Working Too Much on Endurance in U15: Good or Bad Idea?
The question is worth asking. In U15, some coaches dedicate entire sessions to aerobic physical preparation, sometimes at the expense of technical and tactical work. This is a mistake. Endurance does not develop through volume alone: it develops through effort quality and variety of stimulation. Long intervals at a constant pace develop general endurance but not soccer-specific endurance, which demands permanent changes in intensity.
The right balance in U15 is straightforward: endurance must be present in every session, but never as an isolated physical block disconnected from the game. A long, intense small-sided game, a pass-sprint-finish circuit, high pressing repeated several times in a session: these formats develop specific endurance far better than laps. The U15 endurance drills offer formats that follow this logic precisely, with situations always connected to real game play.
How to Improve Your U15 Players' Endurance
In U15, improving a group's endurance comes first and foremost through building a culture of intensity across all drills. A player who makes all their efforts at 70% does not improve their endurance. A player who maintains real intensity across the full session makes physical progress even without a specific endurance drill.
The formats that drive the most endurance progress in U15:
- High-density small-sided games: 5v5 or 6v6 on a small field with fast restarts and few pauses
- Short-long intervals: 15 seconds of intense effort, 15 seconds of active recovery, over 10 to 12 repetitions
- Repeated high press: chained collective pressing sequences with immediate attacking transition
- Return-constraint game: when a team loses the ball, all players must cross their own goal line before defending
The U15 conditioning drills offer formats suited to these different approaches, with season-long progressions.
Endurance and the Winter Break in U15
The winter break is often the period when endurance regresses most quickly, especially among U15 players whose lifestyle can change significantly during the holidays. Maintaining minimal physical activity during this period is important to avoid losing the gains built in the first half of the season. The article soccer winter break: complete training program offers a very concrete program for maintaining and even developing endurance during the break, directly applicable in U15.