Under this mysterious name, there is perception sense of particular elements of our body in space, that is, something unconscious which in case of critical situation will allow our body to create protective tension, preventing it from injury. It is very important to include exercises improving this sort of sensation in our training.  It also affects physical coordination, fluidity of movements and control of joint stability. We can generally call it the quality of movement -  safe movement which does not lead to injury.

Have you ever wondered how it happens that your foot hits the ball and not the leg of the opposing player (assuming a situation without foul play), using the exact amount of strength necessary for it to move the ball in the desired place? It is possible thanks to proprioception. We can move our limbs during every movement in the exact direction we intend to.

Body awareness at a sufficiently high level, can guarantee excellent physical coordination and in consequence, it significantly influences improvement of achieving results.

Exercises shaping body awareness are a very important element of training of players who have suffered injury. In this case, it impairs and disorders information transfer from injured tissue. We lose “sureness” of limb or ‘sureness” of movement, often connected with instability. Through training, we are capable of rebuilding lost function of receptors or influencing compensatory mechanisms and mobilising other structures to take over functions of damaged proprioceptors. In short: we restore the “sureness” of the leg during the activities such as walking, running, landing or different forms of jumps.

How to exercise? Body awareness is associated with exercises on an unstable surface. Platforms, therapeutic rubber discs, soft mats, balls are designed to enable more muscle engagement to maintain safe position or to come back to it, in case of temporary imbalance.

If you have any questions, write to me ;) bartosz.kot@soccerskills.pro