improving quickness

[Unregistered]

This is a great thread, the topic is very relevant let's keep it clean. Kids that grow too fast may be slow at young ages until their neuromucular development catches up. The most importantt at young ages is ball skills is all about the ball. You can improve speed and quickness later with drills and losing weight as said before but if you don't have the ball skill and footwork , too bad!
Agree that doing drills for quick reaction and speed ladder helps a lot. Look online there are many drills for agility. One drill that helps to react to the ball is having the player in the center and having three other players around him sending balls for the center player to receive turn and pass it back to another player if your kid plays midfield.

[Unregistered]

I would agree that quickness and speed are primarily genetic but that doesn't mean we shouldnt train for it. In other words, we each have our limit to how fast we can be. If we train, we can come closer to that limit, even though it might be slower that some others. If we don't train, we don't aproach that limit. And that would go for fast or slow kids.

[Unregistered]

Would we not all agree that game speed and training speed sometimes do not add up. Example during training everyone is in jog mode or just above. Game speed is a higher for the most part until they get tired, so conditioning might be the key. I also do not understand game time speed in some intense times the quickness and speed is off the charts then other times they look slow still do not understand the sense of urgency issues with players !

[Unregistered]

As a coach there is so much wrong information here. Center backs do not have to be fast, they have to be smart along with defenders. I do not mean sloooow. if you have average speed then you can play center back and defense as long as you are smart and technically sound but you do need smart teammates around you. If you do not have good ball skills in the back then you better be really fast to compensate for the mistakes you are eventually going to make. If I do not have defenders with good skills I put my fastest kids back there

Also you can train to be faster relative to themselves but I have never seen anyone go from average speed to blazing speed or slow to average but any increase in speed helps. One of the best ways to increase your speed is to lose 10 pounds of fat and get leaner although I do not recommend putting growing kids on diets to get fast.

Also the fastest kids is not always a striker. Sometimes its' the strongest who can hold the ball while support catches up or the kid who only needs a small window of opportunity to finish 90% of the time

Finally there is difference between being quick and playing quick. The ball moves faster than any player so you should not play more than 2-3 touches. Watch the pros all the time and learn,

I will take smart technically sound players every time over soccer stupid fast players

Love your last sentence. I see many coaches do the opposite hoping the kid can run fast enough to put the ball in the back of the net but as he gets older without the skills.....well you know what happen...........

[Unregistered]

Improving quickness

As a coach there is so much wrong information here. Center backs do not have to be fast, they have to be smart along with defenders. I do not mean sloooow. if you have average speed then you can play center back and defense as long as you are smart and technically sound but you do need smart teammates around you. If you do not have good ball skills in the back then you better be really fast to compensate for the mistakes you are eventually going to make. If I do not have defenders with good skills I put my fastest kids back there

Also you can train to be faster relative to themselves but I have never seen anyone go from average speed to blazing speed or slow to average but any increase in speed helps. One of the best ways to increase your speed is to lose 10 pounds of fat and get leaner although I do not recommend putting growing kids on diets to get fast.

Also the fastest kids is not always a striker. Sometimes its' the strongest who can hold the ball while support catches up or the kid who only needs a small window of opportunity to finish 90% of the time

Finally there is difference between being quick and playing quick. The ball moves faster than any player so you should not play more than 2-3 touches. Watch the pros all the time and learn,

I will take smart technically sound players every time over soccer stupid fast players

Speaking from experience as a former YNT player and pro, you are absolutely correct on this. There is a plethora of increase-speed gimmicks. They're just that, worthless gimmicks. A certain degree of explosive quickness--especially in the 5yd-15yd range--at the higher levels (DAP, ODP regional or youth national team, D1, pro) is imperative, but, agreeing with you 100%, mental quickness, i.e., "thinking one step ahead" (considering all pass options prior to receiving the ball), is, at he very least as, if not more, important than physical quickness. Superb distributors of the ball, at any position, can, in most cases, definitely compensate for a lack of quickness. Also, you're spot on with regard to the touches on a ball a pro takes. During the 2014 WC, I collected stats from 7 random games (25-minute segments) on the number of touches on the ball. Here are the results:

Touches Percentage
1 39%
2 29%
3 9% (Thus, 77% of the WC play in this random sample was done using
4 6% 1,2, or 3 touches)
5 4%
6 5%
7 2%
8 2%
9 3%
10 1%
11 1%

Wingers accounted for most of the 7+ touches.

