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Jack Sparkes

Billy The Fish

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So really it's down to Sparkes himself then. Hmmm.....
 

dontpassback

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I thought he played well yesterday and his running at them caused problems including the penalty
 

Red Devon

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Jack has played well in the two League games so far….he links up so well with Hartridge and has been very good at carrying the ball out of defence deep into the opposition’s half…he makes up for little lack of pace with his trickery on the ball.
 

grecIAN Harris

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Not sure which of the half dozen Jack Sparkes threads to put this on.....

I know diddly squat about athletics but I was wondering if there is any sprint training available to make him quicker. I'm confident that the coaches know that this aspect of his game could be improved and are all over it but my question is, can he be trained to be faster?
Two things, either you're quick or you're not and no amount of training is going to make a massive difference. Secondly athletics sprinting is very different to football sprinting because of the element of the football. Athlete's run through their whole foot to generate their power and speed, ie the heel goes down first and you roll your foot across the ground before pushing off through the front of the foot. Footballers tend to to run off of the front end of their feet because it is nigh on impossible to control a ball running at speed using the sole of your foot to control the ball.
 

grecIAN Harris

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Jack has played well in the two League games so far….he links up so well with Hartridge and has been very good at carrying the ball out of defence deep into the opposition’s half…he makes up for little lack of pace with his trickery on the ball.
I wouldn't even goes as far as to say it's trickery (in a Lee Holmes type way), it's just a simple feign to cross and shift the ball to get a yard to get the cross in (a la Beckham).
 

Moomin Grecian

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Two things, either you're quick or you're not and no amount of training is going to make a massive difference. Secondly athletics sprinting is very different to football sprinting because of the element of the football. Athlete's run through their whole foot to generate their power and speed, ie the heel goes down first and you roll your foot across the ground before pushing off through the front of the foot. Footballers tend to to run off of the front end of their feet because it is nigh on impossible to control a ball running at speed using the sole of your foot to control the ball.
Didn’t Matt Taylor say that one of the reasons Matt Jay improved so much was that he’d worked on ‘covering the ground quicker’ or something similar? This would imply he’d managed to eek a bit more pace out of his legs.
 

Billy The Fish

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Didn’t Matt Taylor say that one of the reasons Matt Jay improved so much was that he’d worked on ‘covering the ground quicker’ or something similar? This would imply he’d managed to eek a bit more pace out of his legs.
A little eeking wouldn't harm in this case. He'll be facing quicker players this season.
 

iscalad

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A little eeking wouldn't harm in this case. He'll be facing quicker players this season.
Eek....here to help.😁
 

Colesman Ballz

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Eek....here to help.😁
You are Dangermouse and I claim my five quid ! :cool:
 

Suzi & The Banned Cheese

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Jack Sparkes the best ever footballer to have come from Bassetts Farm School?
 
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