Speed of reaction is a much more important aspect of speed development, and can be improved dramatically at whatever age and level of competence.

Speed of thought and speed of adjustment, are two areas which when worked on consistently, produce fantastic improvements.

All of the great players have a saying and an understanding that “the first 2 metres of movement are in your head”. How a player reacts or adjusts to an opponents moves wins and loses games.

There are within this framework, two different types of player.

1. Reactive. (A player who only is aware and ready when directly involved with the play).
    
2. Proactive. (A player who is aware the moment he steps onto the pitch, to the moment he steps off at the end of the game, whether he is directly or indirectly involved with the play).

The reactive player is like a driver, that every time he stops at the traffic lights switches the engine off, and then back on when the lights change.
At whatever level a player plays at, this process is too slow, not efficient, and causes a breakdown in the transition of the team dynamic.

The proactive player is the driver who at the red light keeps the engine running, and when the lights change moves smoothly away.

Even if the reactive player is a Ferrari, and the proactive player is a BMW, in the time it takes for the Ferrari to be switched on, the BMW is already off and moving.

This analogy explains how the fastest player (pure speed) is not necessarily the quickest to adjust.

Soccer is a game of continuous adjustment;

• To the ball.

• To an opponent.

• In the transitional phase.

All of these adjustments are of a random fashion, so it is very important in training to work on this parameter.