Top 5 exercises for building speed in young athletes

Being a soccer player involves a lot of sacrifice and effort. Coaches help us to improve physically and mentally. However, we can also do our bit to improve in certain aspects by doing exercises on our own. Here are top 5 exercises for building speed in young athletes.

In this case we are going to focus on speed. It is essential to develop it in order to catch up with faster players and have more sprinting power. All this, without forgetting to take care of our nutrition and hydration, as we have already talked about in other posts.

1. Jumping with knees raised

This is one of the most effective plyometric exercises for increasing our speed. But first of all, what are plyometric exercises? It is a coordinated and planned activity that is performed quickly and with power.

Thanks to this exercise, we will increase the length and the power of our stride. To perform it, we jump forward while raising one of our knees as high as we can. It is about imitating the running movement, but putting all our efforts into the jumping distance and the lifting of our knees.

2. Running up steep hills with sprints for athletic speed development

It is clear that running up a steep hill will strengthen our muscles. After a short time we will feel exhausted, but it is a very positive exercise for improving strength and speed.

The point is to go up by doing several sprints, which translates into an explosive and intense effort. As in the previous exercise, it would be very positive to raise your knees as high as you can.

After each sprint, we can walk again, slowing the pace for a short period of time. Then we sprint again and so on until we stop the exercise.

3. Youth sprint exercises with resistance

A variation of the previous exercise would be to provide resistance. It is not necessary to do it uphill, we can do it on flat ground. Here we would need material such as a special rubber band that holds us by the waist and is fixed at the other end.

This way, when we sprint, we will double our effort and increase our strength. As we will also have to lengthen our stride to overcome the resistance, we will be developing our speed with each movement.

4. Jumping over a step

This is one of the best exercises for running speed and can be performed in front of a step, box or element firm enough to support our weight. The point is that it must be elevated.

Again, we are going to jump, but this time in front of that element. We will stand on the floor with our feet together and when we jump we will stand on top of that surface. We will jump back to the floor and repeat the exercise.

This is an excellent way to improve the speed of our legs, although it is undoubtedly a very strenuous exercise.

5. Staircase exercises for speed training

There is an element called Agility Ladder, which simulates a staircase without level, on flat ground. It is ideal for this exercise, although it can also be done on a real staircase, going up and down.

The idea is to move the feet in a coordinated and very fast way to cross the steps, without losing the rhythm. We will improve our precision and speed, as well as our reaction time.

If we do it on a real staircase, the effort will be greater, especially when going up. It is another way to develop our power. Besides, not everyone has an Agility Ladder.

These are top 5 exercises for building speed in young athletes. Of course, they are equally valid whatever age you are, but we have focused on youngsters attending soccer camps.

It should be remembered that depending on the club, training and playing styles may vary, as well as methodologies and values. To check which clubs are more attacking or focus more on counter-attacking, take a look at our other posts.

And if you have any questions about our camps, you can contact us or visit our website.