The Basics of Soccer Agility

While this definition sounds basic there is more than meets the eye. For example, your ability to stop fast is directly proportionate to how fast you are running. But even that does not tell the whole story. If you had little kids run and stop as fast as possible a few of them would probably fall over and a couple more would struggle to keep their balance. Neither of these situations is ideal when creating soccer athletes with great agility.

Each of the components of the definition of soccer agility are not isolated movements in a game. Deceleration, Acceleration and Changing direction work together at times. For example, I gave the example of little kids above struggling to maintain balance after stopping. While they were struggling to stay upright they were not in a position to turn and run. In this instance, the next movement whether it be acceleration or change of direction, could not happen optimally. So starting the next movement is related to how fast you stop under control.

With that as some background let’s redefine agility. Agility is the ability to stop, accelerate, and change direction as quickly as possible while under control. Remember, just because you are stopped does not mean you are ready to make the next move.

Agility is more than strength and power, its balance, vision, awareness, ability to react to the outside stimulus. And by using proper angles you can become an even faster soccer player.

Strength

A stronger athlete should be able to stop and change direction faster than a weak athlete. Follow the motion with me. You’re running laterally to catch up with an opponent. When you catch up with him he immediately changes direction. You react as quickly as possible to his movement by planting your cutting leg outside your hips so you can change direction. Now all the energy and force from the attempted change of direction is loading that plant leg to many times your body weight. At this moment a few things will determine whether you will keep up. Do you have good balance and core strength? If not you might find you swaying outward  slowing down the turn.

How strong are your legs? With all that energy bearing down on the outside leg how easily you are able to manage the energy so that you don’t collapse to the ground is key. How far does that outside leg bend under pressure? The second key in leg strength and power comes after your leg has accepted and dominated the energy. Now you must reverse course and power yourself out of the leg bend into positive movement.

This was meant to illustrate the importance strength plays in agility. This is why a solid strength and conditioning program is invaluable to the development of athletes. Some of the training can be done on the field before practice using just your bodyweight. I know soccer coaches really like to work the core and that is great but realize what the core is trying to do during an agility movement and train it for that.

What is the Core doing during an Agility Situation?

In the illustration above I talked about upper body sway because of lack of core strength. This is when the body is trying to stop but the upper body continues to move in the direction it was moving. It is preferable to have the entire body stopped and chang directions together.

During the course of deceleration the core is trying to maintain its posture and resist the forces. We call this stabilization. Because of this realization no longer are crunches and v ups enough. We have to train the core like it is used in the game. We have to train stabilization. One type of exercise to do that is the plank. Here are some pictures to help:

The Forward Plank

Get in the pushup position and place your elbows and forearms underneath the chest.  Keep your body straight from the ankles through the knees, butt, shoulders and head.

Maintain a flat back and minimize sagging. Hold for the required time. If this is too difficult get on your knees. Beginners can start at 10-20 seconds and progress up to 60 seconds.

Side Plank

Follow similar directions as listed above except on your side. This will really work the muscles located on the side of the core area.

This requires alot of shoulder stability. If you have shoulder problems, don't do this exercise.

Summary

As you teach or learn proper agility skills make sure you don't just implement stopping, starting and changing directions. Each of these needs to be done under control.