VSP Spotlight: Barca Academy’s – Billy Spanos
This week we are shining our VSP spotlight on Billy Spanos!
Billy is an incredibly talented soccer player who plays at the Barca Resident Academy in Arizona.
Before moving out to Arizona to join the academy, Billy was a VSP regular. Now, we have the pleasure of getting him back during winter and summer breaks to work on his game. Upon returning this summer, we looked into what Billy needed to improve to take his game to the next level.
Here is what we worked on:
- Single Leg Stability & Strength
With soccer being a sport that involves running, cutting, and kicking – it’s filled with sharp, powerful, and explosive single leg movements. When we have adequate single leg stability, strength, and power – we can increase the quality and capacity of those sport specific movements on the field. This was one of our main focuses with Billy this summer.
2. Deceleration & Acceleration
Billy’s speed is a huge asset for him on the field. He’s like a Lamborghini… However, one thing he realized was how much easier it was for him to move once he was already at top speed. This allowed us to put his movement under the microscope and understand that he needed to improve his capacity to start and stop. Would you drive a Lamborghini with no breaks?? Definitely not… Once the breaks were put in, the ability to accelerate, decelerate, and reaccelerate came quickly for Billy.
3. Upper Body Strength & Power
An undervalued component of development for soccer players is upper body strength & power. People think that since soccer is a sport that is filled with running, cutting, and kicking – you only need lower body strength and power to improve your development. That couldn’t be less true. Whether it be keeping good posture as you run and get fatigued, being able to push off a defender when making a move or a cut, or launching an overhead pass from the sidelines – upper body strength & power is a huge component of what Billy needed to succeed on the field.
Billy absolutely crushed his summer training. We saw drastic improvements in all the metrics that were focused on above. As he heads back to Arizona for the start of training camp, we are super excited to hear about how his development this summer has increased his capacity and performance on the field.
Keep up the good work Billy!
Written by: Jake Lebovitch – Sports Performance Coach & Liaison to Athletes
