The speed of play in the English Premier League (EPL) is the fastest in the football world - and last month Winmalee's Ranell Hobson ensured the competition's future stars continue to pick up the pace.
She has just returned from touring the UK where she ran a series of workshops at the academies of EPL clubs Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Leicester, Wolverhampton and Wigan. Hobson also ran strength training drills at Manchester Metropolitan University's sports academy.
A track sprinter and director of coaching at the Academy of Sport Speed and Agility Australia, Hobson has designed internationally accredited courses to improve athletes' acceleration, changes of direction, strength and conditioning and injury prevention.
"What I really enjoyed was talking with like-minded coaches on youth development strategies that are in line with current research," Hobson said.
"I noticed one of the biggest differences between Australian youth training programs and those overseas is the understanding that strength is a vital component of development.
"Here I will walk into an U16s team and find out that they have never been into a gym or lifted a weight but over there they start their U12s on specific strength training programs."
Among Hobson's specialties is showing coaches of team sports how to identify poor running styles that may lead to injury and how to fix them.
She said "the shining light of my UK trip" was her time spent at Arsenal Academy.
"One of the reasons was seeing how their Head of Sports Science, Des Ryan, who comes from a rugby background, introduced a lot of intensity to their training and looks at the footballers as athletes first. The game is played at a really fast pace in the UK but traditionally the football coaches' focus is on ball skills and tactics.
"It was interesting to see the mindset of coaching in football is changing.
"At Crystal Palace I got to talk to Aussie head strength and conditioning trainer Scott Guylett about training methods he uses with their top squad's players, including Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak.
"At Leicester City I was able to work with their U18s players and at Arsenal their U10s squad, which was a lot of fun."
Hobson's next trip overseas will be in June when she heads to Florida State University to help prepare players in a different sport, American football.
Back home, she continues to operate her own academy in the Blue Mountains and western Sydney she founded in 2009 as a way of applying her expertise in sprinting to help coaches and players of ball sports.
"Sprinting is very important in these sports but many players have never been properly taught the mechanics of running."
For more information, visit www.academyofsportspeed.com.
