Football is the most popular sport in the world. To play well, you need to prepare like a pro, no matter what level you play at. Preparation for match day usually starts a few days before the match. Players are advised to train themselves and practice as much as possible, which sometimes includes watching their opponent and finding any weak spots that may help them to strategise for winning the game.
Many players are very tough and competitive; they practice like crazy and always look forward to new methods, innovative ideas, and best tactics. Besides practicing, there are other things you need to keep in mind. For instance, you need proper diets and supplements to work actively in the pitch, similarly long-lasting and durable grip socks, different types of taping and strapping, an eight-hour sleep, mentally alert, a shin pad, and much more.
Here is a list of tips that may help you prepare for a football match:
Tips To Prepare for a Football Match
Let's discuss some of the valuable tips in preparing for a football match:
Starting Early and Preparing Mentally
- Get your head in the game as soon as possible: If you are done with the old game, it is time to get your head for the next game. To prepare mentally for a football match, skills like visualising and eliminating the wrong idea are compulsory; you must always stay optimistic.
- Talk with your coaching staff about tactics and expectations: Each football game has new opponents who differ from the previous, so it is incumbent to discuss the new techniques and strategies with the coach; otherwise, the match will not be successful. Besides discussing new strategies, you must train hard all week for the upcoming matches.
Prepare for a Football Game the Night Before
- Eat a healthy meal a few hours before sleep: Besides good physical and mental practice, you need a proper diet the night before the game. You contain all three significant micronutrients that make up a balanced diet, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, to ensure maximum energy sustain.
- Good whole night’s sleep: as well as a good diet the night before a match, you also need good sleep to allow your body to repair itself. You should at least sleep for 8 hours to stay active.
Prepare Yourself on Game Day
- Eat the breakfast for the day’s schedule: If several hours are left just before the match, make sure you go for the excellent breakfast again with low sugar and rich protein foods that keep you active throughout the match.
- Always keep a water bottle full: Similarly, prepare reusable water bottles to avoid dehydration and some snacks for some mental toughness and extra energy. Just 5% dehydration can lead to a loss of physical capacity of 30%!
Get Ready for Kickoff
- Take time to warm up or get in a light workout: Whether you are jogging or doing some weight lifting, you must warm up yourself so that your muscles can take enough load for an all-day game and focus on the game entirely. Don't let the opponents steal the ball from you. Just focus on what you have practiced and learned before the match.
Things Required For a Football Match
To win in a match, you need high-quality and comfortable clothes and accessories to keep yourself safe and protected from injuries, like grip socks, tape and strapping, and water bottles. Let's look at them one by one:
Football Grip Socks
Grips socks include a wide range of benefits that do not seem prestigious but may leave you flabbergasted. In a match, even the most minor things matter. When you try these grip socks, you will notice a significant change in your abilities resulting in better performance in the pitch.
Advantages of Using Football Grip Socks
- Safety from Fall and Blisters: Grips socks lock down your feet which means that during a match, your chance of falling depreciates slightly, and you can run freely without any fear of falling or tripping on your feet. Secondly, these socks and anti-blister, which means keeping your feet away from the blister, and when you wear these socks, they will be very comfortable for you.
- Durable And Long Lasting: Better performance and lasts longer than any other regular socks.
- More Effective Moisture Control: these socks are a particular design with material that can absorb moisture, helping keep your feet dry.
- Grips Socks Used In Other Match: There is a lot of misunderstanding about grip socks, and people believe these socks are just used for football, although this is not the case. These socks are also used in Rugby, basketball, hockey and others.
Here are two more variants available in these socks.
- Grippy Non-Slip Football Grip Socks – White
White football grip socks are the most tempting and famous product. These socks can be worn during the entire session of training, they are available in multiple colours (blue, red, green, and others), and size ranges between (UK 6-11). The price for the non-slip grip socks is just £9.99.
- Grippy Non-Slip Football Grip Socks - Black
Another type of non-slip football grip sock in black colour offers you great sprint during the match, efficient ability to change the direction, and reasonable ball control. It reduces the risk of ankle, knee, and hip injuries with anti-blister properties and long-lasting black socks. Moreover, these socks are available in the same size and price as the white socks.
Tape and Strapping
Another popular product important in a football match is tape and strapping. Tape and strapping have two functions. Firstly, it is used to avoid any treatment in case of injuries. Secondly, they keep sock and shin pads in their original position, and it is used by 70% of football players around the globe.
Benefits of Football Tape and strapping
- It helps to relieve your pain.
- It enhances joint stability.
- When wrapped around the sock and shin shape improves the athlete's confidence.
- Decrease the risk of injuries.
- It depreciates strain on sensitive tissues.
- Restrain muscle action.
- Improves faulty biomechanics during the match.
Following are the tapes, each with different fiction and pricing
- Premium Football Sock Tape
It is essential to focus on the match, not the socks, so this premium football sock tape keeps the socks and shin pads at their positions. These tapes are typically designed for football players and are available in 7 different colours, so quickly purchase this tape for just £1.99.
- Extra Sticky Kinesiology Tape (5cm x 5m)
This tape is very gluey, stretchy, made of cotton, usually applied to the skin to support smooth movement during the match, and reduces pain and swelling when you are injured. Moreover, the most beautiful thing about the k tape is that besides being stuck to your skin, your body still works naturally, and its running time is 5 days. Available at a very reasonable price of £9.99.
- Self-Adhesive Sock Wrap
Another popular self-adhesive sock wrap is used to steady your shin. These tapes are very light and can be torn using your hands.
- Underwrap – Beige
It acts as a barrier, and these tapes are usually folded around the muscles before we use the strapping tapes. One significant advantage of Underwrap is that it protects the skin, which results in easy and painless removal. Moreover, it protects the skin from irritations.
Water Bottle
It is imperative to keep yourself hydrated during football matches. Because of this, you should carry a water bottle. It can keep you hydrated, and you should be drinking water at every interval.
If you’re willing to buy one, you can go for Grippy Water bottles. They are unique bottles that keep you hydrated all day and are easy to carry. It can hold 750 ml of water—the water cools with a non-spill valve cap and easy finger grips for just £4.99.
Benefits of Carrying a Water Bottle
- Reduce Co2: carrying a reusable water bottle decreases carbon dioxide; CO2 is one of the harmful gasses responsible for greenhouse gasses. Using a reusable water bottle also saves resources and protects the environment.
- More Refreshing: Use a water bottle to maintain the water temperature. If you have to fill the water with hot or cold water, it will maintain the temperature as these bottles are insulated, and vacuum sealed, making the water stay in the same condition for about 24-36 hours.
- Bottled Water Quality is Low: According to recent research, different brands of bottles aim to show that the particular brand of water sells impure and unhealthy water.
To sum up, preparation is essential for football players. If they lack preparation, it will affect their performance, and they may lose the game. To avoid a situation like this, grippy sports ensures that during the match, all the team players are protected with all the necessary accessories so they can win the match without the risk of fall, fatigue, irritation of the skin, muscle pain, or dehydration.