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The Need For Speed In Soccer

...Soccer players are athletes, but unlike a 100m runner where there is explosive speed for 10 seconds in a straight line, there are many other abilities that soccer players need to develop.

Here are 5 key soccer related speed abilities that you should develop in your players.

#1 - Speed of thought

Soccer players have a great deal to concentrate on. There senses are constantly being blitzed with information, which they need to quickly decipher. Here are some examples:

- Where opponents are positioned

- Actions of their team mates

- What's infront of them and their peripheral vision

- The conditions of the pitch and the weather

- The noise from team mates, crowd, coaches and opponents

- Their tactical position and the strategy of the team

#2 - Speed of anticipation

Some players have a great reading of the game. I have a friend who although he is now in his late 40's early 50's still plays regularly and competes well with players half his age!

How does he do this... because he's played soccer all his life at professional and international level he has built a huge database in his brain of playing situations, player characteristics, tactical situations etc. and he is able to draw on this which gives him superb speed of anticipation.

Sure for explosiveness and reaction times the younger players would win every time, but as the old saying goes..."the first couple of yards are in the head!".

So here it is important that players develop a knack of interpreting the actions of the opponents and what that means to the games development.

#3 - Speed of reaction

As mentioned in the last bullet, speed of reaction is vital.

Anticipation is one thing, being able to react quickly is another.

Consider the role of the goal keeper, their reaction time to a sudden shot, deflection, switch in angle of attack, flight of the ball must be very acute.

But how does a goal keeper react and what...more

League One betting Review - 5 February 2006

...Southend United returned to the top of League One with a 2-0 win at Yeovil. Available at 13/8 before kick off, a first half goal from Mark Bentley and one from veteran Shaun Goater extended the Shrimpers unbeaten run to 12 games. Steve Tilsons side are 7/2 to win the division outright.

Colchester set a new club record of nine consecutive wins as they came from behind to beat Bradford City. Colchester, 8/11 before kick off, fell behind after 37 minutes but hit back through Richard Garcia (2) and Chris Iwelumo. Second placed Colchester are two points behind leaders Southend with two ...more

Fantasy Football Success: Three Basic Rules

...isions.

The third step is to watch the waiver wire and make two key trades. No matter how well you've drafted, near the end of the season, you'll need to make changes. It's time to trade away your depth for stars. Also, watch for available players to pick up -- even if they may only help you for one week. I drafted both Domanick Davis and Chad Johnson last season. Later, I traded both, so I could acquire LaDanian Tomlinson. This simplified my weekly lineup decisions, while giving me a player who would score at least one TD every week.

If you stick to this simple formula, no matter what type of league you play in, you'll make the playoffs 85 to 90 percent of the time. That's not bad in any league.more

Goal Setting: Pops Proves Its never Too Late

...

Pops first set the goal in high school, but when he graduated he thought he wasnt mature enough to pursue it so he enlisted in the U.S. Army.

He dreamed about it as a member of the 82nd Airborne as he became an Army Ranger. Later, in the first Gulf War, he thought about his goal again, as he also did during his service in the Kosovo conflict. For 20 years, through his Army career, a war, marriage and six children, Pops kept the dream and the goal alive.

never mind that he was considered far too old to pursue his dream, Pops just couldnt let go.

When he retired from the Army at 39, he decided it was finally time to do something about the goal hed set so many years before. He moved his family to Columbia, South Carolina and e...more

posted by 88089 @ 1:01 PM