There is a myth in soccer training, especially among younger athletes, regarding where power comes from when throwing a soccer ball. Many mistakenly believe that the muscles of the upper body, those of the shoulders and arms, are the primary muscles used to hit a deep, powerful, and accurate throw. However, nothing could be further from the truth, as the most powerful quarterbacks in the NFL and college football use their lower bodies to become stronger when they shoot.
The first muscle group that young players need to consider is their thigh muscles. These include the quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors, and abductors, among many others. The calves shouldn’t be ignored either, but the upper thigh muscles are the most important. These muscles are used to plant the foot on the ground and establish a solid base of support for the throw. Force is generally applied to the ground to generate a pitch, and the leg muscles are what apply that force to the ground to begin with. Without strong leg muscles, that force cannot be generated.
Once the front foot is planted, the next muscle group involved is the hips. The gluteus, primarily the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius, are used to generate the twisting motion that creates the power to throw the ball. The hips are the densest muscular area of the body and can generate tremendous amounts of force, as can easily be seen in world-class sprinters who have extremely developed hip muscles. Football quarterbacks also need that development to throw a long, powerful throw.
The last area of the musculature that young soccer players should take into account is the ABS. The abdominal muscles are made up primarily of the rectus abdominis, which is located at the front of the body; the obliques, which are located on the sides of the torso; and the transversus abdominis, which cross the torso diagonally. These muscles are used not so much to generate force as to transfer it, and they transfer it mainly diagonally. This can be seen when a quarterback puts his left foot forward before throwing with his right hand. The legs and hips generate force, which is transferred through the abdomen to the chest, shoulder, and arm.
It is the abs that complete the chain from the lower to the upper body and make the ball launch with power. Unfortunately, many soccer strength and conditioning programs spend far too much time focusing on the chest and triceps, in particular. While these muscles are important when throwing, they are primarily used for stability and accuracy, rather than power and speed. An accurate, stable, and slow throw is more likely to be intercepted than a powerful, accurate, stable, and fast one.
