Speed: The difference between professional and amateur players

Speak, monster! Did you know that your speed can determine the level of football you play? What is the difference between high-level professional players and semi-professional or amateur players? Is it just the technical quality or are professionals born with some divine gift that cannot be explained by humanity? 

If you've been following Rumo Ao Pro for a while, you know that most of the time a player will be walking or trotting during a soccer match, but obviously the game is decided on high-speed and intense plays.

That's why we value fast, strong and agile players like Neymar, Cristiano and Messi. However, the big question is... What does Neymar have that the star player doesn't?

An elite soccer player will run on average 9-14km per game during the 90 minutes depending on his position and only 8-12% of that distance will be covered at more intense speeds.

Now, connect to this data. During these speed spikes, you can already tell an elite player from an average player. For example, in 5 meter sprints, elite players manage to be 0.03 seconds faster than ordinary players.

Already in a 40-meter start the difference increases even more and jumps to 1.75 seconds, which is an eternity when we are talking about sports performance.

The problem is that few athletes know this data and do not train correctly. In fact, they don't even know they need speed training. And as time goes by, youth and professional players evolve while others who do not have a professional follow-up or a training program remain stagnant and the difference between them grows so much that it becomes difficult to match again.

But LDP, can I increase my speed and run after the damage? Easy, easy... I bring good news. The good news is that yes, you can increase your speed. With the proper workouts that will work on your posture, mechanics, coordination, and development of your type 2 muscle fibers, you're sure to become a faster player over time. 

But, it is important that you have patience in this process and work with full focus. Obviously, football is not just about speed, but this aspect can be the difference between passing the sieve or not, between scoring a decisive goal in the last minute, between saving an opponent's goal in extra time and among other football situations that can be decided by a player's speed.

If you want to start improving your speed, I invite you to download our training programs. In them, I include several speed and agility drills that will help you become a faster and more explosive player on the field!

We are together and #RumoAoPro