Speed

"It's the 6'2", 190-pound Altidore's bursts of speed that give him an edge."

"He followed a strict strength program to reach that level. Barrieu says. To develop greater explosiveness, Altidore does sprinting exercises while wearing a Bullet Belt, a harness that allows him to run with resistance."

"By doing drills that overload the acceleration phase, you train the muscles to be stronger and the nerves to fire faster," says Piri.

"The aim is not necessarily bigger muscles, but falter-reacting ones."

"Although some soccer teams still test speed using 5- to 15-yard sprints, a repeated sprint test Is better, says Ermanno Rampinini, head of Italy's Mapei Human Performance Lab. This is a modified version of the speed test he uses on pros. (You'll need a stopwatch.) Mark out 20 yards on a field. Sprint to that line, bend down to touch it, turn, and sprint back. Rest for 20 seconds. Do 8 sprints total. The average of your sprint times is your score."

"Average guy is 8 seconds."

"Great is between 7 and 8 seconds."

"World Class is less than 7 seconds."