Soccer Newsletter
Hi,
In order for you to continue to grow and develop as a soccer player,
you need as much information as you can put your hands on.
Here is that information for you! Every month, you will receive the
latest information and tips on how to make yourself more athletic.
Should you ever have any specific questions, please feel free to ask
us and we will try and answer them in a subsequent edition.
The Parisi Speed School
How does strength help me as a soccer player?
As we get older (U13 and up), adding
strength to a player will make them a faster, more powerful player.
Here is why:
There is a proven correlation between strength and
speed. Developing a players "posterior chain" of muscles has several
positive effects. Before we get to that, let's describe the muscles
we are referring to here.
Basically these are the muscles you don't
see should you be looking at yourself in the mirror. The Posterior
chain of muscles are your back, your glutes, your hamstrings and
your calf, Getting them stronger, will absolutely make a player
faster. These are the muscles that are used to propel an athlete
forward. They allow the athlete to become very explosive and quick
in their movements.
Now saying all of this, the athlete must be
smart in how they train this set of muscles. An athlete should be
training to gain functional strength. There are many ways to achieve
functional strength. Functional strength combines resistance and
movement. This powerful combination allows an athlete to become
stronger by training in multiple planes. Many athletes want to
"bench press" as an example to get stronger. For movement athletes,
benching is not as productive as say "tire flipping" in generating
functional strength as a bench press only incorporates one level of
plane, while flipping a tire builds several levels in!
Winning 50-50 balls!
As
a player, you have heard this from your coach (we have to win more
50-50 balls!) many times, right? Well, let's discuss this for a
moment. Why is that important...to win 50 50 balls? Well obviously
if we win more of those balls, you and your team will possess the
ball more, which often results in winning soccer. But while winning
a 50-50 ball in the midfield is important, how about winning a 50-50
ball when you are 8 yards away from the goal...or winning a 50-50
ball when the other team is 8 yards away from the goal. Now we are
talking crucial, right?
Well, in order to win 50-50 balls, we must be able to accelerate
quickly to the ball. The better you become at accelerating, the
better your chances are of winning the ball. Proper acceleration can
make 50-50 balls become 90-10 balls to your favor!
Here are the three things that you can do on the field to help you
accelerate faster.
- Forward lean: When you accelerate, if you can have a forward lean
from your very first step, you will have an edge over others.
- First 4-6 steps: The first 4-6 steps are all acceleration steps.
When you accelerate, you must land on the front part of your foot
and push off explosively.
- Arm drive: There are two ways to get faster, stride frequency is one
way. That means how quickly can you turn your legs over (like the
roadrunner cartoon character). The faster you pump your arms, the
faster your feet will go (increasing stride frequency).
So to recap, in order to win more 50-50 balls, work on accelerating
to the ball by a quick forward lean, driving off the front part of
your foot and move those arms quickly!
Coming
up next month!
Next month we are going to explore how to
help you:
- Win more head balls by working on your vertical jump!
- Get a more powerful kick by getting your core stronger
Please feel free to send us any questions that you might have and we
will answer them in a future edition.
Have a great month everyone!
