Becoming a better athlete: Jeremy's guide to necessary physical skills #sportvariations #soccer #gridiron #physicalskills

Athletic ability is a combination of 2 fundamental elements: physical attributes and mental attributes.  Soccer, as stated in a previous blog, is referred to as the 'world game,' and is played in over 200 countries worldwide. Soccer is a multi-faceted sport, requiring a combination of various skills and talents.Gridiron, like soccer, is a sport played globally, despite its North American dominance. In order to improve your ability in both soccer and gridiron,  you must train and practice to improve in numerous different aspects pertinent to both games. However, this blog, and the one following this, will seek to outline ways of improving overall athletic and mental abilities that are relevant to both sports, allowing for an increase in performance and preparation. This blog will focus primarily on overlapping physical attributes particularly important to improve as an athlete, with the next blog focusing on mental preparation and fortitude. The 3 aspects of physical attributes that I will focus on in this blog are:

1. Speed / Acceleration
2. Muscular Endurance / Cardiovascular Fitness
3. Strength

Speed 
Speed is a crucial element of both sports that has a variety of purposes. Speed allows attackers to move beyond the defender with relative ease, which in soccer allowing dribbling and passing to be done at a faster rate, increasing the chance to score more goals. In gridiron, speed training will allow for an individual to have an acceleration and sprinting advantage over his opponent, allowing them to sprint around or beyond their opponent to increase chances of scoring a touchdown. Conversely, it also assists in defence. This is done by being able to chase after oncoming defenders who have gotten past you or other team members, or by being able to rush up the field to stop the offensive team from making metres, which is relevant in both soccer and gridiron.

Above: Speed is important in both soccer and gridiron.

Muscular Endurance / Cardiovascular Fitness

These physical attributes permit both offensive and defensive teams to play at a higher level for a sustained and prolonged period of time, in both soccer and gridiron Increasing endurance and fitness permits an offensive team to score at later stages of the game when opposition fatigue levels are high, while allowing the defence to sustain their sturdiness in blocking the opposition's attacking advances. 

Strength

Strength is an element that is relevant to both gridiron and soccer players, but is most heavily relied upon for success in gridiron players. Strength refers to the quality or state of being physically strong. In soccer, strength allows attacker to brush off defenders who are attempting to win the ball of the attacker, whilst allowing defenders to win the ball off attacking teams. 

Strength, however, is relevant particularly to gridiron players. Gridiron players are tested annually for their bench press abilities, which is directly associated with overall strength. The higher one's bench press maximum is, the greater chances they have of being picked in a side, and subsequently succeeding as an athlete. Strength is fundamental in gridiron as it is a game with heavy collisions and significant body contact. The greater strength players have, the more chance they have of being able to bust tackling opponents (as an attacker), or make an effective tackle (as a defender).

- Jeremy