Speed

In any sport, speed is what separates the great players from the average players. When many people think of speed, they think that speed only refers to how fast you are. But as an athlete, I know how important other types of speed are in sports. While physical speed plays a huge role in soccer, it is crucial to understand that how fast you are should not be the only aspect of speed that you train. In fact, physical speed is often the easiest aspect of speed to train. You may be wondering what other kinds of speed there are and how you can train them.

Physical speed is one of, if not the most important factor in an athlete's game. In modern day sports, it seems like everyone just keeps getting faster and faster. It seems this way because it is true. With new training methods and new and improved running techniques, world-class athletes continue to get faster and faster. To be the best, you have to keep up with the best. This means training your speed as well as your agility will help you reach your full potential. In today's world, speed is one of the first aspects of an athlete's game that is noticed.

Speed may be the single most important aspect of any sport, especially soccer. While physical speed is extremely important, the speed of your mental process is what will make you the great player that you desire to be. With a quick mental process, you are enabled to make quicker decisions on the field and execute those decisions with precision. A quick mind can be the determining factor in a close game. Although mental speed often goes overlooked by average spectators, it is one of the main aspects that coaches at the next level look for in a player.

With these training drills, you will find yourself becoming a faster player both physically and mentally. To be the best that you can be, it is important to stick with it and perform these drills and training exercises constantly. Practice makes perfect. Here is a link to Nike's master speed workout program. Instead of working on speed alone, these exercises are specifically to help your touch while increasing your speed. Use this along with the other speed training I have posted to get the full spectrum of speed training.

 http://www.nike.com/nikefootball/content/training/downloads/pdf/Master_Speed_en_GB.pdf

“The Need for Speed in Soccer.” streetdirectory. 2003. 31 January 2012.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/7586/recreation_and_sports/the_need_for_speed_in_soccer.html

 This source is a great source for coaches that are just starting out and need to know the proper place to start with the training of their players. It shows the different kind of speed that there is to work on and gives a few tips how to exercise these different areas.

This web page is perfect for my section in my blog about speed. It goes over the different kinds of speed in which I briefly introduced in my tab. It shows how important mental speed is in soccer and why it is important. It also shows how physical speed also plays a huge role in an individual’s success.