5 Things That Are Making You Less Agile as a Soccer Player – Part 1

Agility is a skill which becomes invaluable on the field, court, or pitch! It is often the person who can change directions the fastest that will be the first to the ball.  Also, being agile can be immensely helpful if you are not the fastest runner, as a good change of direction can allow you to keep up with a faster player. And if you are both fast AND agile, the opposing team better watch out, because you will be impossible to contain! However, like I said earlier, agility is a SKILL, which means there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things.

Here is a list of 5 MAJOR MISTAKES athletes make when changing directions:

      1. Foot position: If your need to change directions quickly and your plant foot (also the push-off foot) is either open (toes pointed out) or closed (toes pointed in), you are not going to re-accelerate as well as you could be. Having your toes pointed outward allows the ankle to flex in the direction opposite to the one you want to re-accelerate in. This creates an energy leak which means that energy will be lost at your ankle because it is not stable enough to absorb the force you are placing into the ground when you’re pushing off the foot to re-accelerate.
        Having your foot point inward creates the opposite problem: Your ankle is not in a good position to absorb the force you place in to the ground when you plant your foot. This is actually potentially injurious as having the foot turned in can easily lead to a rolled ankle. The best position for the foot is to be square, neither in nor out.
      2. Shoulder sway: This is another energy leak which occurs as a result of the core muscles not being strong enough to stabilize the upper body as you change directions. This will make your change of direction slower as your shoulders will have to stop swaying before your body can begin moving in the direction that you want to re-accelerate. A strong core will provide better shoulder stability thus helping change of direction.

Are you making any of these mistakes?! If you are, realize that you have the potential to be a lot quicker, which could make a huge difference in your on-field performance!

BTW – Make sure you see our “Femal Xeleration Speed Camp” CLICK HERE

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