Can speed of play be taught?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for all insights. Thing is, my kid has had excellent technical training and has a pretty good touch on the ball. He usually plays on the wing so he’s generally not in the mix in the midfield. His way of anticipating the next step is to position himself to receive the ball from the midfield where most of the frenzied action is. He doesn’t go in there and try to get the ball but waits. When he does receive a pass he knows what to do with it - runs if there’s space, passes it immediately if pressured. Usually doesn’t lose the ball. But he appears slow overall because he’s just not as aggressive at proactively getting the touches. So I’m not sure if he actually is lacking the speed other teammates have or whether staying in his “zone” on the field is what is making him seem slower. I know he’s not a very top player in general but in terms of his development I’m trying to figure out whether he’s just not aggressive enough or his role as wing is why he looks slow. Would love to know your thoughts.

Hi, OP. How old is he? A lot happens just in the natural course of development. I have seen both of my kids that were certainly not renowned for pure physical speed at U9 improve greatly in this aspect--at now U11 and U14. Everyone now talks about how fast my U11 is and one of the reasons the Club he was at the first 2 years didn't put him on the A team was that they said his physical size/speed wasn't as great as those on the first team. He now certainly out speeds almost all players as primarily a Center defender/center mid on a first team elsewhere and he is still on the small-side. He does play the ball very quickly as well with very quick decision making. But, again, at 8, 9, 10---I wouldn't have put him in the top half speed wise. Switching environments helped him greatly. He has been given a leader type role from the current coaching staff. I am sure it will change again as players change so much over time when they are growing and it is not always in a linear fashion.

Now, wingers are usually very fast. It sounds like your kid could be on a team that does not value field space/smarts. My kids always appeared slow and did not look as good when playing for teams that were more long ball style and they looked god awful at tryouts in those little crammed spaces. The reason is that they were always taught to get open, make space---so they would go to these tryouts waiting for the ball to be played to them. I would have to watch my kid not go into the scrum and be on the outside line wide open waiting for a pass that would never come and it looked like he was just not aggressive (further thing from the truth--as he is scrappy as hell). They would like absolute duds at times. Also, on the one chance the ball actually came his way he would know when to dribble vs when to pass, then he would pass and never get it back. IT would end up back in the scrum with a ball hog that would lose it. This is why I will never put my kids at a Club that runs tryouts this way. With a very big turnout, a kid like that is not going to look good.

Now- I'm not sure what you mean about 'not proactively getting touches'. I am thinking it may be something like my kid---knows not to pull defenders into an already crowded space on the field. Many coaches tend to value the spazzes the kid that has his foot into everything while being ineffective at all of it. "What a hustler!' people will exclaim---meanwhile nothing is coming from it. Or---I'm not sure if he is just a shy kid. This happens too to some players when there are a lot of very dominant kids on a team. My older one lacked confidence in those situations and will tend to defer to more mouthy, loud kids and not fight for his position. The team dynamic can also come into play. We are seeing a bit of that now in the middle school years on the field when the hormones and insecurities rear their head again. The kids that have gone through puberty tend to be the more dominant now and you see the same retreat of some of the kids and its like a 'lord of the flies'.

Environment of the club and the team is very big in the younger years and it can be the big reason why so many kids drop the sport early. Reassess if he is happy and don't get caught up in the Color wars. Kids change so much. They can have an entire season (even a year ) where they don't look so hot and then a year later look like a different player. We have both thought are kids sucked at various times, and then been highly impressed with them at others. Of course, we don't tell them this.

OP here...Wow, so much of this is dead on, exactly describes my son and his team situation. Not only does he understand the game the way your younger son does (and isn’t valued for it), but he also has team dynamic issues similar to your older one ( big time). He’s also the smallest scrawniest kid on his team. Awesome combination, eh?!? He’s a U12 and we’ve decided to have him try out for other clubs where he can land on a lower level team with a good coach who will foster the development of every kid rather than focusing on the few ball hoggy types who are all flash & direct play but low soccer IQ. He doesn’t want to quit because he loves the game and he really wants to improve, but his confidence could really use a boost. When he was little and just starting out, he played with such joy and energy, and it’s hard to see that gradually crushed out of him. All of the posters who have have helped me understand speed of play and general soccer IQ have made me realize that he does have a good baseline for these skills, but that he needs a change of club environment/coaching more than anything else. Special cheers to the poster who mentioned Fabregas- one of my kid’s idols . Thanks all for the support!

[Anonymous]

Good comments thru this thread. To sum up for the OP. Speed of play can mean many things, such as:

1) Physical speed with and without the ball. I.e. the ability to burst by a defender to get open, win a ball, or get past them with the ball. Some of this is anticipation some of this is physical speed, which can be improved via explosion type exercise both with and without a ball. Yes, there are genetic limits.

2) Mental speed. This comes with being forced to play fast and think quickly. 1 and 2 touch drills. Pressure drills. Talking thru and demonstrating scenarios then emphasizing the speed of making the decision in real-time based scenarios. Making the decision second nature so that there is no thinking.

3) Quickness. Different than sheer speed. Ability to make moves quickly (offense) and ability to react quickly (defense). Think of Steph Curry and Messi (quickness) vs. Tedd Ginn and Gareth Bale (speed). Practicing dribbling moves but at a faster pace will help. Practicing proper foot movements and positioning on defense will help. Then things like shuttle runs, in and out cones, etc. will help. Muscle memory at pace.


IF your kids has time to work on all of these then great, and you're on your way. If not, then pick the area of greatest deficiency and start there. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Does playing extra matches teach/give better opportunities to learn and/or adjust to speed of play?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does playing extra matches teach/give better opportunities to learn and/or adjust to speed of play?

It can if you play with/against a team with a high level of play but it’s a swim or sink thing. Better to practice with player/team who have a high speed of play. It’s a more controlled environment, 2-4 times a week and it’s generally longer vs a game.

[Anonymous]

Speed of play is not:

Touching the ball faster
Up tempo – high energy
Running faster
Movement off the ball
How fast a certain play is

These are not speed of play, but they help with speed of play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Speed of play is not:

Touching the ball faster
Up tempo – high energy
Running faster
Movement off the ball
How fast a certain play is

These are not speed of play, but they help with speed of play.

You just shared what Speed of Play is Not. Now tell us what Speed of Play is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Speed of play is not:

Touching the ball faster
Up tempo – high energy
Running faster
Movement off the ball
How fast a certain play is

These are not speed of play, but they help with speed of play.

You just shared what Speed of Play is Not. Now tell us what Speed of Play is.

Already did. Read the thread.

[Anonymous]

Speed of play is a team concept, moving the ball faster and reacting faster to movement of the ball. It is improved over time with repetition and conditioning, which together lead to better, quicker decision making--players see the ball coming, of where the defenders are, and are aware of their options before they receive the ball. Its about not waiting to make the decision on what you are going to do with the ball until you receive the ball.