Quick/Sharp Movements

[moxy.lion]

I know he is still to young, but my 8 year old as just been released by Crystal Palace, because his running style makes him less effective.He is no slouch, but runs a bit like Micheal Johnson and Forest Gump. The top man at Palace mentioned Plyometrics.
My Questions to you all is, His he to young and if not what excercises is there.basically he needs to improve his quick/sharp movements.

Cheers
Moxy.lion

U8's Manager/Coach

[Cookie]

Whatever anyone else believes, you can NOT teach a slow player to become fast. Speed is innate, the only thing you can do is improve reaction skills and improve somebody's running style. I would suggest looking at the various exercises/books available from SAQ International.

I qualified as an SAQ licensed trainer two years back and can say it has really helped the players under my supervision. A lot of focus needs to be on the arm movements (Have you tried asking somebody to run fast with their arms stiff by their side?)

[lanesra]

Originally Posted by Cookie

I qualified as an SAQ licensed trainer two years back and can say it has really helped the players under my supervision. A lot of focus needs to be on the arm movements (Have you tried asking somebody to run fast with their arms stiff by their side?)

This is crucial, but having said that, if you improve arms (and head) movement, you can train players to get faster. It might be a little much for 8 year olds, though.

[ian.curry]

Yes is my answer to is he too young.
Peter Beardsley was never very fast, Kieron Dyer is - who's better?

I would suggest that the 'top guy' is just giving you a reason, something to work on perhaps, but in my opinion your kid could do well with just having a season(maybe 2) playing his heart out for his local club team, learning it grassroots style.

[Val]

While speed is better than not, at early ages, it can easily be something of a detriment because fast guys will rely on their speed and not need to learn how to read the game. We could probably make an entire thread of slow guys who were still great. My first guy who comes to mind was Bobby Moore. Everybody, from pros to rec guys, across all sports, are way too enamored with speed, so it's unfortunate for your son to be singled out. You just need to find a different program, one where your son's worth is NOT determined by the time he's nine.

[addas10]

well my opinion is 1. if they are saying he is not quick enough then crystal palace are obvioulsy mad cus you dont have to be fast to be a striker. agility can be worked on and also acceleration which will help pace in a way i was told that to improve agility you need to do a speedy circuit with at least 7 different turns in it. you should be able to find some agility circuits on the net. also at 8 he is quite young to teach these sort of things but i look at it that there never to young i mean we taught out under 10 team how to use wing backs so anything is possible. good luck and hope to see him on telly in 10 years