How to Train During the Off-Season (The Right Way)

The off-season isn’t a break from growth. It’s your greatest opportunity to prepare your body and mind for the demands of the next season. For soccer players looking to reach the next level, how you train (and recover) during this time determines how ready you'll be when competition starts. Whether you're aiming to break into a starting lineup or level up to college or pro, this guide walks you through how to train smarter—not just harder.

1. Prioritize Proper Rest & Recovery

After a long season, your body needs time to recover from the physical and mental load of games and training. That doesn't mean sitting on the couch for 8 weeks. It means strategic rest: sleeping 8–10 hours per night, reducing high-impact activities in the early off-season, and using mobility, massage, and hydration to support your body’s recovery.

A study by Jones et al. (2010) showed that proper recovery is essential to avoid staleness and improve long-term performance and self-perception of physical ability. Overtraining during this phase without adequate rest can lead to mental burnout and fatigue, which has been shown to negatively affect decision-making, technical skills, and physical performance in soccer players (Díaz-García et al., 2023)

2. Train Your Mind Like You Train Your Body

The off-season is the perfect time to build mental skills like visualization, goal-setting, and confidence. Mental fatigue—caused by prolonged stress or poor recovery—can significantly impair performance in passing, shooting, and decision-making.

Build in 5–10 minutes daily for visualization and use journaling to track your goals and progress. Research supports that goal-setting interventions improve performance across all levels of sport by increasing motivation and self-efficacy (Thelwell & Greenlees, 2001; Weinberg, 2010).

3. Optimize Nutrition for Repair and Growth

What you eat during the off-season plays a major role in how well you recover, rebuild muscle, and reduce injury risk. During the pre-season, many players ramp up intensity—but nutritional habits must already be in place.

Research on professional soccer players found significant changes in body composition and dietary intake from off-season to pre-season, emphasizing the importance of protein intake and hydration during this phase (Martínez-Sanz et al., 2020). The goal should be fueling with whole foods, plenty of protein (1.6–2.2g/kg/day), and staying consistent with hydration—even when training volume is lower.

4. Regulate Training Load (Don’t Burn Out)

Too many players go “all in” too fast after the season ends—leading to injury or burnout. Instead, structure your training week for balance. A typical elite off-season week might include:

• 3 technical/tactical soccer sessions

• 2–3 strength training sessions

• 1 active recovery day (mobility, yoga, light run)

• 1 complete rest day

Monitoring workload using session RPE (rating of perceived exertion) is a scientifically backed method to prevent overtraining and track fatigue across the week (Impellizzeri et al., 2004).

Listen to your body and adjust load based on how you're recovering physically and mentally.

5. How Parents Can Support Off-Season Development

Parents play a huge role in the off-season, especially when their child’s motivation dips or schedules get chaotic. Here are a few ways to support:

• Help structure a weekly training schedule that includes rest, skill work, and recovery.

• Focus on effort and growth, not just outcome.

• Model healthy habits around sleep, food, and attitude.

• Encourage your athlete to take initiative but be there for support—especially during mental slumps.

Building a long-term development mindset (instead of “quick fix” success) makes a major difference in your athlete’s journey to high-level soccer.

Train With Me This Off-Season

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References

Díaz-García, J., Filipas, L., La Torre, A., Gómez-Rivera, J., Rubio-Morales, A., & García-Calvo, T. (2023). Mental fatigue changes from regular season to play-offs in semiprofessional soccer: A comparison by training days. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 33(4), 712–724. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.14301

Impellizzeri, F. M., Rampinini, E., & Marcora, S. M. (2004). A comparison of methods to quantify training load in elite soccer players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 22(3), 203–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410310001675296

Jones, M. T., Matthews, T. D., Murray, M., Van Raalte, J., & Jensen, B. E. (2010). Psychological correlates of performance in female athletes during a 12-week off-season strength and conditioning program. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(3), 619–628.

Martínez-Sanz, J. M., Sospedra, I., Ortiz, C. M., et al. (2020). Pre-season dietary intake of professional soccer players. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 17, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-020-00377-y

Thelwell, R. C., & Greenlees, I. A. (2001). The effects of a mental skills training package on gymnasium triathlon performance. The Sport Psychologist, 15(2), 127–141.

Weinberg, R. (2010). Goal setting in sport and exercise: Research and practical applications. Revista de Psicología del Deporte, 19(2), 331–346.