2022 was a year in which the footballing world started to get back to normality. We completed a full season, got back to full fitness and fell back in love with the game.
Whether you made 2022 your year, or struggled to get back to your best, it’s time to forget the past and make 2023 your best footballing year yet.
If you are looking to make that step to the next level, or want to become a first team regular, there has never been a better time to up your game!
Check out our guide below to make sure that you own 2023 and achieve your footballing goals.
1. Train…Train and Train a bit more!
To achieve your goals in 2023 you need to kick everything up a notch, and that starts with training.
If you were there every matchday last year, but don’t even know what day your team train on, then 2023 is the year to change this, and that’s just the start.
The game is more competitive than ever with the physical demands on footballers becoming increasingly important, so not taking training seriously is going to risk you being left behind. That’s why training once a week with your team isn’t going to be enough to develop you into the player you want to become, and you need to do more outside of these sessions.
Whilst you probably don’t need us to tell you that you need to train in order to develop the physical, technical and tactical aspects of your game, it is vital that you take this seriously. As an amateur player it is very likely that you have to take this into your own hands and approach training with foresight and discipline.
What this looks like to you will depend on what you need to work on, but you need to ensure that your weekly training addresses all three disciplines; physical, technical and tactical. This may be as simple as performing extra dribbling sessions in your garden in your spare time or improving your strength by adding an extra session or two at the gym but finding the areas you need to work on and addressing them weekly will ensure your game develops.
For more information on how to train effectively, be sure to check out our complete guide to football training, which provides everything you need to know about football training, allowing you to optimise your sessions and drastically improve your game.
2. Give Your Body What It Needs
While training is crucial, so too is what we put into our bodies. In 2023, improving your nutrition will go a long way to improving what you do on the pitch.
Start by giving your body what it needs to perform. During a game your energy expenditure is huge, which means our body demands a supply of quality carbohydrates like oats, wholegrains, rice and pasta, to ensure it is adequately fuelled. In addition to this, it requires vital vitamins and minerals, largely coming from fresh fruit and vegetables. It also needs some lean protein and essential fats to promote recovery, strength building and general health and wellbeing.
In short, eat more wholefoods and less takeaways, and you will both feel the benefits within yourself, as well as see an improvement in your energy levels and performance on the pitch.
Another key factor, you have to consider is hydration. Hydration is an important factor in stopping you from going down suffering from cramp in the 65 minute and feeling exaggerated levels of exhaustion. Additionally, hydration affects your cognitive abilities, and therefore not giving your body the liquid it requires to work, can lead to a decrease in technical ability, such as shooting, dribbling and passing.
Therefore, it is recommended that you drink at least 2 litres of water every day to maintain a good base level of hydration, with an extra 500ml to 1 litre of water for every hour of activity you do. This means that on a matchday you need to be drinking at least 3 litres of water to maximise your performance. In addition to this, drinking an isotonic sports drink, or adding an electrolyte supplement to your water, can also help enhance your hydration levels and add additional carbohydrates to fuel your performance.
For more information on how to fuel your body effectively, be sure to download our matchday nutrition guide, which provides you with a clear guide to ensure you are fuelled and ready to perform when it matters!
3. Try Something New
Whether you are a serial supplementer or only occasionally use sports drinks, 2023 is the perfect time to overhaul your supplement game and see the difference it makes to your performance.
Every one of our supplements is proven to improve at least one aspect of your game, so try something new and feel the difference in your performance.
Creatine Monohydrate is one of the most widely used supplements in professional football. This highly-tested supplement can not only add explosiveness to your game, but also is scientifically proven to improve decisions on the pitch, improving your passing, dribbling and shooting performance.
Popular with Premier League clubs, you could start adding our Pro Grade Nitrate Shots to your daily routine. Taking nitrates regularly (not just on match days) can help you improve your bodies oxygen efficiency and boost your energy and performance on the pitch.
If you really want to invest in your game this year, you should try our Pro Pack. It combines all of our supplements, ensuring you are stocked up for the year and ready to perform.
4. Stay Injury Free
The last thing you want this year, is for your football to be put on hold. There is nothing worse than preparing for a strong second half of the season, and a promotion push, then pulling a muscle in January, rendering you side-lined for the next few months.
It is therefore crucial to do everything you can to prevent injury, if you want 2023 to be the year you achieve your footballing ambitions.
Firstly, pay attention to what you do before you step onto the pitch. If your current warmup consists of jogging half a lap of the field, then you need to change things.
A good warmup and cool down routine are essential to avoiding injury. You can read more on developing your warm ups in our guide to warming up for footballers, or alternatively check out our tiktok channel which has loads of videos to help you stay injury free this year.
A great way to stay injury free and keep your joints and ligaments strong, is with our Collagen shots. These supplements are one of our most popular products with elite athletes, and for good reason.
Another way to prevent injury is through effective rest and recovery. Rest is when your muscles are repaired, so get good sleep, stay hydrated, and add our Recover90 to your post-match routine to kickstart the recovery process.
Summary
Whether you follow all of this advice or just a little, any improvements you can make to your life off the pitch will help you ensure that 2023 is the year you achieve your footballing goals.
Happy new year from everyone at Soccer Supplement and good luck for the second half of the season!