Youth players at any level should aspire to play 77% of the game, using three or fewer touches on the ball each possession. If quickness is not a gift a player has, then he or she can 1) think one step ahead 2) develop a superb touch on the ball 3) emulate the 77%.
This costs nothing but discipline, determination and dedication.

[Unregistered]

Improving quickness

As a coach there is so much wrong information here. Center backs do not have to be fast, they have to be smart along with defenders. I do not mean sloooow. if you have average speed then you can play center back and defense as long as you are smart and technically sound but you do need smart teammates around you. If you do not have good ball skills in the back then you better be really fast to compensate for the mistakes you are eventually going to make. If I do not have defenders with good skills I put my fastest kids back there

Also you can train to be faster relative to themselves but I have never seen anyone go from average speed to blazing speed or slow to average but any increase in speed helps. One of the best ways to increase your speed is to lose 10 pounds of fat and get leaner although I do not recommend putting growing kids on diets to get fast.

Also the fastest kids is not always a striker. Sometimes its' the strongest who can hold the ball while support catches up or the kid who only needs a small window of opportunity to finish 90% of the time

Finally there is difference between being quick and playing quick. The ball moves faster than any player so you should not play more than 2-3 touches. Watch the pros all the time and learn,

I will take smart technically sound players every time over soccer stupid fast players

Speaking from experience as a former YNT player and pro, you are absolutely correct on this. There is a plethora of increase-speed gimmicks. They're just that, worthless gimmicks. A certain degree of explosive quickness, especially in the 5yd-15yd range, at the higher levels (DAP, ECNL, ODP regional or youth national team, D1, pro) is imperative, but, agreeing with you 100%, mental quickness, i.e., "thinking one step ahead" (considering all pass options prior to receiving the ball), is, at the very least as important than physical quickness. Superb distributors of the ball, at any position, can, in most cases, compensate for a lack of quickness. Also, you're spot on with regard to the touches on a ball a pro takes. During the 2014 WC, I collected stats from 7 random games (25-minute segments) on the number of touches on the ball. Here are the results:

Touches Percentage
1 39%
2 29%
3 9% (Thus, 77% of the WC play in this random sample was done using
4 6% 1,2, or 3 touches)
5 4%
6 5%
7 2%
8 2%
9 3%
10 1%
11 1%

Wingers accounted for most of the 7+ touches.

Youth players at any level should aspire to use three or fewer touches on the ball each possession during games. If quickness is not a gift a player has, then he or she can 1) think one step ahead 2) develop a superb touch on the ball 3) emulate the 77%.
This costs nothing but discipline, determination and dedication.

[Unregistered]

Age is big factor. Growth rate can hamper speed. At u-11-u15 my son got pegged as slow.
Slow first step. He also grew for 4 nothing to over 6 feet tall in the same time period.

Now in u16 and his muscles have caught up with him he is one of the quickest and fastest players on the field. He also works on first step quickness. Squat jumps and single leg lunges have worked well

Please explain squat jumps and single leg lunges? I take it this is without weights?

[Unregistered]

Speaking from experience as a former YNT player and pro, you are absolutely correct on this. There is a plethora of increase-speed gimmicks. They're just that, worthless gimmicks. A certain degree of explosive quickness--especially in the 5yd-15yd range--at the higher levels (DAP, ODP regional or youth national team, D1, pro) is imperative, but, agreeing with you 100%, mental quickness, i.e., "thinking one step ahead" (considering all pass options prior to receiving the ball), is, at he very least as, if not more, important than physical quickness. Superb distributors of the ball, at any position, can, in most cases, definitely compensate for a lack of quickness. Also, you're spot on with regard to the touches on a ball a pro takes. During the 2014 WC, I collected stats from 7 random games (25-minute segments) on the number of touches on the ball. Here are the results:

Touches Percentage
1 39%
2 29%
3 9% (Thus, 77% of the WC play in this random sample was done using
4 6% 1,2, or 3 touches)
5 4%
6 5%
7 2%
8 2%
9 3%
10 1%
11 1%

Wingers accounted for most of the 7+ touches.

