Football requires speed and stamina. You don't need to be Usain Bolt to have a successful career, but it's definitely worth training to improve in explosive shots. To become a great player you also need to have excellent mental speed, including a sense of anticipation and the ability to quickly change direction and technical gesture. Give it your all on the pitch by becoming faster and more agile in running, ball control and reaction times.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Getting Faster
Step 1. Practice sprinting to increase your top speed
By training yourself to reach high speeds over relatively short distances, you will be able to run faster. One such exercise is shooting.
- Run at your maximum speed for 20-30 meters.
- Make sure you move your arms smoothly and relaxed throughout the exercise. Keep them close to your body.
- Focus on keeping an even, fluid stride with your knees high.
- Keep your head relaxed and in a natural position.
- When you finish your sprint, run slowly or walk back to the starting position.
- Complete 2-4 repetitions of the exercise.
Step 2. Do some acceleration exercises
A quick change of pace is essential in football, often more than the maximum running speed. Acceleration exercises help you reach high speeds and slow down more effectively, as well as allow you to do other workouts at a faster pace. Here is a simple example:
- Run at a slow pace for 10 meters.
- Shoot for 10 meters.
- Run at a slow pace again for another 10 meters.
- Shoot again for 10 meters.
- Slow down for 5 meters.
- Walk back to the starting point.
Step 3. Use a speed scale
This exercise increases speed, lower body agility, balance and coordination. To use this horizontal tool you have to alternate your feet between one peg and the other as you run. To improve your speed, use a stopwatch during your exercises, trying to beat your records.
You can find speed ladders in almost every major sporting goods chain
Step 4. Try interval training
To use your speed on the court effectively, you need to get used to making changes of pace. To do this, try 30 minutes of interval training. Alternate a light run (5-10 minutes) with short periods of more intense activity, such as:
- Shots.
- Running up steps or uphill.
- Exercises with the stairs.
- Use of the ball in combination with previous activities.
Part 2 of 3: Increase Agility
Step 1. Train to improve reaction speed
To be fast on the pitch, running is not enough; you also need to know how to change direction, step or technical gesture quickly and often. To improve reaction times, practice while the coach or a partner tells you (or rather gives you a nod) to change activities. Try to react as quickly as possible. Try a similar combination of exercises:
- Quick changes of direction while running.
- Shoot on command.
- Play "1, 2, 3, star".
Step 2. Stretch your joints
To accelerate, you need to reach out and use your hips, knees and ankles. When running or doing other exercises, focus on taking long, even steps. Increasing stride distance and muscle push in this way helps you improve speed.
Step 3. Practice with the ball
As you train to increase your speed on the pitch, don't neglect ball control. Remember that football is first and foremost a sport in which the lower body of the players moves in contact with the ball and the ground. To become not only fast, but fast and good at ball control, you need to work on agility.
- Tap the ball whenever you get the chance, using all parts of the foot (outside, inside, sole and instep).
- Do some speed dribbling drills, kicking the ball slightly forward and following it with a sprint.
- Practice quick changes of direction when carrying the ball and do speed dribbling drills. You can also do this while trying to outrun an opponent with the ball.
- Do exercises where the ball is dropped by your side. Ask the coach or a partner to hold the ball at your shoulder, 5 meters from you. When he lets go, try to reach and control her before she bounces a second time.
Part 3 of 3: Planning a Training Program
Step 1. Warm up
Always do stretches and short exercises to warm up your muscles before a speed training session. This is to prepare the mind and body. If you don't warm up properly, you can risk getting injured.
Step 2. Start with speed workouts
These exercises should always be the first part of a training session (after the warm-up). As they require great strength and power, you should do them while you are still fresh, otherwise you may not reach and exceed your limits.
Step 3. Do plyometric and weight exercises
To improve your speed in football you need to become stronger and more resilient. In addition to exercises where you try to lower your records, try doing plyometric (explosive) and weight training, such as:
- Jumps.
- Squat.
- Burpees.
- Bench presses.
- Raise.
- Leg curl.
Step 4. Take a day off
Training to get faster is very tiring. It is very important to include a day of rest between training sessions. If you tried to strain your muscles again when they are fatigued or sore, you would not get any results and would only risk getting injured.
Step 5. Focus on technique, and only then on speed
There is no point in becoming faster if you make technical mistakes or when performing an exercise. Make sure you know the fundamentals of football before working on that aspect. Focus on getting things right, then only think about getting faster later.
Advice
- Take care of your fitness when trying to get faster; for example, eat well and stay hydrated.
- Don't try to improve your speed if you are still very young. You should wait about 12-18 months after reaching your peak speed, which usually shows up in the early teens (shortly before for girls).
