The Cross Over Movement Blog

A friend forwarded me this paragraph and I heard some TV guys talking about it during the Super Bowl run-up. I believe it is from Sports Illustrated:

In Leach’s spread offense, Welker had little trouble finding holes. His anticipation, quick feet and peripheral vision made him a tough cover, even when everybody in the stadium knew the ball was coming his way. “As much as it is a sacrilege to say, I think a lot of that came from soccer,” Leach says. “He was coordinated, and he had great vision out of the corner of his eyes because [in soccer] you’re always looking for an opening or a lane to pass it to your buddy. If you’re carrying a ball, it’s even easier to see the holes and run through them.”

Welker acknowledges the crossover between the sports. “When you’re playing soccer, you need good eye-to-foot coordination,” he says. “You’re in no one position, no stop in play, and you get a feeling of where everybody is in space. It’s the same in football. You feel that spacing, where the defenders are, and you set yourself between them and sit in that little zone.

Maybe soccer is the answer as to why U.S. teams struggle against zones in international competitions. Everyone thought it was poor shooting, but maybe, like Welker, international players who grow up playing and watching soccer “feel the spacing, where the defenders are” and set themselves in space, while American players without the soccer experience are less aware.

Either way, another example of multilateral development and sports skills developing and transferring between sports.