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Olivia Mace

Dean Leonard

English 1201-511

22 March 2020

How is Soccer Speed Related to More Than Just a Gene?

Fit, fast, fundamental, and fierce are qualities that describe a Division 1 soccer athlete.

Out of the four, the 'fast' characteristic is the most strenuous to advance; however, it is

achievable. Some Division 1 athletes are at an advantage compared to their peers due to genetics.

The people not naturally given speed must take necessary procedures to become faster to contend

and see time on the pitch. The question of how these players overcome their genetic limitations

regarding speed then comes into mind. Collegiate Division 1 soccer athletes may defy their

predetermined speed and acceleration by overcoming their genetics while implementing correct

running form and focused training such as plyometrics, weight-lifting and sprinting exercises.

Fast is described as getting from one place to another in a short amount of time adequate

for that distance. An excellent example of fast would be Lightning McQueen. McQueen's

favorite line is 'I am speed;' but, what about acceleration? Now, if McQueen had said, 'I am fast,'

this problem dissipates as speed and acceleration describe fast since they both are subcategories

of this phenomenon. Moreover, this quality is also adequate for Division 1 soccer players since

being fast requires these players to have excellent speed and acceleration. But what is the

distance between speed and acceleration? A study conducted by a specialized Sport Sciences

faculty from multiple universities and hospitals, "The Relationship between Start Speed," goes

further into the comparison of acceleration and speed. The study's goal is to demonstrate
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similarities between speed and acceleration; however, they are very different. Speed is an

individual's top-end sprint, whereas acceleration is the ability to get up to one's highest speed.

These two are different, especially in terms of how to train for, which is where genetics kick in.

The authors helped their audience of athletes, coaches, and trainers with how to improve these

two items to maximize their quickness while explaining speed and acceleration's differences. The

study reliably stated speed is highly genetic but is trainable with the right techniques. On the

other hand, acceleration is​ ​profoundly trainable as the athlete produces their maximum force in

the least amount of time (Yildiz 6).

No matter the individual, each person is given an initial threshold of speed and

acceleration due to genetics. For decades now, research attempted to explain the correlation

between sports performance and genetics. These numerous studies indicated several candidate

genes that may help differentiate the roles these genes have on quickness. ACTN3 commonly

referred to as a 'gene for speed,' is the most favorable gene when it comes to 'fastness.' The

ACTN3 gene affects strength and speed by its determining factors and location, which is seen in

Figure 1 below. Recent research studies have gathered information regarding the examination of

ACTN3's influence on other performance phenotypes with regards to endurance and

strength/power. In particular, the study, "Effect of ACTN3 Gene," utilizes strength, power, as

well as endurance aspects to evaluate the effects of different ACTN3 genotypes, XX, RX, and

RR, on soccer players' performance capacity. Even though their results were more targeted

towards professional soccer coaches, the study proved that RR and RX players have an

advantage when it comes to strength and power, which includes sprinting, as seen in Figure 1

below.
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Fig. 1​. Shows the whereabouts of the ACTN3 gene in the body and its possible variations as well

as genotype frequencies among athletes (Yang).

In contrast, the XX genotype has an advantage with endurance activities, which is

exemplified by red-outlined boxes in Figure 1. These differences in genotypes were found when

"specific exercise bouts were chronically exposed" (Pimenta 5). Meaning these genetic

characteristics show when the muscles are adapting from fast-twitch to slow-twitch or, in other
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words, transitioning from sprint to distance running. In conclusion, "the R allele is associated

with enhanced improvements in strength. . .[ as well as power, and sprinting]" (Pimenta 1). This

advancement in knowledge demonstrates that ACTN3's role goes beyond speed, as this gene also

influences muscle function. With this knowledge, futuristic exercise training programs will

become more individualized, which is why sport training representatives, including trainers and

coaches, are the targetted audience. But more importantly, it proves that genetics is a significant

factor concerning speed and acceleration.

As society has evolved, along with their genetics, athleticism seems to be getting

hypothetically better as athletes are faster and stronger, which is reflective in records and scores

seen at all competitive levels. However, this profound improvement is not from genes. Instead, it

is from changing technology, gene pool, and athletes' mindset that is separating today's athletes

from previous as David Epstein, a science and investigative reporter at ​ProPublica,​ states.

