A Moment in Soccer - Selection #4

Coming to Terms

My U18 boys’ team was lined up ready to do fitness. I explained the exercise and then demonstrated the technique. It wasn’t complicated, but the devil’s in the details.

“When you accelerate from a stopped position,” I explained. “Your first step needs to be small, barely bigger than the length of your own foot. As you gain momentum, your strides get longer. It looks like this.” I pushed off, kept my feet underneath my body and exploded out about twenty yards. It wasn’t hard for me. I’ve always been quick, had good footwork. I jogged back toward my team.

“Coach, I have a question,” a kid named Andy asserted himself.

“Yeah, what’s up Andy?”

“When we do it, should we go faster than that?”