explosiveness soccer drills

What is explosiveness in soccer and why is it crucial?

1. Linear Explosiveness (Acceleration): The quick start over the first 5 to 15 meters. It is essential to beat the defender with speed or, conversely, to catch up with a launched attacker.
2. Explosiveness in Change of Direction (Agility): The ability to decelerate, change footing, and re-accelerate in a new direction. It’s the essence of dribbling and the movement of getting open to free oneself from marking.
3. Vertical Explosiveness (Jumping): The maximum force projected upwards, essential for aerial duels during set pieces (corners, free kicks) or crosses in full action.

The decisive factor in duels

• More effective in transition: The concept of Gegenpressing (counter-pressing) popularized by some coaches relies entirely on the players' ability to re-accelerate immediately to harass the ball carrier after losing the ball.
• More formidable in Counterattack: The first move of the wingers or attackers, often launched on a through ball, is a pure act of linear explosiveness.
• Stronger defensively: The ability to execute a defensive recovery after a failed attack requires repeating explosive efforts to reform the defensive block before the opponent can organize.
  
  

How to develop explosiveness in training?

• Simple and repeated jumps (low-impact):
  • Hurdle or cone jumps: Players perform light and quick jumps over a series of 5 to 6 low obstacles. The focus is on the speed of ground contact, not height.
  • Bounds (bounding strides): Short series of 5 bounding strides where players aim to cover the greatest distance possible with minimal steps.
    
    

• Short sprints (5-15 meters):
  • Varied starts: Work on standing starts, starts after a balance disruption (back to the direction of the run), or after a jumping step. This prepares for unforeseen situations.
  • Running in “V” or “W”: The player sprints, changes direction (at 45 or 90 degrees) at a marker, sprints again, and repeats the movement. This challenges explosiveness in agility, fundamental in tight spaces.
    
    
• Agility ladder (for footwork agility): Use a ladder on the ground to work on foot speed and coordination. Although it is not a pure power exercise, it conditions the muscle chains to react quickly.
  
  

Explosiveness: a key performance factor