If you follow women’s soccer and you’re on Twitter, you likely know of @BeastModeSoccer. David Copeland-Smith is the man behind the account and the brains of the training operation. By his estimate, he has worked with some 50 National Women’s Soccer League players, including top U.S. internationals.
He joined our podcast at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Chicago for a wide-ranging chat on the training habits of world-elite players and how he got started with his professional training business.
Some highlights from our chat:
- The training habits of top players like Alex Morgan and Allie Long
- Rachel Daly’s best position, and she could be among the world’s top players there
- The quality — and, sometimes, lack thereof — seen in NWSL games
- Jesse Fleming’s technical IQ (15:00) and Morgan Andrews’ mentality (19:30)
- How he started training women’s players (27:00), including ‘the OG’ (the original Beast Mode Soccer Player), Ali Riley
- His new app, mysoccertraining.com (40:00)
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Select quotes on training habits and development
“I wish other people would focus on the amount of hours that go into it, because it’s literally — with Al[ex Morgan], it’s, in the offseason, everyday. She’ll have one day off a week — but it’s every day. And it’s hyper-focused stuff.”
“I wish we could focus more on the extra that these players do, because all of these players that have made it at this level, they’ve all done more. And just in my experience, the better they become, the harder they work. It’s inspirational; it makes me better.”
“I think we are producing technical players, but we’ve got a long way to go. These kids can’t be playing football for 15 years and not be ballers; something is going wrong.”
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