The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain a speed drill for a specific athlete, using logical arguments and visual elements. The video that was provided for this discussion suggests several crucial points that will be taken into account when devising this exercise. A description of the target athlete will be provided, as well as the aim of the drill. The coaching technique will be presented in a step by step form, with support from literature and other sources.
The following drill is aimed at field athletes who play a defending role in football or a sport with similar movement patterns. This position has numerous speed-related requirements, such as acceleration, top speed, and change of direction. Unlike sprinting, football requires more general agility, rather than straight-line speed, thus warranting the use of different drills (Flow High Performance, 2020). This drill aims to improve the athlete’s performance in changing direction and acceleration – two vital characteristics of a defensive player.
The drill uses two cones and some markers to outline an area about 10 yards long and 1 yard wide. The defender and the attacker are connected with a reaction belt and must stay on the opposite sides of the marked zone, facing each other and only moving left and right, as shown in the video (FourFourTwo, 2015). The attacker, who can either be another player or the coach, should try to lose the defender and run to one of the cones, breaking the reaction belt. The defender’s task is to prevent the strap from breaking, by predicting the attacker’s movements and following them to the cone. This change of direction drill should be beneficial even for athletes who already have a high level of agility from other training (Chaalali et al., 2016). It can be helpful for both male and female players, as they can learn to anticipate and react to the movements of the attacker.
References
Chaalali, A., Rouissi, M., Chtara, M., Owen, A., Bragazzi, N. L., Moalla, W., Chaouachi, A., Amri, M., & Chamari, K. (2016). Agility training in young elite soccer players: Promising results compared to change of direction drills. Biology of Sport, 33(4), 345–351. Web.
Flow High Performance. (2020). Should All Athletes Run Like Sprinters? | Optimizing Sprinting Technique. YouTube. Web.
FourFourTwo. (2015). Speed for soccer | Change of direction drill for football. YouTube. Web.