How can I get faster?

[JNINE]

I recently went to a soccer camp and for the first time in my life I was able to put the ball to the side and beat the defenders with speed. When my evaluation came back, the coach said I should work on my speed. I have never been the fastest player in the world, but not the slowest either. I thought this was the summer when I would finally not have to worry about my speed. Coaches are always saying "You're dribbling skills are fine," then there's that "BUT, your speed needs to improve. How fast do you have to be to be considered fast? Please, give some workouts or routines to do to get fast. I am sick of being graded "average" on speed. I'm willing to do the work.

[slipnslide]

I recently went to a soccer camp and for the first time in my life I was able to put the ball to the side and beat the defenders with speed. When my evaluation came back, the coach said I should work on my speed. I have never been the fastest player in the world, but not the slowest either. I thought this was the summer when I would finally not have to worry about my speed. Coaches are always saying "You're dribbling skills are fine," then there's that "BUT, your speed needs to improve. How fast do you have to be to be considered fast? Please, give some workouts or routines to do to get fast. I am sick of being graded "average" on speed. I'm willing to do the work.

Do sprints at a track. Just don't burnout and quit doing them.

[Bertico84]

I read somewhere around here that doing squats and running on an incline also help improve speed.

[IncaEnclave]

run up hills or the stadiums...that'll increase your speed...the more weight and incline that is on your legs the faster they'll be when no weight is on them and they run on level ground....plus keep workin on your abs so you can stay light and strong

[sockacrazy]

I had the same prob and i started doing plyometrics and sprinting up steep hills then walking down when u get better start jogging down the hill and increasing reps. Also i am thinking about buying

http://www.soccer.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1&pcount=&Product_Id=108093&Key_id=2623430

Hope it helps

-justin

[Tony Dellbird]

Yeah do sprints then set yourself a recovery time say 15seconds? Then sprint again and do it up hills etc all sorts and then up your reps it works.

[PSsoccer123]

I had the same prob and i started doing plyometrics and sprinting up steep hills then walking down when u get better start jogging down the hill and increasing reps. Also i am thinking about buying

http://www.soccer.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1&pcount=&Product_Id=108093&Key_id=2623430

Hope it helps

-justin
I was thinking about getting that same thing, but I would like it if it was a little more than just 6 pounds for each leg. That doesn't seem like much, or maybe it's more but I just misunderstood it.

[JNINE]

Thanks for the help guys. Keep responding..........and great ideas.

[smith07]

I don't know that i would put the weights on my legs...not the healthiest idea and since you are developing fast twich muscle fibers, you will probably need to wait more than 15 seconds between sprints. running up hills is a good idea but you should also run down them; this improves your stride length. i would be careful with the weights; plyometrics and those parachutes are much more effective than and pose less risk in hindering flexibility

[CC05]

Squats will work, you can do those with or without weights. Hill sprints, interval training (ie: 100-200-400-200-100 -- works endurance as well), goto a stadium and run up the steps 2 at a time, jump up with both feet one at a time, jump up with 1 foot 1 step at a time, walk down the steps backwards (difficult but ya get the hang of it eventually). I haven't started much of my track training yet but for indoor (200m track) we do the same intervals as said above at around 80-100% effort. You could also just do shuttle runs in your backyard or agility ladder work.

And hey one tip, make sure you're running "on your toes". Maybe you already do, but I was surprised to see just how many people DON'T run on their toes at a tournament I was at (I don't know why I notice those things...).

[CC05]

Oh and smith, I had no idea that running down hills could increase stride length. I've always had a pretty good stride length naturally but anyways, why does it increase stride length? Just curious :).

[smith07]

i don't know for sure, but my friend's track coach told him to do it to increase stride length

[dasoccerplayafosho]

I'm doing a thing called frappier accelleration, it is absolutely unbeleivable. The only things that are involved in sprinting basically, are a) strength and b) form

frappier helped me a lot with this, and no, I am not a sales rep for frappier, i just started doing it, and it helped a ton
www.frappieracceleration.com

[C. Ronaldo7]

you guys are never ever going to believe this, i am being 100% serious right now. i have not been training all that hard lately this summer, and we came back to training today and i was somehow the fastest kid there. i say screw frappier acceleration and try the laze on your butt and do nothing plan. ;)

[jtowns3]

you guys are never ever going to believe this, i am being 100% serious right now. i have not been training all that hard lately this summer, and we came back to training today and i was somehow the fastest kid there. i say screw frappier acceleration and try the laze on your butt and do nothing plan. ;)


hahahaha this is perhaps the worst advice ever.


but i like it. :D

[C. Ronaldo7]

thank you, thank you very much.

[dasoccerplayafosho]

you guys are never ever going to believe this, i am being 100% serious right now. i have not been training all that hard lately this summer, and we came back to training today and i was somehow the fastest kid there. i say screw frappier acceleration and try the laze on your butt and do nothing plan. ;)

okay, either you're a moron or you're... no, I guess that's it.

Other than that, sounds like a nice plan. I'll try it sometime when I'm like 90 and tell you how much faster I get
Austen

[astabooty]

using weights while running (like the ones in the link) probably would improve something, but the added stress to joints probably wont be good.
anyway plyometrics, actually just going out and sprinting (you will DEFINITELY need more than 15secs between sprints), find a coach and ask them to teach you form running if dont alrdy know (it really should take only a minute to learn the basics), squats, working out your glutes and calves, hill/incline running, strong abs and hip flexors, umm flexibility is a factor. i cant think of anything else. oh and lose weight if you have extra fat.

[laytonbaker]

Build Leg muscles through weight lifting, wind sprints, and plyometrics.

plyometrics are the best.

No matter how fast you are and how much you lift, run, etc...plyometric training will make you quicker, faster, and a much better jumper. It will shave at least 0.2 of second off your 40 yard time...and quite possibly more.

And stretch your hamstrings and groin like crazy.

[CC05]

Build Leg muscles through weight lifting, wind sprints, and plyometrics.

plyometrics are the best.

No matter how fast you are and how much you lift, run, etc...plyometric training will make you quicker, faster, and a much better jumper. It will shave at least 0.2 of second off your 40 yard time...and quite possibly more.

And stretch your hamstrings and groin like crazy.

Plyo's are great, but you better be sure you're in shape before you try 'em.