Most soccer players recover the same way gym-goers do. That's the problem. Team sport recovery is fundamentally different and getting it wrong is why players underperform and break down mid season.
3 years of data, 155 studies. Here is what I found ๐งต:
Youth athletes don't need more running. They play football 3-4x a week. They run plenty.
What they need:
- Bodyweight mastery
- Eccentric hamstring work
- Landing and deceleration drills
- Loaded patterns when movement quality is there
Zero junk miles. Every minute matters
Per-athlete pricing at 20 players (approx, as of March 2026):
TrainHeroic: ~$200/mo
TrueCoach: ~$49/mo
PlayerPlan: $39/mo
Same 20 players. One of these includes football-specific AI, energy system builders, match-day frameworks, and GPS velocity zones.
$1.95 per player p/mth
And don't drop eccentric work.
Maintaining Nordics in-season (even 2x4 twice a week) keeps the injury protection you built in pre-season.
Drop them completely and you lose the protective effect in 4-6 weeks.
In-season is where good programming separates itself.
The key: anchor everything to match day.
MD-3 = heaviest session. 72 hours to recover.
MD-1 = activation only.
Use wellness data to auto-regulate. If soreness is 4/5 and sleep is 2/5, drop volume 30%. The plan is the starting point, not the final word.
"In-season we just maintain."
No. In-season you can still progress. You just have to be smart about it.
Reduce volume. Maintain intensity. A player doing 2x4 at 82% in-season will hold or improve their strength from pre-season.
Lesson from this week: "simple" is the hardest thing to build.
The player view looks like nothing. One link, today's session, video demos, wellness check-in.
Behind it: token validation, security rules, real-time scheduling logic, video URL parsing, responsive layout
S&C coaches โ what's the biggest daily headache in your practice?
Not "getting more clients." The operational stuff.
Programming for 10 different players? Tracking compliance? Seeing the full load picture? Looking professional on a solo budget?
The feature I spent the most time on (programme designer) isn't the one coaches talk about most. The share link is. "My players just open a link." That's it. That's the feature.
Coaches test software completely differently from developers. A developer asks "does it work?" A coach asks "can I use this at 6:30am in a gym with one hand while watching a player's squat form?" Different standard entirely.
Every coach's workflow is slightly different. Supersets + tempo + RPE + block dividers + energy system blocks + notes โ all in one session. Edge cases aren't edge cases. They're Tuesday.
Still building. Still coaching.
Nordic hamstring exercises reduce hamstring injuries by 51% (van Dyk et al., 2019 โ 8,459 athletes).
Two sets. Twice a week. That's it.
If you're working with footballers and not programming eccentric hamstring work, you're ignoring one of the most evidence-supported tools
Pushed a fix this week: wellness scores now show a 7-day trend line on the coach dashboard.
One of my test users caught a player's soreness creeping up over 5 days. Adjusted his session before anything went wrong.
That's not a feature. That's injury prevention.
@AdvFtbAcad He is easily in top 5 players ALL TIME in Football/Soccer IQ, hands down, for me probably #1 all time... but don't underestimate his physical ability. Ps. find what Fabregas said about him
Interesting pattern from user data:
The feature coaches request most isn't the drag-and-drop builder or the AI.
It's the external training log โ where players log what they did at club.
Turns out seeing the full load picture matters more than fancy tools.
Creatine is the most researched supplement on Earth (itโs not a steroid).
Backed by 1,000+ studies, itโs proven to boost brain function, build muscle & slow aging (naturally)
Hereโs how to tell if your creatine is pure (+ 7 insane benefits):
What my players see when they open their training link:
- Today's session with video demos
- Full programme calendar
- 15-second wellness check-in
- Session feedback
- External training log
No app download. No login. Just a link on WhatsApp.
Most semi-pro players do pre-season โ feel great โ plateau by October.
The reason is almost always the same: they trained volume, not quality.
Running more โ running better.
Lifting more โ more power.
S&C is about the right stimulus, not the most stimulus.
Most coaching software doesn't understand this.
Ask PlayerPlan's AI for an MD-3 session for a centre-back. It gives you posterior chain work. Not bicep curls.
Because it was built for football S&C.
MD-3: Heavy day. Squats, trap bar deads, Nordics. 72 hours to recover.
MD-2: Speed & power. Plyos, short sprints. CNS stimulus, low fatigue.
MD-1: Activation only. Movement prep, band work. Feel sharp, not tired.