What exercises can I do to stregthen my legs? would biking (mountain biking or road) help? What weight lifting or leg exercises can I do? Also, technique plays a large part, how (specifically) can I maximize my leg strength and hit a steven gerrard style rocket?
practice. practice. practice. There is no magic short cut or secret movement. If you don't have a coach, have an experienced team mate help you by watching your technique while striking some dead balls. If you understand the technique, then its just a matter of practice.
Technique as stated and leg speed. But in reality, the best way to increase shot power is directly through shooting. Dynamic and explosive exercises will help, but I doubt ________ has a rocket due to heavy box squats or cleans.
Technique as stated and leg speed. But in reality, the best way to increase shot power is directly through shooting. Dynamic and explosive exercises will help, but I doubt ________ has a rocket due to heavy box squats or cleans.
I think it's simply a combination of timing and practice. I used to train by kicking a tennis ball against a wall for hours a couple of times a week. That's how I learned to time volleys and half volleys and to develop a first touch. You don't want to be trying to learn this stuff in matches, and practising with a small ball makes it much easier to time the larger ball when it matters. I wasn't a particularly big kid but I had one of the better shots in my team purely because I could time the ball for the shot, and knew how to shape my foot and body shape to execute different types of shots depending on how the ball was arriving. It had little to do with leg strength in my opinion.
it's all about foot speed and technique/timing. remember your physics. 1. momentum = mass X velocity. and 2. if you hit dead-on, then momentum is conserved. momentum (of ball) = momentum (of foot) momentum (of ball) = mass (of ball) X velocity (of ball) momentum (of foot) = mass (of foot) X velocity (of foot) therefore: mass (of ball) X velocity (of ball) = mass (of foot) X velocity (of foot) therefore: velocity (of ball) = mass (of foot) X velocity (of foot) / mass (of ball) the mass of the ball doesn't change much. and the mass of your foot doesn't change much. average foot has a mass = 2.3 pounds. regulation soccer ball has a mass about 1 pound. velocity (of ball) = 2.3 X velocity (of foot) / 1 velocity (of ball) = 2.3 X velocity (of foot) so: 1. foot speed. if you want the ball to travel faster (and with greater momentum to push it through the air), your foot has to be moving faster. the above is true if you hit dead-on. if you don't strike the ball dead-on, then some momentum is lost--either it's retained by your foot or it's converted into spin. that's why technique matters. technique is about where your foot strikes the ball. striking the ball in the right place is easier to do when the ball is not moving. when the ball is moving, you need to time your kick. so: 2. technique/timing. if you want the ball to travel faster (and with greater momentum to push it through the air), your foot has to come through the ball closer to dead-on.
If you're going to lift, use quick and explosive movements. Speed over power. Sprints, plyometrics, etc. are good ways to increase explosiveness. Other than that, practice fundamentals. Don't start out trying to hit free kicks from 30 yards. A great technique is much more important than great leg speed.
[I think that Seaside Mafia hit the nail right on the head here: having a sharp & powerful shot is reached by loads of work on what he posts above. I ran across so many N. American coaches who wanted their players to build up Lou Ferrigno-mould tree trunks for legs & I agree that I don't think that it really helps all that much when trying to increase your shooting power & effectiveness.]
I also think improving your balance, and rotational strength will also help. A good chunk of shooting requires to stand on one leg and rotate your body, so movements that duplicate that and or also increase your balance like rotational chops and lifts will be helpful.
Take a close look at the rocket Giovanni van Bronckhorst launched at the WC against Uruguay. He isnot the most powerful guy, hates working with weights, so that answers a part of your question. And no, it wasnot a lucky shot as he did it time after time in his career.
It's not about building all sorts of muscle, it's about increasing the explosive power. Muscle will come with that by default, but it's not a real bulky muscle... it's the same as increasing vertical jump. The movements you need to do are short and explosive because jumping is a split second movement (as is kicking a ball.) It's all about how fast you can move your leg from point A to point B. Also, flexibility is key because the further your leg can go back, the more power you can generate. If you can get your leg back 6 inches further than the next guy but can move your leg to the ball just as fast, then it's guaranteed your shot is going to be stronger.
This is like guys who have "natural" hops. They don't have natural hops, they had to build up that reactive strength through playing basketball, volleyball, karate, or some other activity that increases explosive strength. What they do have a is a genetic disposition that allows them to get higher than others despite the same or even less training. Bronckhorst probably just has those good genes.
[So that would be a different type of exercise & weight-training than what is used to build mass & "bulky" muscle, correct?]
Yes I am American and yea it's not a bulky muscle. Building for bulk is doing 8-12 reps with heavy weight. Building for explosive power is a combination of light-Heavy weight doing very reps. 1-5 reps is good. The power you need o kick a ball is derived form from your groin. I would think the more explosive you can the muscles around your groin, the more kick power you will have.
MAximal strenght is actually the only way to continue to build power. Plyos and reactive training is good but for some actions such as vertical jump, being very strong compared to one's own body weight is really the most surefire way to get more explosive. A bigger muscle has more potential to produce strenght and therefore power but it is true that shooting a soccer ball is a lot about skill and timing of the firing of the muscles as well. Speed and jumping wise though, most good movers are stronger then they look. Check out some of this article : http://www.empoweredathletes.com/soccer-players-need-to-lift/
I thought about this at length, and I think you will be better off doing isolated exercise with a rubber band or cable for your hips than compound exercises. I would recommend, 4 movements: hip extension, hip flexion, hip adduction, hip abduction. One of the few times, where I think isolated exercises will actually beat compound exercises.
I actually wrote the article that tothetop linked. I agree that bands and such are very effective for things like shooting and even swinging a baseball bat which is similar in terms of power development. Everything is a tool in the toolbox and good coaches must know or at least do their best to learn what is best over time. I will say that in my humble experience there is no substitute for getting the lower body strong while not increasing body weight. Even in research studies there is a correlation to squat strength/body weight, and speed. I will look to see if there are any studies about shooting power. Ill be back with more.
The last point I would like to bring up is stability of your non kicking leg. The more stable you are, the more you can use your kicking foot.
[Agree w/you 100% here: the better that you know how to properly utilise your "plant foot", the better & more powerful your shot can be on the average IMO.]
That's exactly it. It's about how strong you can be while not gaining unnecessary body weight. The goal is to stay as light as you can so speed and agility are as good as they can possibly be. To me tho, I would try to find a weight that you can move around well at but also be strong enough to move bodies around.
I found 2 relevent studies that look at the relationship between shooting power and explosive training. Weight training was not used in either study, only plyometric exercises. But still, we know that strength and power are related. I will write an article on this at my blog-Strength and power training methods specific to shooting power. Study 1 J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2011 Mar;51(1):50-8.Effects of plyometric training on explosive strength, acceleration capacity and kicking speed in young elite soccer players.Sedano S, Matheu A, Redondo JC, Cuadrado G. Showed that explosive improvements using plyometrics will improve shooting power, but adaptations take time. Study 2 J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Mar;24(3):644-52.Effects of 12-week on-field combined strength and power training on physical performance among U-14 young soccer players.Wong PL, Chamari K, Wisløff U.Department of Physical Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong. Showed that on field strength and power training can improve shooting power as well as vertical jump and 30 m sprint in young players.
I'd like to see a study with weight training as well... but I mean there you go. If you train explosively, you will get explosive results. Your risk of injury goes up, but if you make stretching a major part of your routine (which it should be for every single person on this earth), then your chances of getting injured from a non impact source (freak accidents can happen to anyone) will be low.