Flexibility, agility and balance

• Flexibility – the ability to conduct movements in certain joints with an appropriate range of motion

• Agility – the ability to change direction quickly and easily with the body and body parts

• Balance – the ability of the body to maintain stability and equilibrium while running or standing on one foot

Flexibility is a physical quality that is easy to develop if it is trained systematical- ly and daily, i.e., stretching exercise before and after practice. Flexibility has a direct connection to technique. The more flexible the player, the greater the potential range of technique. Flexibility also plays a key role for speed development and injury prevention. Adequate flexibility is a requirement allowing limbs to travel through a range of motion without impediment, in order to make the running movement fluid and efficient. Meanwhile, flexible muscles are generally less injury prone than tight muscles or joints. Static, but even more, dynamic, stretching should be used in order to improve flexibility.

Agility is required hundreds of times within a soccer game; a player must constantly change directions, stop and start, get up after falling, and turn throughout the game. Players who are agile have an advantage when playing in small spaces. Like flexibility, agility can also be improved through targeted drills and frequent repetition.

Balance is required constantly throughout the game. When kicking, passing or receiving a pass; a player is often standing on only one leg. Good Static balance (the ability to maintain a stable position), but more importantly, Dynamic balance, is the ability to respond to the disruption of the center of mass position and to recapture stability when an unexpected force displaces the center of mass. An example would be a player trying to maintain balance when moving at speed and when being challenged for the ball. This athletic quality is important to develop as it is related directly to technique. Balance is best improved by the use of proprio- ception training (training of the mechanoreceptors).