If you are a soccer player looking to improve your skills and physical condition, any time spent playing any form of soccer will be beneficial to your overall game. One variation of soccer that has been growing in popularity is beach soccer. Beach soccer is a physically demanding sport, and this type of soccer can be quite intense. Since beach soccer is vastly different than regular soccer, you may not think that one could improve the other, but there are benefits of training in the sand for soccer players. While the ball is often in the air and there is limited passing, beach soccer offers more scoring chances and demands well-honed technical skills.
Playing soccer in the sand does translate to a better athlete and a more well-rounded soccer player. Playing beach soccer can even help improve a player’s overall skill set for regular soccer. To learn more, check out some of the ways that beach soccer can improve your outdoor game.
Increased endurance can significantly help your outdoor game, and playing sand soccer will increase your endurance levels and speed. Jogging and running in the sand makes your hamstrings, glutes, and quads work harder, giving you a better overall workout.
With beach soccer, different scenarios often come up that will force you to get comfortable with the ball in wind, sun, uneven playing surface, and in a smaller play area. Learning how to respond to different situations is a valuable skill that will translate to your outdoor game.
With beach soccer, there are more touches, and this will challenge your first touch. Since the ball in beach soccer can come at high speeds from different directions due to the wind and sand, this will challenge and improve your first touch and handling skills.
With beach soccer, quick strikes on goal end to end are required, so that only leaves you a split second to react and shoot towards the goal. With the speed and intensity of the game, you only have a small window of opportunity, so your ability to one-time the shot will be tested and improved.
When you play beach soccer, the ball can come at high speeds, from any angle and it can be unpredictable. Since last second bounces can occur due to the differing angles and sand, you quickly learn to keep your eye on the ball so last minute adjustments can be made.