...Soccer players are athletes, but unlike a 100m runner where there is explosive speed for 10 seconds in a straight line, there are many other abilities that soccer players need to develop.

Here are 5 key soccer related speed abilities that you should develop in your players.

#1 - Speed of thought

Soccer players have a great deal to concentrate on. There senses are constantly being blitzed with information, which they need to quickly decipher. Here are some examples:

- Where opponents are positioned

- Actions of their team mates

- What's infront of them and their peripheral vision

- The conditions of the pitch and the weather

- The noise from team mates, crowd, coaches and opponents

- Their tactical position and the strategy of the team

#2 - Speed of anticipation

Some players have a great reading of the game. I have a friend who although he is now in his late 40's early 50's still plays regularly and competes well with players half his age!

How does he do this... because he's played soccer all his life at professional and international level he has built a huge database in his brain of playing situations, player characteristics, tactical situations etc. and he is able to draw on this which gives him superb speed of anticipation.

Sure for explosiveness and reaction times the younger players would win every time, but as the old saying goes..."the first couple of yards are in the head!".

So here it is important that players develop a knack of interpreting the actions of the opponents and what that means to the games development.

#3 - Speed of reaction

As mentioned in the last bullet, speed of reaction is vital.

Anticipation is one thing, being able to react quickly is another.

Consider the role of the goal keeper, their reaction time to a sudden shot, deflection, switch in angle of attack, flight of the ball must be very acute.

But how does a goal keeper react and what...more

Some Thoughts on the super Bowl

...gas shows are killing my patience. And as bad as it is for the fan, it must be brutal keeping players focused in the locker rooms.

Having said all that, we know that most of the added time is due to the commercials. Ah, the commercials. It is all about the commercials. How can they extend the game to make a few more bucks on commercials? Why dont they give each coach ten time outs? Why dont they have two minute warnings every minute? Pretty soon, theyll have to start the game noon Saturday and have it end midnight Sunday. And the commercials arent even that entertaining anymore. Its killing me. The madness has to stop.

So here are some ideas to get the game that the real fans support so tirelessly back on track. First, eliminate the extra week prior to the game and shift the season so that the super Bowl is played on Presidents Day weekend. Second, fix the refereeing by employing full time referee teams. Third, use the half time to honor the latest Hall of Fame inductees, or our troops, or super Bowl MVPs of years pastmake it about the game or something noble, not about pop icons. If you want to have concerts, have them before the game starts. Finally, rein in the commercials.

What the NFL executives have allowed the super Bowl to become is what is so unappealing about America to people who have no other lens. Everything is bigger than life. Everything is glitzy. Everything is so self important. Its a bad, media contrived face to the world. Please bring our simple, humble game back. Please let the players play the game they earned to play. Please stop the insanity.

Im beggin ya please!more

Top 30 Politics Quotations

...

1. "It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs."
   -- Albert Einstein

2. "Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles."
   -- Ambrose Bierce

3. "man is by nature a political animal."
   -- Aristotle

4. "I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians."
   -- Charles De Gaulle

5. "The mistake a lot of politicians make is in forgetting they've been appointed and thinking they've been anointed."
   -- Claude D. Pepper

6. "Politics is made up largely of irrelevancies."
   -- Dalton Camp

7. "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy."
   -- Ernest Benn

8. "Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb ...more
   

   Soccer Systems of Play, Team Formation and Positional Set up, 4-4-2

   ... the other teams attackers.
   This is also known as playing it around the back.
   

   Sometimes the defenders can be lined up in a diamond shape. This is to utilize the last player back as a "sweeper" who clears the ball up the field and out to the other defenders and mid fielders.
   This player is in constant communication with the goalkeeper and relays the message to the other defenders. This is because the goalkeepers can see the complete field from their vantage point.
   

   At times and in some cases too often this central defender will by-pass the midfield and play it up to the forwards. I say too often because this usually has the forwards out numbered by the opposing defenders.. However there are a few "power forwards" who could handle this situation, but most are unable too.
   

   The defender at the top of the diamond is considered the "stopper" whose duty is to challenge any attack or attackin...more
   

   Power Yoga Total Body Workout Dvds