

 

 

 

"The images we experience are brain creations  caused by an object, and not mirror reflections of the object."

Antonio Damaso.

 

 

 

Los 6 Promotores de la Neuro-plasticidad y su relación con el Entrenamiento en Fútbol

Autor: Oscar Mendez.

Siempre recuerdo  cuando estábamos estudiando y aprendiendo en los años  2000 con el Profesor Horacio Anselmi en Rosario y más adelante en Maldonado y Montevideo,  una de las cosas que él mencionaba dentro de muchas que para esa época eran muy novedosas, él decía que en los libros de Entrenamiento y Fisiología  del futuro, los mismos no estarían relacionados a lo muscular, ni siquiera a nivel celular, sino relacionados a las neurociencias y a nivel Hormonal. Realmente era y es un visionario.

Hoy en día , 20 años después, está saliendo a la luz la importancia de las hormonas, donde muchas de las enfermedades tienen en su raíz una problemática metabólica y el papel que juegan es mucho más relevante que lo que se suponía (Insulina, Glucagón, Cortisol, Hormona de crecimiento etc).

A nivel de entrenamiento gracias  a las exploraciones cerebrales en tiempo real con tecnologías modernas, se ha comprobado que muchas de las teorías que dábamos como hechos o verdades, no estaban  tan acertadas al no contar con la tecnología que hoy contamos nosotros.

Esto también se aplica a lo táctico y a como entrenábamos también (metodología). Algo que el Profesor Frade estaba adelantado a su época y ahora gracias a la tecnología se puede observar también.

El término “Plasticidad” por primera vez fue aplicado en 1890 a la ciencia comportamental por William James en los primeros comienzos de la Psicologia conductista o behaviorista. La primera persona que utilizó dicho término de plasticidad neuronal fue el científico Polaco Jerzy Konorsky.

Se refiere a los cambios Fisiológicos en el cerebro que ocurren como resultado de nuestras interacciones con nuestro entorno. Desde el momento que el cerebro comienza a desarrollarse en el útero hasta el día que morimos, las conexiones entre las células (neuronales) en nuestro cerebro se re-organizan a nuestras necesidades adaptativas.

Este proceso dinámico nos permite aprender y adaptarnos a según nuestras experiencias.

La Neuro-plasticidad estructural, se refiere a  donde la fuerza de las conexiones entre las neuronas o sinapsis cambia o se modifica.

La Neuroplasticidad funcional se refiere a los cambios permanentes en las sinapsis gracias al aprendizaje y desarrollo (Demarin, Morovic y Béne. 2014).

 

 

 

 

 

Definicion de Neuro-Plasticidad:

“El Proceso por el cual el cerebro está constantemente re-organizándose a sí mismo a lo largo de nuestras vida”.

Estos no son eventos únicos sino que ocurren constantemente en nuestro cerebro.

Las Sinapsis están constantemente generándose, apareciendo y despareciendo entre nuestras células o neuronas.

 

Su influencia en el Entrenamiento.

Durante décadas, el entrenamiento en el Fútbol en general y específicamente el entrenamiento Físico en Fútbol,  se basó en metodologías de entrenamiento que provenían de deportes de tiempo y marca.

De deportes que nada tenían que ver con el Fútbol o eran totalmente inespecíficas.

Hoy en día vemos que el entrenamiento en fútbol se ha adaptado a las ciencias modernas y los descubrimientos científicos que han surgido en los últimos años, así como a otros paradigmas.(Paradigma de la complejidad).

Hoy los preparadores físicos ya no son más los que mandan o llevan la iniciativa, ya no son los más importantes, sino son parte de un cuerpo técnico, junto con otros entrenadores donde por supuesto  se evalúa la relevancia de la Sub- Dinámica Física dentro de una tarea o ejercicio,  pero no se planifican solo las tareas en función de “lo físico” como se hacía antes  sino en función de “lo Futbolistico”.

“Porque el estado de la forma en el Fútbol no es física,  sino futbolística”.

