"I am building a fire, and
everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match." - Mia Hamm
Soccer Agility –
Introduction
Throughout the
history of soccer,
players have constantly perfected their skills and pushed the limits of
the
game and we're now witnessing a fast-paced soccer where every second
counts.
Speed and agility are two of the most important physical factors for a
professional nowadays, but in this article we'll focus on the latter.
Let's
take a look at how agility in soccer affects other skills and abilities.
Soccer
Agility – Importance
There are several
moments during
a soccer match where all that agility soccer training will pay off. It
doesn't
really matter what position you're playing on, since every play needs
to be
quick on their feet (although we'll discuss later how each position
makes use
of agility). Here are a few skills that are affected by agility and can
be
further improved by having a strong agility soccer training schedule:
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Dribbling
– Probably the most important skill affected by
agility,
dribbling makes full use of a player's quickness. Being able to chance
direction quickly, move your feet fast around, over and
behind the ball
as well
as the ability to quickly launch yourself off the ground in a sprint
are all
related to agility and all these factors affect your dribbling skill.
Sprints
– The speed you obtain during a sprint won't be
affected
too much by your soccer agility exercises, but your burst acceleration
will.
Actually,
when working on improving your sprints, you will have little choice for
increasing your top speed (for the most part, speed is a natural
ability – you
either have it, or you don't), but you can maximize your initial
acceleration
by being more agile.
Tackling
– Being able to get down on the ground for a
sliding
tackle quicker will make your tackling skill more precise, reducing the
chance
you foul or miss-time your tackles. Good soccer agility will also help
you get
off the
ground quicker, recovering the ball in case your tackle knocked it off
the feet
of the attacker.
Finishing
– As a deep lying striker whose primary job is to
make
the most out your teammates' crosses, working your way around your
marker and
getting to the ball is crucial. Having a good agility allows you just
that and
once you get to the ball, you can finish off the play as well.
Defending
– Agility helps a defender in the same way it
helps a
dribble, but a defender will use his quickness and ability to change
directions
with ease to counter the dribble instead. This is especially important
to left
and right backs or wingers, who tend to have to face fast players who
dribble
using their own speed and agility.
Soccer
Agility – Player Position Requirements
Goalkeepers
– Agility exercises take up a lot of a
goalkeeper's
training schedule, since they help him move on the goal line faster to
catch a
ball aimed at the other end of the goal, or help him come off the goal
line to
collect crosses with more ease. To some extent, agility soccer training
also
affects a goalkeeper's reflexes, although reflexes are a much more
complex
chemical formula encompassing natural talent, agility and various other
skills.
Defenders
– As I noted earlier, a defender can make good use
of
their agility by countering dribbles and tackling correctly. A defender
is also
forced to sprint out of defense on many occasions during a match,
forming the
offside line and leaving strikers out of play, so by improving their
acceleration through agility exercises, defenders actually improve this
off-the-ball skill as well.
Midfielders
– For left and right midfielders, agility exercises
work towards helping them dribble easier and giving them the
acceleration boost
needed to overcome their direct opponents. For central midfielders and
playmakers, agility can create an awesome combination with the player's
vision,
allowing him to quickly gain control of the ball, turn it in the
direction of a
teammate and unleash the pass.
By practicing your agility on a
constant basis, you can turn the 4-5 seconds usually required to
execute this
receive-turn-pass process to a couple of seconds, which is quite an
improvement
considering you'll have at least one or two opponents charging for you
as soon
as you're about to gain possession in midfield.
Attackers
– Since agility affects sprinting, dribbles and
your
ability to throw your marker off balance and finish a cross, you can
pretty
much deduct that it's a crucial skill to work upon as a striker. In the
opponent's box, you have infinitely less time to act than anywhere else
on the
pitch and improving your ball control speed through agility is equally
crucial.
