I am wondering about plyometrics and speed ladder drills. Do you do this with your player? I think this could be helpful. At least from a cursory view of these things. Plyometrics seem to develop explosiveness. Leg strength alone does not get the job done. You can have strong legs but not be fast. Ladder drills- this works on coordination and basically getting your feet to be quick and do what you want them to do. I think this could really help with defending because you have to adjust your feet very quickly based on what the opponent is doing. Any thoughts? Now I'm torn between trying to find a trainer for these things or learning them myself and training my kid.
To follow up on plyometrics, a youtube video said it works on developing fast-twitch muscles fibers. I think my kid's legs are decently strong. He's a big above avg in terms of speed. He's probably a bit above avg in terms of fast twitch. But I would not call him elite. He doesn't train for explosiveness though, other than a few sprints at end of practice, if you can call that explosiveness. But plyometrics is even shorter explosive movements. The activities he does outside of soccer are baseball and snowboarding which work the legs but not much in terms of fast-twitch.
We bought our own speed ladder, but partially as a workout aid for my wife and I as well as our son. We did have our younger son lift with a trainer about once a week - sometimes along with our own strength trainings, but often on his own. Even though he's done with competitive soccer, he still occasionally goes to train with our trainer when he's home from college (although he's on 'IR' for now - shoulder surgery during Christmas break). A quality athletic trainer is worth their weight in gold, although often comes at the cost of gold as well. For no other reason than it teaches young athletes the proper way to lift - correct techniques and all that. Too often, kids go to gyms (either in school or on their own) and just try to lift a bunch of heavy stuff with no regard to how to do it and why they're doing it.
Wow good for you and your wife for staying fit! I think speed ladder drills would be great for any adult of any age, now that I think about it.