 

 

 

 Existe realmente la Transferencia?

Antiguamente cuando hacíamos una tarea de fuerza por ejemplo, generalmente inespecífica, sea a pie de campo o en el gimnasio, la seguíamos con acciones específicas porque se nos había enseñado que transferiríamos esa carga de trabajo a una específica de juego y esa cualidad física que trabajábamos  mejoraría.

Esto se puede aplicar a cualquier tipo de tarea con fines físicos, sea de fuerza, resistencia aeróbica, resistencia intermitente o de velocidad.

Con el paso del tiempo, luego de muchos estudios se ha demostrado que no existe realmente una transferencia sino más bien una nueva adaptación neuronal.

 

Pasamos de entrenar  músculos a entrenar  movimientos:

Muchos entrenadores, preparadores físicos,  nos preguntan sabiendo que estudié y trabajé en España muchos años,  cuando ven a equipos Europeos de Elite entrenando en videos o material visual, los ven entrenando  acciones específicas o movimientos similares a acciones específicas de juego si:

Realmente entrenan así o  lo otro (el entrenamiento inespecífico) lo hacen a escondidas o dentro de un Gym?

Recuerdo que a  Rui Faria se le acusó cuando estuvo con Jose Mourinho en el Chelsea  de mentir y en una entrevista habló de este tema molestándose bastante (con razón en mi opinión porque los futbolistas hacían trabajos de fuerza con los re-adaptadores) porque él decía que con Mourinho no se trabajaba de forma descontextualizada.

 Bueno…….la razón o explicación  es esta.

Esta sería la explicación del  porque se entrena de forma diferente en Europa en relación a Sud-América.

 

 

 

 

 

Acá nos enseñaban (Sud-América) que nos enfocábamos en la Ley de Hill , el reclutamiento de Unidades Motoras mientras que en Europa se basan en estudios y evidencia más reciente donde la misma se enfoca en patrones de movimiento específicos y la plasticidad neuronal donde a nivel celular , cerebral y sistema nervioso , nuestro organismo se esta re-organizando una y otra vez al entorno. De esta re-organización dependerá el aprendizaje.

SE BASAN EN PARADIGMAS DIFERENTES.

De este modo, se entrena la fuerza de forma específica dentro de la sub dinámica física, haciendo acciones con patrones motrices similares o iguales a la actividad que hace un futbolista en los encuentros.

 

Así nos enfocamos en acciones específicas de juego donde las acciones son acciones que se dan en el juego, donde hay una cantidad de frenadas y arrancadas, donde hay una alta intensidad y donde son acciones  intermitentes, y a su vez discontinuas para no trabajar en sistemas energéticos que nada tiene que ver con el deporte específico además de tener los ejercicios,  una baja complejidad”.

 

La relación con las lesiones musculares:

Esta puede ser una de las  explicaciones a que muchos equipos al trabajar con metodologías que aplican ejercicios descontextualizados que poco tienen que ver con los patrones de movimientos específicos, tengan muchísima cantidad de lesiones musculares (además de no utilización de sistemas energéticos específicos , desequilibrios musculares, y excesivos niveles de stress físico y/o mental).

Cuando se aplica una carga específica a la anterior ( inespecífica), es una doble carga y adaptación, no una transferencia como pensábamos antes. Esa doble carga muchas veces no es cuantificada o tomada en cuenta porque se pensaba que se transfería.

Por supuesto no pretendemos ser tan simplistas y pensar que las lesiones musculares solo surjan linealmente por una causa o razón, pero sí está claro que hay determinados equipos y Preparadores que tienen “esta mala suerte” y otros buena suerte donde no se lesionan lo futbolistas, muchas veces llegan a las decenas y a veces a cientos de lesiones musculares en un año o temporada.

 

 

 

 

 Los 6 Factores que promueven la Neuro-plasticidad  son:

Factor  Número 1:  Repeticiones.