Although technology does not immensely influence soccer players' 'fastness,' gene pool, and

mindset do. Epstein's Ted Talk explains that the sports' gene pool has changed; although

society's genes have as well, changes are not as substantial to see these effects. What Epstein

means by gene pool is more information seen by sports analysts and coaches have helped bring

the idea that bodies specific for particular sports are more beneficial than an average body type

(Epstein 00:06:27). In response, artificial selection occurred as bodies were sorted into individual

sports, ultimately resulting in different athletes' bodies. This artificial selection shaped the

average soccer player with long muscular legs along with a small torso. This body type is

advantageous for runners, especially for endurance activities. Therefore, genes are a large part of

an athlete's success, and overcoming these genetics can become a mind game.
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As Epstein finalizes his goal of the speech, he explains how the mindset of these

individuals is changing, leading to the innovation in sports to make athletes better, stronger, and

faster. Like in most mindsets, the brain plays an active role. The power invested in the human

body cannot be normally accessed all at once. The brain acts as a limiter that prevents the

availability of all physical resources to avoid injury. As more athletes learn about how the brain

limits this access, the number of athletes that learn how to gain more power increases. Athletes

improve their exertion of power often by persuading the brain that they will not be in danger if

they do so. Consequently, genes and bodily roles can be overcome by an athlete's mindsets and

determination to get better. Hence, genes partake in an athlete's acceleration and speed but can be

surpassed.

Along with genetics, another major factor in speed and acceleration is technique or

running form. Vital components to running techniques are often overlooked by soccer players,

including ankle range of motion (ROM), parallel, and arm flexibility. Ankle ROM is essential in

regards to acceleration. After observing a gymnast running, it is hard to grasp how they

accelerated so fast. Truth is it's mostly in the ankles. Now, comparing a soccer player's ankle

while running to a gymnast, the soccer player's is almost perpendicular, whereas the gymnast's is

not far from parallel. So how can gymnasts, on average, accelerate faster than soccer players?

Well, acceleration requires strength at the deeper leg angles, and soccer players rarely get any

work there, whereas gymnasts are continually improving their angles for better landings.

This ankle ROM also leads into parallel. Elite athletes demonstrate the importance of

parallel training when they accelerate. These athletes are parallel to the ground and lunging with

a deep foot strike—especially when in the drive phase—with the athlete's foot landing directly
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under their chin. Their torso and thigh are and, if not, close to parallel. On the other hand, a

lesser athlete evaluated the same, would have a higher perspective from parallel. Likewise, kids

run almost upright with a tiny break in the knee. This phenomenon is because strength is

required for a deeper angle, and the elite athletes can generate the power to keep from falling on

their faces at low angles.

Meanwhile, arms come into action. While held at a ninety-degree angle, an individual's

arms go from 'cheek to cheek,' meaning its cycle goes from the cheek of one's mouth to one's

butt cheek; this process should be as close to the body as possible. Arm flexibility helps with the

closeness of an arm drive. To build this flexibility, posture and arm strength cover the majority.

This flexibility helps limit air resistance and generate more power. The arms are driving to the

mouth in sync with the opposite leg. This arm movement with leg form, pushing the knees

forward and starting the next stride when the leg reaches straight underneath the body, provides

the most considerable accelerating force. Therefore, promoting ankle ROM, parallel exercises,

and arm flexibility for perfecting running form is a significant factor to consider when training

for speed or acceleration.

The key points regarding how to increase one's speed and acceleration if one genetically

was not or was provided with quickness are weight-lifting, plyometrics such as jumping or

squats, and sprint training. Going back to the study, "The Relationship between Start Speed,"

Yildiz mentions a soccer player's capability to produce more force while accelerating will allow

that individual to reach their top speed faster. Although Yildiz's purpose was finding the

correlation between start speed and acceleration, to do so thoroughly, he had to increase his

participant's speed and acceleration.

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Weight-lifting is one of the techniques Yildiz used. Yildiz modeled weight-lifting is a

way to increase one's acceleration by completing exercises that maximize ground reaction forces

since the rate of these forces most substantially affects acceleration. Hence, acceleration benefits

from maximal strength training, also known as hyperplasia. Hyperplasia increases the number of

working muscle fibers in high-intensity exercises, ensuring a more demanding workout within

strength training. These exercises maximize ground reaction forces and build necessary muscles,

especially in the gluteal region, to quicken the stretch-shortening cycle, which makes strides

faster and more intense (Stack.com 1). Weight-lifting also helps with the arm cycle.

Weight-lifting helps build muscular shoulders, crucial for arm flexibility, the closeness of its

cycle, and cycle quickness. Upper arm exercises, including push-ups with arms to the sides, help

to improve the proximity of the arm stride again, eliminating added air resistance bringing more

force. Therefore, weight-lifting will help with form and acceleration.

