Arm Action in Soccer Players

The use of the arms while running is important for playing soccer.

Arms are used to when accelerating, when balancing as movements with the ball are made, and, most importantly, when changing direction.

Observe the video below to see how Lionel Messi uses his arms as he accelerates forward, as he shifts the ball side to side, and as he changes direction. Not surprisingly, he uses his arms much better than most soccer players. PLEASE focus on his use of arms, as it is very easy to end up watching the ball when he plays. Note that some of the video is in "slow motion" for you to observe carefully as he is very fast in his motions.

Arm Action in Sprinting

The movement of the arms is an essential step towards optimal speed development.

The basic elements of "proper" arm action are as follows:

• the shoulders are square and remain relaxed while the arm is able to swing freely (like a pendulum)
• the arm is bent at 90 degrees (as coach Danaka Porter says "Keep it in an L-shape") on both upswing and downswing
• the downswing takes the hand past your waistband (my youth coach used to refer to sweeping past the top of your tracksuit pockets)
• the upswing takes your hand to just below eye level (check out the image of Carl Lewis below)

Here is a simple drill that I recommend athletes do in front of a mirror to observe their own arm action (amazing what some visual feedback can do to refine technique):



Once you have used the visual feedback to refine the arm action, you will need to spend time doing the arm action to become comfortable with it. The seated arm action is an excellent drill that an athlete can do while watching TV (commercial breaks are a good length of time to get some arm action reps done). Here is a video of this drill:




For some more advanced observations, my friend Jimson Lee has an excellent article on arm action on his blog. He likes to quote famous Canadian Track Coach Geoff Gowan , “You run with your arms on your legs”.