Simplemente afirmar algo tan simple como que cuanto mas hacemos algo  mejor  lo hacemos.

La repetición es la madre de la perfección dicen …y de acuerdo a los estudios recientes esto realmente es así.

 

Factor Número 2:     Intensidad.

Mientras más intenso el estímulo, más demandará sobre nuestro sistema nervioso.

Esto a altos niveles de stress emocional y físico, cuando el deportista lo haga en una relación de juego, el mismo no será algo nuevo para él o ella.

 

 

Factor  Número 3:     Timing o coordinación.

Lo podemos definir como que “las neuronas que se disparan juntas se conectan juntas”. Cuando iniciamos un movimientos actúan diferentes grupos musculares juntos que son activados por diferentes partes del cerebro. Mientras mas veces se haga esto, más eficiente será el gesto o movimiento.

 

Factor Número 4:  Dificultad     

Las tareas o ejercicios deben tener un nivel óptimo de dificultad. No demasiado simples ni demasiado complejos, Suficiente dificultad para que haya una adaptación o aprendizaje pero no demasiada complejidad para que no la pueda resolver.

 

 

Factor  Número 5:  Especificidad.

Debemos hacer tareas o actividades específicas al deporte que practicamos o como afirma Jose Mourinho “nunca van a ver a un pianista entrenando corriendo alrededor de un piano”.

La plasticidad ocurrirá en respuesta al estímulo específico que se entrena.

 Factor  Número 6:  Prominencia o Significado.

Debemos hacer tareas o ejercicios que tengan significado o signifiquen algo importante para el futbolista. La memoria es selectiva y mientras mas relacionen el conocimiento con las consecuencias que va a tener mas facil que lo recuerden y apliquen.

“Las imágenes que experimentamos son construcciones cerebrales provocadas por un objeto, y no reflejos especulares del objeto.“

Antonio Damaso.

 

THE MORPHO-CYCLE.

Author: Oscar Mendez.

The morpho-cycle is the way our week will be organized , always according to several Methodological Principles (Principle of Horizontal Alternance in Specificity, Principle of Complex Progression and Principle of Propensions), between our last game and the next one.

The difference between Micro-cycle and Morfo-cycle is that in the Micro-cycle by itself, consists of sessions, of a certain number, normally they can be between 3 and 14 sessions, that are programmed. This is why they can take different shapes and have different objectives.

The Morpho-cycle  (Morpho -The way or shape matter can take), focuses basically on the shape of our Game Model of the team we are coaching can take or obtain,  and for that to happen certain processes must happen, in them there must be continuity, the week of training in some dynamics will be the same, or that it alternates between the problems that will show up during game situations, this is why Morfo-cycle is how or what shape we want to give our team and game model.

Some Authors talk about a Pattern Morfocycle, that is a sequence of several sessions of training, that takes into consideration the game prior and the future match. This Morfocycle was published in literature by Nuno Oliveira, Nuno Amieiro, Resende 2006 and Barreto and Gomes in 2008. This does not mean that there isn’t a Meso-cycle (Made up of 2 to 4 mycro-cycles) or Macro-cycle (6 to 12 Meso-cycles), this is why  these are mere theorical guidelines of planification and periodization, with less interference in the process of training that in the morfocycle.

 

FACTORS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT IN THE SESSIONS AND THE MORFOCYCLES.

  

Tension –What we mean by the tension is the muscle contraction that will be exposed. The higher amount of eccentric contractions the higher the tension will be.

Duration –What we mean is the duration of the muscle contraction. The longer the exercise or task, the longer the duration of the contractions that normally will be concentric.

Speed – What we mean is basically the speed of the muscle contraction. The faster the action , the faster the contraction, in game like situations that will be very brief and intense.

Emotional  Stress – It is the stress that the task or exercise will créate in the athlete. Related to the following critera:

Complexity of the principle(s)

Complexity of the dynamic

Amount of Athletes

Space of Play

Time of duration of exercise

Discontinuous – It refers to the duration of the exercise, the more discontinuous the shorter it will be.

