The Need For Speed
Soccer is a game of quickness. It’s that first two to three steps
that separate the good players from the great, and the goals
from the “it was SO close”.
I don’t see teams practice quickness and they should. It is
so important.
There are two aspects of being quick. The first, is the mental
aspect. Knowing when and how to make that first quick burst.
The second is the physical aspect; knowing how and having the
conditioning to do it.
Kids should learn quickness as a progression; without a ball,
without a ball against a partner, with a ball, and then with a
ball and partner.
There are a lot of details to being quick. Stance, footwork,
body position, reaction time, and leg strength all play an
important role.
It takes time and effort to make soccer players quick yet
it is well worth it.
Why Teach Running?
Imagine a typical youth soccer game…
The kids are running up and down the field, playing
their hearts out. It’s a close game and one player
has a chance to score the winning goal.
The parents and coaches are going wild. They
yell, “GO! Go! Run, Run, Run”. The kid is doing
her best…
and then is reeled in and caught by the
defenders. The ball is stolen and the visiting team
scores.
The next day at practice, the coach says everyone
has to run faster. The parent’s say everyone needs
to be faster.
The only problem is they don’t know how to
get everyone faster.
Running faster is rarely a matter of effort.
It is a matter of two factors:
1) Technique
2) Training
Of these two factors the most critical is technique.
If the technique is poor all the training in the world
won’t do much good.
The next article will give some tips on how to teach
technique…
Fitness For the Beginning Soccer Player
When kids get started in soccer they are usually six to eight years old.
Even at this age, there are wide differences in ability. Some kids come
with a lot of natural talent. Some come with great athletic abilities.
Most are in the middle of the pack.
As the kids get older, soccer gets more competitive. The best
kids go on. The rest, drop out.
This is a shame. First, soccer is a great game. Second,
all kids should be able to play as long as they want.
Even when they are 90!
Because of TV, video games, poor PE programs, lack
of outside playtime, cutbacks in recess, and
poor nutrition the majority of our kids lack the
fundamental athletic skills.
Without these skills, it can be difficult maybe
impossible to catch up with the few that
have it.
What can YOU do? Here are five tips:
1) Encourage your child to get outside and play
as much as possible.
2) Do something with them every day; exercise, walk,
liftweights, kick a soccer ball, etc. Make it fun and
play with them.
3) Expose your child to as many activities as
you can. Swimming, gymanstics, basketball,
tennis. Build all around athletic and movement
skills before specializing.
4) Realize that not all kids are going to be
superstars. Encourage their participation and
effort.
5) Kids develop at different rates. Some will
mature early and be ahead of the game. Others,
will develop later. Don’t rush their development.
In the end that will only delay their natural gifts.
If your child is not a natural athlete or seems
to be behind the rest of the kids you can
learn to work with him or her.
To learn more, sign-up for my newsletter and special report.
You’ll learn how to work with your child in
a safe, sane and appropriate way.
Breathing and Running
A lot of kids that have running problems have them because
they don’t breath correctly when they run. This is especially true
for overweight kids that don’t get to run around a lot.
The biggest mistakes I see are:
1) Shallow inhale
2) Not exhaling enough
3) Holding their breath
A good way to work on breathing correctly with kids of
any age is to do calesthenic type exercises that emphasize
the breathing.
For instance; squats or toe touchers. As your body compresses
you exhale. As you rise and stand you inhale.
They should be able to hear both the inhale and exhale. This gives
them an auditory cue to help them learn. The more cues the
better.
Should they breath through their nose or mouth? To tell you
the truth, I’m not sure. I’ve seen coaches recommend both
ways. I’ve experimented with both and I’m not sure.
It’s something that I think you should experiment with. Or
just let the kids do what comes naturally to them.
Working on breathing a few minutes a day during warm-ups
can go a big way to helping with running technique.
Try it!
How To Improve Foot Speed
I was watching a video clip of highlights from a professional
tournament the other day. It’s fun to do isn’t it?
The camera angle focused on the feet of the players
as they dribbled around their opponent.
The feet would barely touch the ground, tap the ball one
way, roll it another, and when the defender’s legs were tied
up in knots, they speed off towards the goal.
It was an amazing display of how quick the players are.
And it got me thinking about how would you train that
kind of speed. And that kind of technique.
The first step, would be do work on very fast feet with
out a ball. I would start off making sure that the athlete
had a good basic athletic stance:
1. Stand tall
2. Bend knees
3. Curve in lower back
4. Weight on the balls of the feet
From here, the athlete would work on
tapping their feet in various directions; front, side, back, variable.
There are lots of games you could do to encourage faster and
faster feet. You could try competition with a partner or to see
how many taps you could get in ten seconds. Be creative.
The next step would be to throw body/head fakes into the tapping
and then a short sprint.
When the athletes are proficient at this, add a ball with out
a partner.
Finally, add a defender. Be sure to slowly increase the intensity
level of the defenders so each athlete can work on work on the
skill instead of “beating” the defender.
