Absolutely, for game preparedness, not mental toughness, that's a different principle all together, the mental aspect aside from confidence built on the field needs to be aporoached accordingly. As far as conditioning, it's a science which has to be progressive with adequate rest, recovery and nutrition, as a coach you should be able to monitor a players fitness levels and increase/decrease activity as required, and it may be different for every player. You cannot just have every player doing the same level of activity some work harder in practices and games and therefore need more rest. Many coaches don't understand the importance or the approach. It takes tremendous discipline and most importantly planning, from training session 1 of the season all the way to the last potential game. Every day should be planned, which includes game days, heavy days, lights, days, off days, soccer days, conditioning days and weight room days. The key is to maximize rest and recovery prior to games and heavy days, and to balance weight room sessions to strengthen the core muscles required to support the progressive increases in output to help minimize the potential for injuries due to both inadequate strength training and unplanned increases in output., (OT, additional minutes for some players due to injury, etc.) In every sport it's so much more than playing and winning, especially as the levels of play, athleticism, performance, competitiveness, amount of games etc. increase as we witnessed over the years with the implementation of Clubs, tournaments, etc. Just look at the size and athleticism of athletes today compared to years ago, and with it we have seen an increase in unjuries. Going back 25 years ago ACL injuries for example were non existent.