When we mention a typical Morpho-cycle we can describe it as one of five days of training , one day of rest after competition and one before the next match.

On these five days, three will be acquisitive sessions and two will be recuperation sessions. Typically the next day after the competition will be the rest day or day off.

The two recuperation sessions will be the first and last session in the morpho-cycle.

The first one we will focus on recuperating the players that played most of the match, but not as we used to do many years ago, in activities that had little to do with specific sport (jogging around the pitch or playing football tennis) but in exercises similar to real game but very  discontinuous. Pauses here will be very high.

With the players that didn’t play, the training and exercises  will be more continuous where we will try for them to have an intense effort so that they will be ready to play next match.

The last recuperation session before the match, we activate and prepare the team for the next opponent going over the strategy of the match and what the opponent will do, their and our behavior and other tactical and contra-tactical aspects.

In between these two recuperation sessions, we will work with the three adquisitive sessions.

The first one will be Tension (of muscle contraction).

The second one will be Duration (of muscle contraction).

The third one will be Speed (of muscle contraction).

 

 

MORFO-CYCLE WITH ONE MATCH PER WEEK.

MATCH DAY= (SUNDAY).

– 5 SESSIONS + MATCH + 1 REST DAY OR DAY OFF.

 

1ST DAY- 1^st Active Recuperation Session. (Tuesday). Recuperation of last match under specific scheme.

Description:

Principles and Sub-Principles of our game model under a recuperation scheme with a very low dynamic.

Specific content:

We will train the mistakes of prior match or focus on next weeks’ principles or subprinciples that we will see on the following match.

Example of exercises:

Very discontinuous exercises with not very high difficulty and emotional stress, where we will try for the players that played most or all of the match to recuperate on specific energetic system and not the traditional way where we would do things that had nothing to do with specific game of football (low endurance jogging for example).

Players that didn’t play must have exercises higher in intensity and duration than others that did.

 

 

Mentally:

Exercises that have a relatively low difficulty where the athlete doesn’t have too much stress since he/she is not fully recuperated from previous match.

 

Tension –

Duracion –

Speed –

Emotional Stress -

 

 

2ND DAY (Wednesday)- 1^st Adquisitive Sesion.Tension of muscle contraction.

Description:

Exercises of elevated tension, small spaces, very discontinuous exercises, intense ,a lot of stop and go, intermitent and short exercises. Low level of difficulty.

The most intense and discontinuos session of the week.

Tactically:

Exercises where we will train our Sub-Principles of play on a sectorial and intersectorial level.

Here we can focus on small sided games, rondos, small posessions, always focusing on what is being mentioned above.

Exercises must be very intense and discontinuos.

Always exercises must be relevant to  our game model and how our team is going to play.

The amount of players must be small, as well as the difficulty because if the difficult is high, the intensity will never be high.

Mentally:

Because the players are not quite recuperated, The difficulty of the exercises must be rather low.

 

Tension +++

Duration –

Speed +

Emotional Stress+

 

 3RD DAY (Thursday) – 2^nd Adquisitive Session.DURATION (of muscle contraction).

Description:

Because it is the day farther away from previous and future competition or match, we will training similarly to the way we are going to play on the match. Big spaces, with longer duration of time, and with higher amount of complexity and amount of athletes.

 

Tactically:

We will focus on this session on the great principles of our game model and some sub-principles on situations similar to real situation.

The exercises here , we will focus on high numbers, 9v9, 10v10 and 11v11, big spaces, exercise that are not very discontinuous and complexity of the exercises that will be high as well. We will also focus on the Macro Principles or the big behavior of our game model and what we want our team to do on the match.

 

Mentally:

The level of concentration here is the highest of the week due to the complexity of the exercises and here is where we will have the highest emotional stress along with the duration that will be the highest this is why this session will be farther away from the match.