Youth players at any level should aspire to play 77% of the game, using three or fewer touches on the ball each possession. If quickness is not a gift a player has, then he or she can 1) think one step ahead 2) develop a superb touch on the ball 3) emulate the 77%.
This costs nothing but discipline, determination and dedication.

Thanks for adding to my comment

[Unregistered]

In my day we used a chicken in a pen we would chase that chicken all day long that worked great ! It made us have the eye of the tiger.

[Unregistered]

You cant teach speed. Might get them stronger and teach them the proper way to run, but speed is mostly inherited. Training is only going to get you so far when it comes to speed, put the training tome into the basics.

[Unregistered]

Hi,

My child is athletic, strong and has advanced ball skills but, overall quickness has not progressed as quickly. Has anyone in Orlando used any speed/agility training companies for children?

If they can not improve their speed are they doomed as they get older?

Atlas Speed Training. Ernest Wiggins is awesome. He trains kids from almost every club in Orlando. Far better than SSP in my opinion. My son has trained at SSP and D1 and Atlas is much better. I am sure others will chime in as well.

Atlasspeedtraining.com

[Unregistered]

Age is big factor. Growth rate can hamper speed. At u-11-u15 my son got pegged as slow.
Slow first step. He also grew for 4 nothing to over 6 feet tall in the same time period.

Now in u16 and his muscles have caught up with him he is one of the quickest and fastest players on the field. He also works on first step quickness. Squat jumps and single leg lunges have worked well

I agree- my son was always average to the slowest. Once he hit puberty her got a lot stronger and strides are long. He is now one of the faster kids. Crazy how people peg the athletes at a young age and then puberty hits.

[Unregistered]

Hi,

My child is athletic, strong and has advanced ball skills but, overall quickness has not progressed as quickly. Has anyone in Orlando used any speed/agility training companies for children?

If they can not improve their speed are they doomed as they get older?

What do you mean doomed? Do you mean they won't get a full scholarship to a top college program or make the U.S. national team? Then yeah, if they are not quick enough they probably won't. It doesn't mean they can't play and have fun and continue to play at the college level.

If they have every thing but speed and/or quickness they can still play at higher levels. I agree with the poster who said play them at center mid and center back. If they are smart, skilled and have vision you don't have to be super fast at these positions. You can't be super slow and you need to be able to think and release the ball quickly.

Just don't over think it and expect your kid to excel in all areas. Most kids don't and pressure from parents creates too much frustration and takes away what is most important to the kid. Just saying the word doom gives the impression that your expectations might be too high.

[Unregistered]

I agree- my son was always average to the slowest. Once he hit puberty her got a lot stronger and strides are long. He is now one of the faster kids. Crazy how people peg the athletes at a young age and then puberty hits.

This is true both ways. I have seen kids who were super fast when they were young only to slow down significantly in their teen years.

My kid has always been super fast. Through those growing years the speed fluctuated. With every growth spurt he slowed down, and had to grow into his size to get the speed back. He always did but the level of play (as an outside back) fluctuated each time he grew a couple of inches.

[Unregistered]

If they don't have quickness they will struggle as they get older. It is also harder to make yourself quicker.

The only positions he can play when he gets older if he is not very quick are center back and holding mid. I would try to have the coach move him to one of those positions in preparation for the older years.

It is true only for recreational/development teams. All competitive teams look for equal ability players to each and every position, all 18 or 22 or 26 of them.
Most of non-soccer folks get surprised when they learn Keeper happens to be the fast and quickest player of a strong team. In rec and development ages, normally it is the opposite, slow and baby-fat kids are thrown in the goal position!