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Many of the top professionals in the football world are not only good on the ball. Most of them have exceptional physical attributes as well.
They have trained to develop high levels of explosiveness and strength in their body in order to gain an edge over their opponents on the soccer pitch.
The stronger and more explosive you are, the easier you will find it to win the ball and use your body in physical situations.
But there's one particular physical attribute that will heavily benefit every player on the pitch, especially wingers.
Speed, which has many parts to it, is essential for all players to train. Not only so that they can win a footrace against their opponent, but also to be faster off the mark and get to the ball first in 50-50 situations.
Speed Redefined
Before we jump into how to actually improve your speed, first you need to understand what speed actually is and the different parts that make up a 'fast' athlete.
Speed isn't just your linear sprint speed. As soccer players, we're rarely running in a straight line for over 50 meters. Of course, there are moments in a game, like in a counterattack, where this will be the case. But soccer is a game of sharp turns and changes of direction.
There are 3 important aspects of speed in soccer.
Max Velocity - This is your pure speed, how fast you can sprint in a straight line with good form.
Acceleration - This is your 'first step,' and how quickly you can push force into the ground and reach your max velocity. Players who are quick to exert force into the ground find it much easier to get to the ball first in 1v1 situations.
Change of Direction / Agility - This is your ability to shift your body weight from one direction to another, and accelerate into top speed.
By training each of these components of speed, you will become a much faster and quicker athlete in short, and long distance runs.
How to Improve Your Max Velocity
Your Max Velocity is how fast you can sprint in a straight line with good sprinting mechanics.
The best way to improve your Max Velocity is to improve your sprinting mechanics and technique, and then to apply those into the actual action of sprinting!
Sprinting and working on your technique is single-handedly the most effective way to develop your explosiveness and speed, but it is heavily taxing on the body, so it should only be worked on 2-3 times a week.
To improve your sprinting mechanics, you need to train the different techniques that make up a good sprint. You need to break down the different parts of a sprint, and perfect it at a slower and more controlled pace, then apply those practiced techniques to an actual sprint.
To keep it simple, here are a few things you should work on when doing speed mechanics:
Your Knee Drive Triple-Extension
Your Arm and Knee Swings and Coordination
Your Backside Mechanics (Reduce the "cycling" of your back leg)
How to Improve Your Acceleration
Your acceleration is your explosive first step, and your ability to get to max speed in a short amount of time.
Similar to Max Velocity, your acceleration is a technique that must be practiced.
Unlike a sprint, your technique for acceleration will require you to lean a little forward, while your technique for when you reach your max speed will require your torso to be upright.
(*creds to Flow High Performance on YouTube*)
To develop your acceleration, you also need to build more strength and power in your legs in order to drive more force into the ground and propel you forward more.
By combining the raw strength you build in the gym with the right technique for acceleration, you will develop a powerful and explosive first step that will allow you to reach top speed faster.
In order to build this raw strength and power, your goal in the gym should be to progressively improve compound lifts, like Squats and Deadlifts, and to include plyometrics into your routine to teach your body to apply that force into the ground with speed.
By being consistent in the gym, and by consistently improving your technique for acceleration, you will develop a strong first step and be able to shift from a dead stop to max speed as quickly as possible.
Need some drills to improve acceleration? Check out this post from the GoGrindSoccer Page!
How to Improve Your Change of Direction and Agility
Now, before jumping into the things you need to do to improve your agility, it's important that you realize the different between Change of Direction and Agility.
Change of Direction is your ability to turn in the opposite direction and accelerate, but it is predetermined, meaning you already know where and when you are going to change direction.
Agility is your ability to change direction when reacting to stimuli, or reacting to a cue, visual or auditory.
Someone who is very good at changing direction won't have good agility if they're not able to apply that change of direction when reacting to something.
The best way to improve your agility, is by first improving your ability to change direction, and then progress into using some sort of reactive or cognitive element with those change of direction drills.
For whatever drill you choose to do for change of direction or agility, your goal should be to get as low as possible and be able to push the ground away from you and accelerate in the opposite direction.
Make sure your practice different turns, such as full 180-degree turns, 90-degree turns, lateral shuffles, etc.
As a soccer player, it's very important to have a good change of direction, especially if you're a defender.
Need a few drills to improve your change of direction? Check out this Instagram Post on the GoGrindSoccer Page!
Review and Summary
There are many different components of 'speed' that an athlete needs to train in order to truly become a faster player.
One of those components is your Max Velocity which is developed by practicing correct sprinting mechanics and improving sprinting form, and then applying those learned techniques in the action of sprinting.
The next component to speed development is your acceleration, which is your ability to reach your max velocity quickly. Acceleration is developed with a combination of practicing the correct technique, as well as developing raw strength and force in the gym through compound lifts and plyometrics.
The last component that needs to be trained is change of direction and agility. The difference between them is that change of direction is predetermined, while agility is reactive and challenges your body in a different way compared to a normal change of direction drill. The best way to improve these two aspects is by working on getting low and practicing different turns, then applying a cognitive aspect like a visual or auditory cue that forces you to react and change direction.
By practicing each of these components 2-3 times a week (depending on what your body can handle, then slowly over time your body will become more explosive and be able to generate more force into the ground which will allow you to be a much faster athlete.
I am working on a FREE Speed Program for my followers to try! Stay tuned for when I announce it on my Instagram and Youtube Channel!
Thanks for reading! As always...
Get Up. Go GRIND.
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