Improving Agility and Reactions

[Reiki]

Best is to just play your sport, and supplement it with certain exercises.

Im no expert in becoming better in soccer but I have alot of friends that do play and are *really* good and fast , most of them have this book+dvd

Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness
with bonus DVD
ISBN: 0736058737

 

[Chillisauce]

Unfortunately theres no food that will make you faster shez . Drugs on the otherhand.. lets not go into that. I'm not sure about which weights you should do but someone here should know.

From a martial arts perspective, the best way to get faster is practice. Have a friend kick 100 balls at your goal each day till you get better. If you are already doing this, i suggest extreme punishment for every missed goal! Everytime your friend scores he gets to kick you in the nuts, you'll be worldclass in a matter of weeks.

 

[Jay-X]

Originally posted by Chillisauce
Unfortunately theres no food that will make you faster shez . Drugs on the otherhand.. lets not go into that. I'm not sure about which weights you should do but someone here should know.

From a martial arts perspective, the best way to get faster is practice. Have a friend kick 100 balls at your goal each day till you get better. If you are already doing this, i suggest extreme punishment for every missed goal! Everytime your friend scores he gets to kick you in the nuts, you'll be worldclass in a matter of weeks.

very good advice, except for your friend kickin your nuts

 

[Centaurion]

Just stay away from ps2 and xbox the day before a big game. I remember David James *****ing about loosing his reflexes after playing video games 24/7.

 

[WesCottII]

Could try some sprint shuttles. Look for rugby excersizes where the aim is to move quickly from a standing start into a sprint (yeah, I know you're not sprinting but....)

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

Hey I'm a keeper too.

Shuttles are probably the best way of improving your speed off the mark and speed on the turn, for a keeper though, actual footwork is more important, there's quite a few drills I've used involving going in a zig zag line around cones, or doing pylometric type exercises bouncing over balls before facing a shot at the end.

Check out the coaching manuals of Neville Southall and Peter Shilton if you can get your hands on them, i've got both and they've got a lot of excellent drills in them.

One of my favourites is one where you lie face down on the goal-line with your hands touching one of the posts, you have someone feeding a ball to the other side of the goal on a shout of 'Now', the idea being that you get off the ground as quick as poss and scramble across goal to reach it, improves your speed off the floor and footwork.

 

[MuayThai]

http://www.dolfzine.com/page646.htm

http://www.dolfzine.com/page570.htm

These might help.

 

[organizedconfusion]

i know you most likley used these before but i'll suggest them
anyways-

power cleans
clean & press

these have helpped me TREMENDOUSLY to build up explosive
power thorughout my body.

 

[DaKidS3]

Stretch!

 

[Un-Aru]

Shuttles are probably the best way of improving your speed off the mark and speed on the turn, for a keeper though, actual footwork is more important, there's quite a few drills I've used involving going in a zig zag line around cones, or doing pylometric type exercises bouncing over balls before facing a shot at the end.

Godsgift is right on the money. To get the benefit out of these exercises though you also need to have a good degree of leg strength (ie weight trained) otherwise you may injure yourself. (Remember strength can be converted to power and power can be converted to speed) As well as all the normal plyometric exercises you can do (look them up on the net - they are seriously gold) an excellent sport specific one would be to do a depth jump from a platform (maybe 2 feet high) with 5 cones spread in a semicircle in front you. As you're about to land (ie youre still in mid-air) someone yells 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 and as soon as you land you sprint hard to the corresponding cone. (maybe 10 metres away)

This exercise seems to seriously fire up the neurological pathways between brain and muscle. It'll feel awkward at first, your footwork and timing will feel somehow 'out', but trust me, you'll know when you've got it. If you want to get really specific and can get the timing right, do the depth jump as someone shoots.

 

[bbestar]

I was reading about one of bruce lee's workout routines..

He's technique is to do each rep as quick as you can..

 

[Paintballguy]

check out plyometrics... They are mainly meant to increase acceleration, speed, jumping ability, etc. But, you might be interested in reading up.

 

[silverfox]

If you got the money then Lifeline have a piece of equipment called jumpsoles that are used by mixed martial artists, basket ball players and footballers. The Brazilian team use them.

Plyometrics are good but you need to do lots of strength training first - you should be able to squat at least twice your bodyweight.

Look into isometrics as well and I find hardcore anaerobic stuff that makes you want to puke (ie lots of burpees, squat thrusts, shuttle runs etc.) will help.