Combining other sports with football

Which sports should you play alongside football?

As was detailed in our previous blog post there are extensive benefits associated with playing multiple sports as a developing footballer. This entry will spell out the benefits of three different sports in enhancing your potential as a football player.

Swimming

Swimming has two major associated benefits, those being mitigating risk of injury and enhancement of cardiovascular fitness. Performing a range of strokes can work a variety of different muscle groups while keeping your heart rate up, thus advancing cardiovascular fitness. Additionally, the support of water diminishes the impact stress on your body (in comparison to running or cycling) which protects joints and mitigates risk of injury. It is also a manageable way to recover from an injury and return to full fitness as it allows you to build up muscles surrounding a joint while keeping pressure off that joint, preventing risk of re-injury. Swimming represents a great way to keep up your fitness all while protecting your body off the football pitch. 

Tennis

Tennis benefits your cardiovascular fitness in ways that translate very well into football; Bjorn Borg described tennis as a game of ‘a thousand little sprints’, and the high intensity of this exercise will improve your physicality in a very different, more strength orientated way to swimming. The benefits of playing tennis alongside football go above and beyond improving your cardiovascular fitness. Tennis works hand eye coordination and improves reaction times, with footwork essential to tennis working to improve your agility on the football pitch. Tennis also requires that you read your opponent, and learning to do so can have useful implications in improving your ability to take on players 1v1 and penalty taking.

Basketball

The motor skills that are developed in football (as well as tennis) are similarly developed when playing basketball, with hand eye coordination and reaction times benefiting from training at the sport. As well as this, the game takes place at a far faster pace than football; in a similar way to futsal, basketball enhances confidence in decision making while promoting quick thinking as players are forced to take more responsibility due to increased numbers of actions taken per game. Impetus is placed on spatial awareness and passing lanes which also translate helpfully onto the football pitch.

Yet another key benefit is that basketball, unlike other sports on this list, is a team sport. More experience playing in different teams will improve developing players’ abilities to function as a united team when playing football. While Basketball is not that common a sport in the UK, many USWNT players credit their footballing expertise with playing multiple sports while developing as football players, with Abby Wambach in particular crediting a lot of her success within the sport to her ability to play basketball in her youth.

Of course there are many sports out there that can enhance your development as a football player; this article just aims to spell out the benefits of a select few. Athletics with its focus on raw physical improvement will show results on the pitch as you become faster and stronger, with other team sports all enhancing your ability to perform well as a collective on the football field. If you find another sport you enjoy that can help you flourish as a footballer, we encourage you to pursue it and reap the benefits on the football field!

Will you be applying to more sports to play alongside football in the future? Have a look at www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired to find local clubs in your area.