Timing

In my mind I keep replaying and instant in time from Sunday morning. My sons’ soccer game. He is positioned five or so meters from the goal mouth, on the left side (I am on the side line directly in line with him). The defenders and goalie are on the right side anticipating a shot from one of the kids on my sons’ team. He shoots and misses badly but the ball passes at the perfect hight and distance from my son. He steps into the kick and lets fly. His foot passes through the space the ball will occupy in a few hundredths of a second later.

He wasn’t having a great game at any rate – I think he was still asleep.

He can play basketball well and is in a fencing club – he is one of the youngest in the so, while not ranked at the bottom, he is not a star (maybe one day if he keeps it up).

He has got quick hands and is not afraid to mix it up physically. These attributes are good for basket ball, fencing and I suspect other marshal arts – such as Rugby or Aussie rules. But he has chosen soccer as his winter field sport.

You see his only co-ordination problem is from the waist down. While running he has a strange gate. He expends a lot of energy but not 100% directed at creating forward motion. I need a slow motion video but I suspect he is doing the twist while running. This lower limb disadvantage also carries into connecting a foot with a ball on the fly.

I wonder if he will improve with practice?