Soccer Speed Training
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by: whitecom
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Running speed can easily be evaluated by timing athletes over a given distance or comparing one athlete to another in a race. But speed relevant to soccer is not necessarily detectable by watching a player outrun an opponent. Straight-line speed is only one display of speed in the sport. Speed for our purpose includes the ability to react quickly, change direction on a dime, change speeds, and repeatedly perform these tasks at a consistently high level throughout a match. Aside from one-on-one matchups, think about what speed does to the scope of a match. The defense is always under pressure, always concerned about the athletes who possess speed. When the defense focuses on one or two key players, the field begins to open up for others. Players with speed force the defense to design their plan around them!
Offensively, scoring opportunities increase, and the number of attacks designed around speed begins to grow. Kick and run becomes a simple but effective method for scoring. Teams with speed can pursue high-risk defensive schemes because their ability to recover means that small mistakes won’t be disastrous. Conversely, an offense that lacks speed is also a defense that lacks speed. Without speed, the game plan changes significantly.
What speed can do for an athlete, team, or organization should not be understated. The main obstacle in the path of acquiring speed is commitment. Although we often talk about speed, coaches typically do not set aside time during practice to focus on improving game speed. Athletes and coaches alike must understand that every athlete can become faster with applied effort.
COMPONENTS OF SOCCER SPEED
Words like explosive and quick are used interchangeably when discussing the speed of athletes. These qualities are important if you are a forward accelerating past a defender, a midfielder initiating an overlapping run, or a defender recovering during a breakaway. We now know that the words explosive and quick are describing power. Now is the time to begin to define speed accurately. To determine soccer-relevant speed, we must first identify the components. Speed in relation to soccer involves (a) strength, (b) endurance (fitness), (c) ability to change direction, (d) reaction time, and (e) running mechanics.
Strength
Strength is crucial for many reasons:
- To build endurance, strength levels must be optimal.
- Strength is a component of power (speed).
- Strength is necessary to reduce the risk of injury that is associated with the intensity of sprint training, interval training, plyometrics, and gamelike conditions.
- Increase in stride length is closely associated with an increase in leg strength.
The foundation of all physical movement begins with strength. The athlete who lacks strength will not benefit significantly from the training involved in improving speed. A great deal of strength is not required to change direction, but it does take a large amount of strength to change direction quickly and precisely (for example, to dribble left, dribble right, and then shoot on goal). Strength is necessary to change running speed from slow to fast over a short distance; weaker athletes need more time to reach top speed. Stronger athletes will be able to work on improving speed with less risk of injury. Chapter 3 describes strength-training programs that will help soccer players become stronger.
Endurance
A proper strength and conditioning program will improve several aspects of endurance:
- Ability to change speeds repetitively and continuously
- Maintenance of speed over both long and short distances
- Maintenance of proper running mechanics for a longer period
- Ability to run repetitively at top speed with minimum rest between bursts
- Reduction in injuries related to top-speed running and ballistic movements
In this case, speed-endurance and strength-endurance are the fitness components associated with speed. Game fitness, the minimum requirement for success, is met by normal training, practices, and matches. Training for speed requires an accelerated and aggressive approach to fitness. Chapter 5 on endurance training discusses ways to improve fitness.
Ability to Change Direction Rapidly
A change of direction is effective only if it is performed rapidly. Dribbling a ball past midfield into a congested defense requires multiple changes of direction while dribbling with both feet. Movements must be sudden, quick, and repetitive. The great ball handlers like Bebeto or Renaldo of Brazil change direction quickly and sharply. Although most directional changes occur in a five-yard perimeter, an element of speed and endurance remains that only a strong, powerful athlete can produce. If there is a lack of strength, there is no sharpness. Lack of fitness means that crisp repetition of movement cannot occur. By combining strength, endurance, a plyometric program, and the agility drills from chapter 6, the soccer athlete can develop tremendous ability to change direction.
Reaction Time
Performing a drill repeatedly can produce accurate movements. But during a match the athlete encounters nothing as predictable as a drill. This is where minimizing reaction time is critical for success. Reaction time in soccer depends on visual stimuli that the athlete processes to make decisions. Reaction time begins when the thought for action occurs and ends when the action is complete. When a defender attempts a tackle, the ball handler’s reaction time determines whether he keeps possession of the ball. The goalkeeper’s reaction time in defending a two-on-one determines whether the result is a stop or a goal. When a player is in position to take a shot on goal, a teammate may break free by the near post. The reaction time of the player with the ball governs whether he passes the ball or shoots. Three basic parameters influence reaction time—the environment that causes the thought for action, the time between the thought for action and the initiation of action, and the time between the initiation of action and its completion. Obviously, the player with slow reaction time will have fewer opportunities for success. Chapter 6, “Agility Training,” and experience in gamelike conditions will teach players to make quick decisions and act on them with speed and coordination.
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