Lateral Strength/Speed Development

So, we had a fantastic workout with 3 young soccer players at Meyer Athletic Development today!

The focus of our first main set tonight was lateral change of direction. We started "In the Tunnel" (thanks Lee Taft!!) and did reactive lateral steps using the "squash the bug" cue! After a few rounds of establishing a good base position and working on pushing against the ground hard, we shifted to single ring lateral ins/outs to add a bit of speed and coordination to the movement pattern. Finally, we lined up 4 rings, shuffled through them, performed a hard cut, sprint 10 yards, cut again with the same foot, and returned back to the start. All of my girls did a fantastic job!

The focus of our main set was developing some strength/fitness based off of the lateral patterns from the previous set. Exercise 1 was a 4 ring diagonal hop to a wall pass with the soccer ball. The girls bounded from foot to foot developing strength, power, and balance, then finished it with a pass/receive off the wall. Halfway through the set, we changed the hop to an Icky shuffle through 4 cones, again focusing on hard cuts, fast feet, and good balance. Exercise 2 was a lateral sumo walk with a partner chest pass. The object was to stay low and move slow to develop quad, hip, and glute strength. Exercise 3 was a partner hand slap with the intent to develop core and shoulder strength and stability.

Thanks so much to Isabel, Hannah, and Ashley for a great session! You girls were focused and did great! Not bad for 3 9 year old girls!!!