Won't weight-lifting make one's running stride a "stronger-heavier-slower" cycle? There

is debate. Soccer definitely demands an amount of lower limb maximal absolute strength. As JB

Morin, who has a Ph.D. in Sports Science, states lower limb maximal strength gives players

more toughness and prevention of injuries by training, games, contact, and loss of balance. The

English Football Association asked Morin to participate in their study, which focused on the

improvement of players' physical capability while reducing the possibility of injury. With that

being said, advancing players' strength must be respected with complementary gain in muscle

and fat mass as acceleration is force output to body mass. Based on this information, Morin

states that if body mass increases more than muscle gain, these stronger and heavier athletes will

be slower (Morin 1). These players could become even slower if the strength gained does not
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reflect into a sprint-specific sport (Morin 1). However, this has been proven wrong by Adama

Traoré, a professional soccer player that could be mistaken as a National Football League player.

Traoré's muscle mass and strength defy this phenomenon. For a good comparison, his thighs are

the size of prize-winning watermelons with biceps built to break sleeves, but Traoré's massive

muscles are no deadweight. On the contrary, he's the fastest player in the Premier League (Hall

2).

Plyometric training increases strength and explosiveness by physical exercises that

demand maximum force from muscles in a quick duration, which improves dynamic

performances. Ying-Chun Wang and his partner Na Zhang, both professors, reliably gathered

that plyometrics give cardiovascular and neuromuscular fitness gains like oxygen capacity in

lungs for more endurance, maximal strength, kicking power as well as footwork accuracy, and

running speed/agility in soccer contenders (Wang 3). Their study determined this wanted result

by studying plyometric training's effects on soccer players. This study was provided for coaches

and trainers; however, its findings should only be used by athletes whose strength comes from

resistance training. This resisted training trails back to weight-lifting.

Weight-lifting versus plyometrics; jump squat versus Olympic push press. Olympic push

press differs from a regular push press by dips and the incorporation of legs. The review,

"Improving Sprint Performance in Soccer," determines the effects of jump squat or Olympic

push press at an ideal power load with under-twenty players' speed-power related abilities during

their preseason. Irineu Locturco, the author of this study and staff member at a sports' research

facility, concluded that jump squat had more exceptional results than Olympic push press in

regards to increasing speed and power. The jump squat superiority is due to its effective
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transference to sprinting over multiple distances. As Locturco explains, a jump squat's

mechanical characteristics make it superior since it closely resembles sprinting strides. It also can

be better implemented into soccer training compared to the more complex Olympic push press.

Therefore, plyometrics help with sprinting strides; whereas, Olympic push presses are better with

producing higher power outputs.

Jump squats represent a vertical plyometric exercise; however, there is also horizontal

plyometrics. The study, "Transference effect" found in the ​Journal of Sports Sciences,

investigates how adding vertical/horizontal plyometrics in under-twenty soccer players affects

their jumping and sprinting capabilities. Since plyometric exercises improve neuromuscular

effectiveness, which also leads to the increase of soccer players' acceleration and speed, both

horizontal and vertical plyometrics show an increase in these categories (Pereira 2). However,

the two were different in short and long distances. Vertical plyometrics have shown to enhance

an athlete's top speed at longer distances(10-20 m); contrarily, horizontal plyometrics help with

increasing acceleration over short distances under ten meters. Hence, both vertical and horizontal

plyometrics should be implemented into training to better speed and acceleration since each has

its independent positive effects.

The final way to increase speed and defy genetics is sprint training. Sprint training helps

break lousy running form habits and work on executing an individual's gains from plyometrics or

strength training. Sprint training helps reinforce all these steps above while contributing to an

individual's aerobic capacity, strength from pushing off the ground, and improving form.

Specific running drills target different things. For example, 'lean-tos' target ankle ROM, stiffness,
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and measures strength from an athlete's ability to get as close to the ground and go into a sprint

without falling.

However, there is controversy to speed training and its effect on quickness. While

multiple sources like "Multi-Directional Sprint Training" argue that multi-direction sprint

training does increase speed and agility, specifically in change of direction(COD) and

reactiveness, others disagree (Born 1). Dennis-Peter Born included two types of multi-directional

sprint training in his study, which proved sprint training is beneficial: repeated random COD

sprints given by visual stimuli and repeated predefined 180 degree COD shuttle sprints. While

this was confirmed, other inquiries such as Pereira's suggest that sprinting does not help the

individual rather could keep forming bad habits and could promote potential injury. Pereira

plainly states that "The use of JS [jump squats] could be a safe strategy for increasing speed

ability in soccer players, without the inherent risks involved in maximal sprint training (e.g.,

hamstring injuries)" (Pereira 10). Both of these claims come from observations of their studies

also from similar studies they utilized or read. Both sources also use credible evidence and seem

to be reliable; and, their claims do not seem to affect by their purposes.