 

Tension +

Duration ++

Speed +

Emotional Stress  ++

 

 

4TH DAY. (Friday). 3rd day Adquistive Session.  SPEED (of muscle contraction).

 

Description:

Prepare and actívate the team for next match and super-compensate.

The exercises must be of elevated speed of decisionmaking and execution (activation). Because the exercises will be intense and there will not be maximum tension, the number of repetition must be low and very discontinuous.

We must not misunderstand speed of execution (quickness) with the travelling speed (moving from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time).

This is the session where we can focus on counter/attacking/defending in game like situations.

Exercises don’t have to be flashy, but practical with real game situations.

Our exercises must be on specific energetic systems we use in Football (Atp/pc) Anaerobic Alactic and Aerobic System.

Tactically:

Sub principles of game on a sectorial level, intersectorial or collective. With / without /or with little opposition.

Mentally:

Levels of concentration lower than the day before. Levels of complexity will be reduced. We will look for exercises with little or no opposition.

 

Tension +

Duration -

Speed ++

Emotional Stress -

 

 

 

 

5TH DAY–(Saturday). 2nd Recuperation session.Active recuperation and preparation of next Match.

 

Description:

Pre activation  of following match the next day. We will in first part of session activate players for tomorrows’ match based on what we worked during the week and prepare what the strategy will be according to the information we have about or next opponent, our plan and contra-tactical analysis of things that might come up in match.

 

Tactically:

Exercises with high level of concentration but with Little or no complexity (will provoke a high density of concentration). We will work dynamic behavior of the team or exercises that don’t request high level of concentration and remind the general pattern of collective game.

 

Mentally:

Concentration very high but with very low volumes , obtaining a high levels of concentration and focusing on the most important aspects of behavior of the team.

 

Tension -/+

Duration -

Speed -/+

Emotional Stress -/+

 

EXAMPLE OF MORPHO-CYCLE OF JOSE MOURINHO AND LOUIS VAN GAAL IN F.C. BARCELONA WITH TWO COMPETITION / MATCHES IN ONE WEEK.

EXAMPLE OF MORPHO-CYCLE OF JOSE MOURINHO IN S.L BENFICA WITH ONE COMPETITION / MATCHES IN ONE WEEK.

"I was never an athlete, an athlete has to eat correctly, sleep correctly, drink correctly…and I never did anything of this.

Surely I could have been better if I would have been an athlete, but without a doubt I would have never been as happy".

Romario.

 

 

Inconvenientes de entrenar de forma inespecífica en el Fútbol. 

Autor: Oscar Mendez.

 Debido a la pandemia y a que se ha podido ver mucho fútbol por T.V. , tenemos la posibilidad de ver diferentes ligas de Sud-américa y vemos un problema general que no estoy seguro si erróneamente o no, creemos que una de las principales razones o causantes está ligada a la forma en como se entrena o trabaja, o se viene trabajando. 

Tradicionalmente y como se viene haciendo por aquí, se trabaja “lo Físico” y luego se “hace fútbol”. Para los que se encuentran en Europa, en el Rio de la Plata le llamamos “hacer Fútbol” a hacer un encuentro entre el equipo titular y suplente sin reglas ni condiciones. 

Normalmente las pretemporadas es donde supuestamente se obtiene la base física (como si fueran maratonistas o corredores de 200 metros los futbolistas) para el resto de la temporada. Los que no lo hacen, si sale algo mal , se pasan todo el año repitiendo que no pudieron rendir porque no tuvieron la base para hacerlo. Si rinden , se olvidan de todo el tema. 

Así se escucha a los entrenadores, preparadores físicos y periodistas deportivos comentar que a tal futbolista o equipo le falta “fútbol” o tal equipo no tiene ritmo físico. Esto claramente es porque los equipos entrenan en cosas que poco tienen que ver con el deporte específico. 

El principal problema que veo humildemente, además de la dinámica y falta de conceptos de juego, es la dificultad para proteger o defender las porterías o arcos y para generar y finalizar las jugadas aquí en Sud-américa. 

