The summer period is a critical phase of the preseason. It sets the foundation for the year ahead.
In junior football, most clubs have limited contact through December. Players might train for a few weeks, break over Christmas and New Year, then return in late January or early February. That gap often leaves athletes unsure of how to train effectively on their own.
A common misconception is that summer training means smashing yourself every session. In reality, a simple, well-structured framework is all you need to make real progress.
Here are four ways junior athletes can maximise their summer break and return to club training prepared, confident, and resilient.
#1: Have a plan
A plan creates clarity, structure, and consistency.
The best training plan isn’t the most complicated, it’s the one you can follow consistently. Yes, plans should be reviewed and adjusted, but there’s no point building something that is unrealistic or unrelated to your actual needs.
What should your plan include?
- Skills & fundamentals
- Running
- Strength Development
- Rest & Recovery
Each session should have a clear focus, for example:
- A midfielder should prioritise groundballs, clean hands and touch
- A tall defender should spend more time on overhead marking and kicking, not goal kicking.
Tip:
- Pick 1-2 strengths of your game, work on being the best at them.
- Pick 1 clear gap in your game, work on improving this.
Train with intent, specific to your developmental needs.
We’ve attached a Weekly Planner for you to use below:
#2: Develop Athletic Qualities
Without structured club training, summer is the perfect time to develop your athletic base.
Key football-specific athletic qualities include:
Speed
Agility
Endurance
Power
Strength
How this might look in your plan:
For example, a 20 minute running block focused on endurance before skills and fundamentals, completed twice per week.
Athletic qualities underpin performance in ALL sports. When your athletic base improves, your skills become easier to execute under fatigue and pressure.
#3: Treat rest & recovery as non-negotiable
Think of yourself as a cup of water, each time you train, you’re pouring water into the cup. Every time you recover, you take a bit of water out of the cup so it doesn’t overflow. A good training program allows you to fill the cup just enough so that you’re challenging yourself and improving, but not so much that the water starts to overflow.
During the summer, high training loads, combined with high heat place extra stress on the body – this is where recovery becomes extra important.
Practical recovery tips:
Prioritise sleep every night
Fuel properly (hydration and proper nutrition) around training
Include active recovery (light movement, mobility, hydrotherapy)
Schedule full rest and recovery days in your weekly plan.
If recovery isn’t planned, it’s usually neglected.
#4: Train with a partner or small group
Training with a partner or small group is one of the most underrated ways to improve.
Why?
Greater accountability:
Training with someone else raises standards. You’ll push each other, learn from their strengths and improve your own.
Improved decision making under pressure:
Training with others allows you to practise hitting targets on the run, being clean under pressure and decision making – things that are difficult to replicate alone.