However, sprint training depends on multiple factors such as strength to help with

all-around movements, including change of direction. These factors then break down even

further. For example, to shorten a running stride cycle, an individual must perform activities that

work on force production like weight lifting and vital movement patterns such as squats, leg

presses, plyometrics, and improve ankle ROM, which ultimately means decreasing one's time

trial (Yildiz 4). Yildiz mentions the hierarchy by stating a few of the different types of exercises

underneath force production, which leads to the gains seen by sprint training. Therefore, to see
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the best results, all the training methods above should be implemented when improving speed or

acceleration.

Collegiate Division 1 athletes are continually working to maintain or improve their

abilities like strength and aerobic capacity; why not improve speed too? Four things need to

occur for a soccer player to increase his or her speed; they are strength training, plyometrics,

sprint training, and perfecting running form. These four qualities play off one another and allow

all athletes naturally gifted or not the improvement they want. Summarizing the four, strength

training increases the foot stride and arm cycle, crucial for proper form, as well as increases an

individual's acceleration. Plyometrics increase ankle ROM, stride improvement, aerobic

capacity, speed, and acceleration; however, the benefits depend on if vertical or horizontal

plyometric exercises were used. Speed training applies plyometrics and weight-lifting, ultimately

bringing form and strength together to connect these training measures. This speed training will

allow athletes to improve their form and aerobic capacity further while building muscle memory

to enhance their "fastness" overall. These four techniques will help defy genetics to a certain

extent and allow players to perform better on the pitch. While fast is the hardest to improve

compared to fit, fundamental, and fierce, it is achievable. So to answer the question of how

Division 1 soccer athletes overcome their genetic limitations regarding speed and acceleration,

these athletes implement correct running form and focus training such as plyometrics,

weight-lifting, and sprinting exercises.

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Works Cited

Born, Dennis-Peter, et al. “Multi-Directional Sprint Training Improves Change-Of-Direction

Speed and Reactive Agility in Young Highly Trained Soccer Players.” ​Journal of Sports

Science and Medicine​, no. 2, 2016, p. 314. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.65a5a5d752a0424

a83a2786cf659e2f7&site=ehost-live.

Epstein, David. “Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger?”​ Ted,​ 10 March. 2014,

https://www.ted.com/talks/david_epstein_are_athletes_really_getting_faster_better_stron

ger. Accessed 29. Feb. 2020.

Hall, Brandon. “Speed and Agility Drills That Guarantee Intensity.” ​Stack,​ 2 Jan. 2020,

https://www.stack.com/a/who-is-adama-traore-meet-the-juggernaut-of-the-premier-leagu

e. Accessed 28 Feb. 2020.

Loturco, Irineu, et al. “Transference Effect of Vertical and Horizontal Plyometrics on Sprint

Performance of High-Level U-20 Soccer Players.” ​Journal of Sports Sciences,​ vol. 33,

no. 20, Dec. 2015, pp. 2182–2191. ​EBSCOhost​,

https://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=1c81dea0-def9-4654-b9d4-cd6a

2c819a19%40pdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=1112406

48&db=s3h. Accessed 18. Feb. 2020.

Morin, JB. ​JB Morin, PhD – Sport Science.​ ​ 2004-2020,

https://jbmorin.net/2018/08/11/improving-acceleration-performance-in-football-players/.

Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.

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Pereira, Lucas, et al. “Improving Sprint Performance in Soccer: Effectiveness of Jump Squat and

Olympic Push Press Exercises.” ​PLoS ONE,​ vol. 11, no. 4, Apr. 2016, pp. 1–12.

EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153958. Accessed 29. Feb. 2020.

Pimenta, Eduardo M., et al. “Effect of Actn3 Gene on Strength and Endurance in Soccer

Players.” ​Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research​, vol. 27, no. 12, Dec. 2013, pp.

3286–3292. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3182915e66.

Wang, Ying-Chun, et al. “Effects of Plyometric Training on Soccer Players (Review).”

Experimental & Therapeutic Medicine,​ vol. 12, no. 2, Aug. 2016, pp. 550–554.

EBSCOhost​, doi:10.3892/etm.2016.3419.

Yang, Nan et al. “ACTN3 genotype is associated with human elite athletic performance.”

American journal of human genetics​ vol. 73,3 (2003): 627-31. doi:10.1086/377590.

Yildiz, Suat, et al. “The Relationship between Start Speed, Acceleration and Speed Performances

in Soccer.” Universal Journal of Educational Research, vol. 6, no. 8, Jan. 2018, pp.

1697–1700. EBSCOhost,

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