Beach Soccer and how it Develops Core Strength in Youth Players

With a solid foundation, sports players can develop skills like coordination, agility, and power. In Brazil players have found a unique way to build core strength; thus allowing for generations of players to develop their balance and legendary dribbling ability.

Andros Townsend, whilst commentating for ITV sports during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, stated the kids who play beach football have absolutely amazing core strength. He mentioned that whilst playing with some youngsters – he was so impressed with the basic level of balance and composure kids had on the ball. 

Townsend said: “I was having a kick about and it really shows. Being out here you can see how Brazil produces so many talented players.”

He also mentioned that whilst he was on the beach playing, he couldn’t help noticing the effect of walking on sand. The impact that playing on such a surface for day in, day out has on the body cannot be understated. It’s no wonder that after years of playing on the beach, Brazilian players develop amazing balance. When they eventually transition to grass they seem to glide over the surface. 

This is because the sand is constantly shifting and as a result the individual's proprioception is adjusting all the time. When on a beach, the player is always having to set themselves before they receive the ball. Then when they have to shift their body weight, in order to dribble with the ball and get past someone the neural-pathways have to be continuously adjusting to keep their balance to allow for the proprioceptive feedback and spatial awareness. 

When players have ankle injuries, physiotherapists try to re-create this unstable state during rehabilitation, using balance boards and wobble cushions. As professional therapists we understand the need to re-create instability and exploit proprioception as a means to aid recovery and repair.

During the rehabilitation and remodelling phase of injury, this is seen as a key requirement for getting back to full fitness. From a performance perspective recreating this constant shifting of body weight has meant something slightly different for players from Brazil. 

When these individuals eventually play organised football on grass where the surface is solid underneath their feet, they seem to be able to glide across the ground and have the ability to shift their weight at will, and skip past opposition players with the ball. 

The northern European hemisphere environment doesn’t lend itself to kids playing on surfaces such as sand. Children play on flat, solid grass areas, and don’t have their balance being constantly challenged by an unstable surface. The end result is that flair players need other influences to re-create challenging scenarios, like learning how to play in tight spaces on council estate cages, and 5-a-side pitches.

Brazil may have lost some of its footballing mystique but it still has a reputation for producing amazing dribblers and flair – so long as there is the Copacabana beach!