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The club expects him to continue to improve his speed, mobility and other areas and perhaps it cannot guarantee him the game time his supporters believe he deserves, but Ball strikes as the type of person who would back himself to fully regain the faith of the match committee
can you actually improve your speed?
imo either you have it or you don't and unfortunately luke is in the latter category.
Yes you can, its a bio mechanic kind of thing. You work on the the initial burst which gives you space 10-20m.
interesting. seems unlikely that you'd see a major improvement at this stage. i've seen players get bigger and stronger, but i don't remember seeing any get faster.
a generalisation. coming back from his knee dempster got faster. prolly not faster than he was before the knee but faster than he was at any stage during rehab.
it's contextual. if bally stays and is 'told' that he needs to improve his sprint then that's what he'll work on and develop.
The club expects him to continue to improve his speed, mobility and other areas and perhaps it cannot guarantee him the game time his supporters believe he deserves, but Ball strikes as the type of person who would back himself to fully regain the faith of the match committee
can you actually improve your speed?
imo either you have it or you don't and unfortunately luke is in the latter category.
Might mean;
Had speed: Lost speed: Is a chance to regain speed !!
A pre-season spent on the track and avoiding the gym might lose some of that excessive muscle mass and give him more aerobic capacity, leg speed and confidence in his legs.
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The club expects him to continue to improve his speed, mobility and other areas and perhaps it cannot guarantee him the game time his supporters believe he deserves, but Ball strikes as the type of person who would back himself to fully regain the faith of the match committee
can you actually improve your speed?
imo either you have it or you don't and unfortunately luke is in the latter category.
Might mean;
Had speed: Lost speed: Is a chance to regain speed !!
A pre-season spent on the track and avoiding the gym might lose some of that excessive muscle mass and give him more aerobic capacity, leg speed and confidence in his legs.
yeah, prolly needs to slim-up a touch and increase his acceleration. if anyone can do it bally can.
Batnoe wrote:Usain Bolt still seems to get quicker
So in terms of, can you get quicker?
Yes
yeah, all right but it's all relative. bolt was quick to begin with.
bally is a good, solid, courageous in and under, but nothing is going to turn him into a racehorse. i just don't think it is possible for a player to acquire pace.
linz wrote:I thought he was a schoolboy champion sprinter who was faster than Judd over 100 metres.
Maybe my info was wrong.
Yep, he was definately a school boy champion. Don't know about the faster than Judd part, but definately was at state level in sprinting. I remember reading an article early in his career which sticks in my mind... he was apparently so intense that around that age - 11 or 12...his parents made him take a whole year off sport cos he was too intense with it all...was vomiting with nerves before these races at the state titles. I found it facinating at the time, so even more so now in light of what has happened.
Perhaps the psychological part of this is bigger than we realized....or maybe i'm reading too much into it. But Caroline's article today certainly talked about this self doubt element too...
Yes you can definitely improve your speed with training. To improve speed, athletes usually do short intervals (sprints with periods of rest). We can all improve our speed. Usain Bolt would be spending many hours to improve his speed for very minimal gains. Although genetics is a big contributor he didn't suddenly wake up and sprint 100m or 200m in record time. His genetic ability had to be enhanced through training. The slower you are to begin with, the greater the gains. It is referred to the law of diminishing returns. Big gains initially until gains begin to plateau.
In addition to speed work, a lot has to be said for technique improvement and as someone suggested biomechanics. This aspect of a sprinters technique is improved through running drills (series of high knees, A skips etc).
Strength and flexibility can also improve speed.
Luke can improve his speed if his body holds up. However his role in the team is not reliant on speed. Many players have graced the field without be super quick yet have been critical to the team's structure.
Luke seems to have Xavier College syndrome still - over inflated opinion of himself. Hes good but not that good. he can't run and cant kick. Should have taken then 3 x 300 deal. Thats fair and reasonable. Not sure who or what he reckons he should be on? Fact is he was darn lucky he got the previous deal and Thomas rated him way too highly.
Should have signed and moved on. Now hes facing his true market value. Reality check time Luke.
Last edited by Con Gorozidis on Tue 03 Nov 2009 4:23am, edited 1 time in total.
saintwill66 wrote:I was told recently by a person who knows Luke Ball off-field that his major problem since recovering from OP is lack of confidence that he won't suffer the same injury again.
This is evident in his loss of pace (he used to be one of the fastest runners), his failure to put full follow through power in his kicking, his preference for getting "in and under" for the footy.
Osteitis Pubis is a horrible injury for an elite footballer, and it is easy for us on the sidelines to criticise Luke Ball (as I have done!) without understanding the difficulties faced by the particular player in regaining the mental strength to full recovery. Chris Judd has done so, and if Luke can conquer his fears he will be a champion once again.
Luke Ball's phobias also account for the coaching panel's reservations about giving him maximum game time, he was simply unreliable.
very interesting post....
.everybody still loves lenny....and we always will
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Ball doesn't have to be this lightning bolt everyone wants him to be, he gets enough of the ball as it is. What he decides to do with it after he gets it might be more of the question being asked by RL??? (mere speculation on my behalf).
IMO Ball has some amazing ability to get the best for us in a contested situation. This is why I'd like him to stay. By staying and eating a little bit of humble pie, it'll go a long way in restoring some of the admiration he has already earnt, and now potentially clouded in the eyes of Saints supporters. If he leaves he’ll have lost of lot of what he’s worked so hard for. Leaving the club is a big cop-out in my opinion. Stay, face the music and win back a lot of respect. I’d love to see him stick with us.
When they created LENNY HAYES (in the shadow of Harvs) they forgot to break the mold (again)- hence the Supremely Incredible Jack Steven!!
Don't you love how all of a sudden everyone loves Caro now and always has?
But yeah I have a feeling Ball will stay... no inside knowledge just a feeling.
And you CAN improve pace, it takes a lot of hard work though as gains take a while and are very minimal. Patience is the key.
And yeah I heard the same thing a while back that Ball use to be faster than Judd when they were drafted.
Saintersss wrote:Don't you love how all of a sudden everyone loves Caro now and always has?
Bad Journos have good days just like good Journos have bad days. It appears that many on here jump from one to the other where Caro is concerned, depending on the article !!
NEW scarf signature (hopefully with correct spelling) will be here as soon as it arrives !!
Con Gorozidis wrote:Should have take then 3 x 300 deal. Thats fair and reasonable. Not sure who or what he reckons he should be on? Fact is he was darn lucky he got the previous deal and Thomas rated him way too highly. Should have signed and moved on. Now hes facing his true market value. Reality check time Luke.
agree with this. in reality he's a good, solid contributor rather than an elite player.
The club expects him to continue to improve his speed, mobility and other areas and perhaps it cannot guarantee him the game time his supporters believe he deserves, but Ball strikes as the type of person who would back himself to fully regain the faith of the match committee
can you actually improve your speed?
imo either you have it or you don't and unfortunately luke is in the latter category.
Might mean;
Had speed: Lost speed: Is a chance to regain speed !!
A pre-season spent on the track and avoiding the gym might lose some of that excessive muscle mass and give him more aerobic capacity, leg speed and confidence in his legs.
yeah, prolly needs to slim-up a touch and increase his acceleration. if anyone can do it bally can.
you train your body to be faster, just like you train yourself to be a marathon runner,
you have muscle firbes, the fast twitch are for sprinting,
slow twitch for marathon,
by doing repetitive sprints, and hills you work the fast twitch, hence making you faster.
