There are seven soccer secrets that any player can do that will increase their speed and agility and help them get stronger too. These Secrets should be learned by all soccer coaches. Speed kills on the soccer field and these seven secrets will help you race past your opponent.
In order to put fear into a defense a player and a team needs to be fast. In order to be fast, there are two factors that can help increase speed for any player. The first factor is stride frequency. The faster a player moves his arms the faster his feet will move. The second factor is stride length. When running, a player should have her knee lift almost to belly button height.
Here a player is working on changing direction quickly. A player should be able to move in any direction and be able to do that at any speed…slow or fast. Important lateral movements include shuffles and side runs.
Many soccer players stop too upright putting a lot of stress on the knee plus when they do this they are not in a good position to explode into a new direction. Stopping quickly and safely requires players to drop their hips, bend their knees and take smaller steps as they attempt to stop.
Getting stronger in their lower body will help all soccer players get faster and increase their speed through strength training. Lower body strength training should include strengthening a soccer players lower back, glutes, hamstrings and calf muscles.
Training soccer players to be anaerobically fit will enhance many aspects of your teams soccer speed and skill performance. To train anaerobically, soccer players should work on many explosive 15-25 yards burst. In addition, these movements should include both linear (north/south) movements and lateral (east/west) movements.
The more flexible a soccer player is the less likely that they could get injured plus flexibility enhances speed and agility.
For soccer players to run fast and be explosive, they need to be properly fueled and hydrated. Helping your players with their nutrition will pay excellent dividends for you players.
I have found that these seven secrets of soccer speed and agility help make all soccer players more athletic and thus more dangerous on the soccer field.
Have a great day!