Las carencias y fallos tanto definiendo/finalizando como protegiendo el arco, o sea, defendiendo dentro o cerca de nuestra área son reiteradas y algunos fallos de fútbol infantil. A que se puede deber esto o cuales pueden ser las razones? 

Una de las razones principales en mi opinión , aparte que se van los mejores atacantes y defensas de las ligas sudamericanas muy jóvenes,(factor que poco podemos hacer los entrenadores), es la falta de trabajo debido a la metodología o a como entrenamos. 

Si nuestro equipo en los entrenamientos , solo realiza trabajos físicos (como hacen muchos equipos) y luego nos vamos al terreno de juego y “hacemos fútbol”o realizamos partidos-partidillos donde juegan 8c8, 9c9,10c10 o 11c11, cuantas veces por ejemplo, nuestros atacantes definirán o finalizarán jugadas en una tarea de 20’por ejemplo? 

Lo mismo se aplica para nuestros defensas. 

Si hacemos un ejercicio en contexto, y lo dividimos en 3 series de 5´ por ejemplo. Nuestros atacantes seguramente tendrán la posibilidad de efectuar mínimo 15-20 repeticiones. Si hacemos lo mismo pero con los defensas, el mismo efecto ocurrirá. 

Lo ideal es que los futbolistas aprendan , acierten y se equivoquen en los entrenamientos, no en los encuentros. 

 Como se sabe ahora, el fútbol cuando lo jugamos , es a nivel preconsciente. Y cuando se enseña o entrena, no es un aprendizaje consciente. 

Por eso agarrar una pizarra y pretender que los futbolistas hagan lo que nosotros les mostramos en una pizarra, es un comienzo pero esto por si solo será totalmente inútil. 

El aprendizaje en el fútbol no es consciente. 

No podemos pretender que porque le digamos o le mostremos en una pizarra a un futbolista, sin entrenarlo que lo haga porque en la gran mayoría de casos no ocurrirá. 

Hay que entrenarlo en contextos similares o iguales a los reales. Esto se debe repetir una y otra vez, en situaciones reales (repetición sistemática). 

El aprendizaje Debe tener significado, para que el jugador lo pueda aplicar de forma natural. Debe saber relacionar lo que está haciendo con respecto al juego y lo que puede generar. Tanto lo positivo como lo negativo. 

Debe tener intensidad, es decir, la intensidad debe ser igual a la del juego real. Intensidad en toda la globalidad del término, no solo intensidad física sino más bien intensidad mental. 

Si se entrena a intensidades psicológicas altas, es mucho más difícil que el futbolista cometa errores de concentración.

 Debe tener cierto nivel de dificultad, similar a la del juego. El principio de las propensiones del Profesor Vitor Frade se focaliza especialmente en esto, en mi opinión. 

En crear un contexto, para que estas situaciones se generen una y otra vez, que nosotros una vez que tengamos ese contexto vayamos introduciendo conceptos y correcciones , que ocurran una y otra vez para que el futbolista las pueda aprender de forma real al juego, de como lo verá en el próximo encuentro. 

Muchos de los entrenadores que tenía a cargo cuando estuve trabajando en China me preguntaban cuando debían avanzar en cuanto al aprendizaje, y mi respuesta era que una vez que vieran que los chicos efectuaran determinado comportamiento o aprendizaje técnico de forma natural en una situación real de juego, sin pensar, ahí es cuando debían avanzar. 

Ahí es cuando el futbolista lo ha aprendido. 

El fútbol no se puede enseñar de forma consciente, porque son acciones que se dan en milésimas de segundos y deben ser repetidas una y otra vez para que el futbolista las adquiera, aprehenda , integre y pase a formar parte de él o ella en situaciones reales y concretas de juego.

 “Nunca van a ver a un pianista para practicar, corriendo alrededor de un Piano”. 

Jose Mourinho. 

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 Inconvenients of training unespecifically in Football/Soccer. 

