Shuttle Runs are an excellent conditioning exercise. They are best when used for pre-season and off-season conditioning or if soccer skills are incorporated.
Place several cones in a straight line, each 5 yards apart as pictured above.
- Begin at one end of the cones.
- Run from the first cone to the second cone.
- Run back to the first cone.
- Now run to the third cone.
- Run back to the first cone once again.
- Continue this for as many cones are set out.
- Whether the player touches each cone, carries an object between the cones, or simply turns at each cone is up to you.
- Try setting-up multiple lines and having the players race.
- To incorporate soccer skills, serve players a ball after the last cone at which point, they must explode to and finish off with a shot.
- Incorporating soccer skills by having players dribble a ball while running is great practice, but doing so sacrifices the speed, agility, and conditioning aspects of this exercise.
