Should You Really Work on Endurance in U18?
Some U18 coaches feel that players' endurance is set at this age and no longer really trainable. This is a view we challenge. Endurance remains developable in U18, but the work must be radically different from earlier categories. General endurance is normally well established. What remains to develop is specific endurance: the capacity to maintain high intensity for 90 minutes, repeat sprints late in the game, and make good decisions under maximal fatigue.
This specific endurance is not built in analytical formats. It is built in near-match situations at high intensity with direct opposition. The U18 conditioning drills offer circuits and situations designed precisely for this level of demand, with formats that alternate high intensity and active recovery.
Success Criteria for Endurance in U18
In U18, evaluating a player's endurance is not limited to observing their capacity to run for a long time. The real criteria are observable in a match:
- Technical quality late in the game: an enduring player maintains pass quality, control, and decisions through to the final whistle
- Repeated sprints: they start fast on contested balls in the seventieth minute just as in the tenth
- Constant defensive commitment: they press, run in transitions, and recover their shape even under advanced fatigue
- Mental resilience: they maintain tactical concentration even when the body wants to slow down
The U18 gegenpressing drills test precisely these four criteria, imposing repeated explosive efforts in situations close to real competitive conditions.
Endurance and the Winter Break in U18
The winter break is a key window for endurance work in U18. It is the moment when training volume can be increased without the constraint of immediate competition, and where aerobic foundations can be reinforced intensively before the resumption. A well-designed break program allows players to return for the second half of the season with endurance superior to the start. The article soccer winter break: complete training program offers a very concrete framework for organizing this work, directly applicable for your U18 group.