Author: Oscar Mendez.

Due to the pandemic and that we have been able to watch a lot of Football-soccer on T.V, 

I´ve had the opportunity to watch many different leagues here in South America where I am and rest of the world. 

I have seen a common problem that I don´t know if it is accurate or not, but I think it might be related to how these teams train or have been training. 

Tradicionally and how it has been done here , you “Physically” and later you “play football-soccer” on the pitch. Tradicionalmente y como se viene haciendo por aquí, se trabaja “lo Físico” y luego se “hace fútbol”. 

Normally the pre-season is where we supposedly you obtain the physical foundation (as if the players were marathon runners o 200 metres runners) for the rest of the season. 

The ones that do not do it, if anything goes wrong, will be the whole year saying that they were unable to perform because they didn´t have the possibility to do it. 

If they perform to a good level, they forget about it. This way we hear coaches, trainers, and journalists say that this team didn´t perform well because “they lack playing football”or they are “physically unfit. 

This is due to the fact that most teams train things that have Little to do with specific sport. 

The main problem that I see, apart from the dynamic and lack of concepts of game, is the difficulty to protect or defend their own goal and to finish plays on the opponents goal here in South America. 

The lack of fundamentals defending their own goal and finishing , the mistakes we see , some are very basic and childish at times. 

What could be the reasons why this happens? One of the main reasons in my humble opinion, apart that most teams are poor and have to sell their best young strikers and defenders (problem that us coaches can do very little), is the lack of training due to the methodology or how we train. 

If our team in training, only does physical training (like most teams) and later we head to the pitch and “play football-soccer” 8v8, 9v9, 10v10 or 11v11 with no rules , how many times do our strikers will finish in an exercise with the volume of 20´ for example? 

Very few. The same thing will apply to our defenders. If we practice an exercise in real context, and we divide it in 3 sets of 5’for example. Our strikers surely will have the possibility of repeating at least 15/20 reps. If we do the same thing but with our defenders now, same thing will occur. 

The objective is that the footballers learn, get the correct answers and make mistakes in the training, not in the matches. How it is known now, when we play football/soccer, it is done on a pre/conscious level. This means that when we play, we are not consciously thinking of what we are going to do because of the speed of the game and its actions. 

Same thing applies to teaching the game. It is similar as when we walk, run, get off the bed or other actions we do over and over daily. So when we grab a white board, and pretend that a footballer must do what we tell him/her is a beginning, but alone is pure nonsense because when the player goes to the pitch, he will be unable to do so. 

We must train what we pretend to teach. Learning in football/soccer is not conscious. The concept we teach must be repeated over and over in real situations (systematic repetition) where we have real context similar to the game. 

The concept we teach must have a meaning to the footballer so that the player can apply it naturally. He/she must relate the meaning of the concept and the effects it will have on the game. 

It must have intensity, the intensity must be similar to the real game. 

Intensity in the extense meaning of the word, not only physical intensity but mainly psychological intensity. If we train at high psychological intensity, it is much easier that the player will have mental mistakes. It must have a certain level of difficulty, similar to the game. 

It must be easy enough to be executed correctly but not difficult enough where it can be obtained or learned. 

The Principle of Propensities of Professor Vitor Frade focuses specially on this, in my opinion. We must create context, so that these situations are created over and over, once we have that context we will introduce concepts and corrections, that occur over and over so that the footballer will be able to lean it similar to the real game, how he/she will see it in the next match. 

 Many of the coaches I was in Charge off in China where I have been working previously would often ask me when they could progress and move on to another technical concept, and my answer was when the young footballer was able to execute the concept without thinking in real context of game. Then is where the footballer has learned it…..this is learning. 

Football/Soccer can not be teached consciuously, because it is made of actions that must be executed in thousands of seconds and must be repeated over and over for the footballer to learn them, integrate them and execute them in real game situations. 

 “You will never see a Pianist practicing, running around a Piano”. 

Jose Mourinho.