What does PocketAthlete actually do?

You check in each morning with your sleep, soreness and fatigue. It scores your readiness, adjusts that day's session, and builds four-week training blocks around your sport, your position and the equipment you have.

Is it only for footballers?

No. It covers football, rugby, basketball, running, weightlifting and general gym training, with position-specific work for the team sports.

No. Tell it what you have and it programs around it. Many of the technical drills need nothing but a ball and a wall.

Can it work around an injury?

It works around soreness you log and avoids body parts you tell it to leave alone. It is general training information, not medical advice — see a physiotherapist for a diagnosis.

How should a centre back train?

Win everything in the air and in duels — strength, jumping and clean positioning matter most. Physically, prioritise maximal & jumping strength, aerial power, robustness for duels. Technically, work on heading & aerial timing, defensive positioning, composed distribution.

What drills should a centre back do?

Wall passing reps, Attacking & defensive heading, 1v1 defending shape, Switching play. 1 of these need nobody but you.

Football · Position guide

How a centre back should train

Win everything in the air and in duels — strength, jumping and clean positioning matter most.

The short answer

A centre back should build maximal & jumping strength and aerial power, and practise heading & aerial timing and defensive positioning. The drills that matter most are wall passing reps, attacking & defensive heading, 1v1 defending shape. 1 of them need nobody but you.

⚡ Prioritise physically

• Maximal & jumping strength
• Aerial power
• Robustness for duels

🎯 Sharpen technically

• Heading & aerial timing
• Defensive positioning
• Composed distribution

Key exercises

Barbell back squat

The foundational lower-body strength lift — carries over to every sport.

Box jumps

Trains vertical power and a controlled, knee-safe landing.

Standing broad jump

Horizontal power that transfers to acceleration and contact.

Nordic hamstring curl

The gold-standard exercise for cutting hamstring-strain risk.

Technical drills for a centre back

1 of these need nobody but you.

Wall passing reps

PassingOn your own

Setup: A wall and a ball. 5–8m back.

1. Pass firmly against the wall with the inside of the foot.
2. Take the return with your far foot, away from where a defender would be.
3. Play it back first time, alternating feet every rep.

Volume: 5 × 60 seconds, alternating feet

Coaching point: Your first touch decides the pass — set the ball outside your body, not under it.

Make it harder: Move closer to speed it up, or restrict yourself to two touches, then one.

Attacking & defensive heading

HeadingNeeds a partner

Setup: A server, a ball, a goal or target area.

1. Attack the ball from a short run-up — meet it at the highest point.
2. Defensive reps: head for height, distance and width.
3. Attacking reps: head down, back across the keeper.

Volume: 4 × 10 (alternate attacking/defensive)

Coaching point: Attack the ball, don't wait for it. Eyes open, contact on the forehead.

Make it harder: Add a passive jumper to compete against.

1v1 defending shape

DefendingNeeds a partner

Setup: A 10×15m channel, an attacker with a ball.

1. Close the ground quickly, then slow into a side-on stance.
2. Show them onto their weaker foot and toward the touchline.
3. Tackle only when the ball is away from their body.

Volume: 8 × 30 seconds, alternating roles

Coaching point: Get there fast, arrive slow. Diving in is how you get beaten.

Make it harder: Shrink the channel; give the attacker a two-touch limit.

Switching play

PassingNeeds a partner

Setup: 30–40m of space, a partner or a target zone.

1. Take a positive first touch across your body, then drive it 30m.
2. Strike through the bottom third with the laces for a driven ball.
3. Alternate driven and lofted — different jobs, different techniques.

Volume: 5 × 10 switches

Coaching point: Open your body before the touch, not after. You can't switch play facing your own goal.

Make it harder: Hit a moving target, or switch off one touch.

Get a program built around you

PocketAthlete builds your program from your sport, your position and how recovered you actually are that morning — then adapts it as you log sessions.

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