So many soccer skills can seem overwhelming. But when broken
down into smaller increments they become very teachable.
Be sure to sign-up for my newsletter at
to learn many more drills
and techniques to gain athletic skills and soccer success.
How To Improve Foot Speed
I was watching a video clip of highlights from a professional
tournament the other day. It’s fun to do isn’t it?
The camera angle focused on the feet of the players
as they dribbled around their opponent.
The feet would barely touch the ground, tap the ball one
way, roll it another, and when the defender’s legs were tied
up in knots, they speed off towards the goal.
It was an amazing display of how quick the players are.
And it got me thinking about how would you train that
kind of speed. And that kind of technique.
The first step, would be do work on very fast feet with
out a ball. I would start off making sure that the athlete
had a good basic athletic stance:
1. Stand tall
2. Bend knees
3. Curve in lower back
4. Weight on the balls of the feet
From here, the athlete would work on
tapping their feet in various directions; front, side, back, variable.
There are lots of games you could do to encourage faster and
faster feet. You could try competition with a partner or to see
how many taps you could get in ten seconds. Be creative.
The next step would be to throw body/head fakes into the tapping
and then a short sprint.
When the athletes are proficient at this, add a ball with out
a partner.
Finally, add a defender. Be sure to slowly increase the intensity
level of the defenders so each athlete can work on work on the
skill instead of “beating” the defender.
So many soccer skills can seem overwhelming. But when broken
down into smaller increments they become very teachable.
Be sure to sign-up for my newsletter at
to learn many more drills
and techniques to gain athletic skills and soccer success.
Running Easy
I took a guitar lesson the other day. Now, I’m a pretty good
guitar player. I’ve played for quite a few years and know
my way around the fret board.
But I’ve never been able to play fast. I know the techniques
and I know the tricks. But I never could figure out what
I was doing wrong.
My instructor talked about how great guitar players play
“light”. And it hit me like a thunder bolt. “You mean I don’t
have to grab the neck like it’s a hundred pound sack of
flower?”
Instantly, I was able to lighten up, and could tell that now
my speed would increase. Not to mention my hand wouldn’t
get so tired.
I think when kids run (or do most anything), we tell them to
try harder. We tell them to “go, go, go”. Yet what they really
need to do is to relax.
They need to “lighten up” in their running. They will run
easier and faster.
They need to “lighten up” in their kicking. Or their fielding.
Or their shooting.
I’m going to notice all week on things that I do where I could
lighten up. I wonder how much easier things get done…
How To Build a House or an Athlete
When it comes to building a house, what is
the first thing the architect checks?
It’s the ground, isn’t it?
No matter how beautiful or well designed the
house, if ground isn’t ready then the house
isn’t going to stand up very well.
And so it is with building an athlete. If
an athlete doesn’t have the fundamental athletic
skills there could be problems ahead.
These skills used to be developed just by
going outside and playing. Kids would run, climb,
throw, swim, push, crawl, jump and do it all
day long.
Nowadays, kids are lucky if they get a total
of two hours of physical recreation.
Then we put our child into sports trying to
give them the fitness and exercise experience
they need.
This is like building a house on mud.
I encourage you to start exercising and playing
with your child as much as possible. Take them
to the park, kick them out of the house and make
them play in the backyard.
The more activities they do the better the groundwork
will be for them throughout their lives.
And if you want some more tips, be sure to sign up
for my newsletter and free special report. You’ll get more
in depth analysis and details.
Keep The Knees Bent
I was watching the Lakers/Spurs game the other night.
The speed, agility and coordination of those athletes is
amazing, isn’t it?
One thing I noticed was that most of the players had
their knees bent all the time.
And they were bent a lot. Probably close to 135 degrees
or more.
They were bent when they were on defense. They were
bent when they were running. And they were bent when
they got tired.
Bending the knees allows you to start quicker and to
change direction faster.
When you’re running, you can stop quicker and then
be ready to jump, cut, or shoot.
Soccer is a lot like basketball. It takes great agility
and quickness.
It usually isn’t the fastest person
who gets to the ball first. It is the person who
moves first who gets there.
When I watch teams practice, they stand with
their legs straight most of the time. If they practice
this way, they will compete this way.
Work with your team or child to keep their knees
bent. Encourage them to do it when they are passing,
shooting, or exercising.
Soon, they will have developed the strength to hold
that position for a full 90 minutes.
Do it, and watch their game sky rocket!
Why Fitness For Soccer?
Do you want to learn to run faster, get in better shape for your
soccer game?
Perhaps you’re a parent looking to help your child’s fitness
or skills.
Maybe you’re a coach looking to develop your skills
and the skills of your players.
Either way, this site is for you. While geared towards
the younger and less experienced athletes, there will
be a host of articles for the advanced soccer players.
Welcome to my site. Explore and please provide feedback.
I love comments and opinions.
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