David Beckham claims in this month's Health magazine he runs 12 miles at game, B.S!

7:30 pace for 90 minutes.

I don't think any sprinting makes up for the standing around or light jogging.

I've heard from GPS experiments that the average pro soccer midfielder runs 6-10 kilometers. these are the guys running up and down the field the whole game. nobody on the field will run more than them.

yeah, Beckham is conveniently doubling (probably more) the distance he actually runs

No, nowhere close. I've read that they run about 6 miles max, which the 10km (6.2 miles) report below also suggests.Its even worse when tennis players say that they run a "marathon" while constantly sprinting. I hate it when they say that they are in such great shape when the match is 4 hours. Its so damn long because they spend ungodly amounts of time bouncing the ball. (Rafa Nadal/Djokovic)You can get by with less than ideal conditioning in skill sports like golf, tennis, even basketball and hockey. They also have strategy in their sports. If you're in bad shape you can just go for winners in tennis or hang out at the 3 point line for basketball. In running, its pretty much all physical!"he had run more than 10 kilometers, according to an on-screen graphic. ""and found it to be generally accurate within 3%."http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/tracking-how-far-soccer-players-run-112/

he serious? wrote:

"even at 36, im still running 12 miles a game"....now why or how could he know that and make that claim? does he wear a gps during games? and i highly doubt it comes ANYWHERE close to 12 miles. this quote offended me. cocky soccer players...

Obviously a BS quote. They have pretty sophisticated technology to track players movements during a game. I heard number like 12 km (!) before, which is much more reasonable. Of course that includes slow jogs and walking.

Nonetheless, the game of soccer has changed tremendously over the past 20 years. Back then, you had players that smoked cigarettes and stood around much of the game only to strike with their awesome freekicks. Not anymore. The game has gotten so fast.

That's why the Fuentes customers from Barcelona are the best in the world right now.

he probably meant 12 km a game, or the author mis quated and wrote miles instead of Km. As a Brit, it is reasonable to believe he was talking about km. That being the case, 12km is very reasonable. During last world cup they had gps trackers on a few players, by end of game they were in 12-14km range.

Nutella1 wrote:

Obviously a BS quote. They have pretty sophisticated technology to track players movements during a game. I heard number like 12 km (!) before, which is much more reasonable. Of course that includes slow jogs and walking.

Nonetheless, the game of soccer has changed tremendously over the past 20 years. Back then, you had players that smoked cigarettes and stood around much of the game only to strike with their awesome freekicks. Not anymore. The game has gotten so fast.

That's why the Fuentes customers from Barcelona are the best in the world right now.

Thats hilarious! Which players smoked cigerettes?

chinocochino wrote:

You can get by with less than ideal conditioning in skill sports like golf, tennis, even basketball and hockey. They also have strategy in their sports. If you're in bad shape you can just go for winners in tennis or hang out at the 3 point line for basketball. In running, its pretty much all physical!

It's hard to get by with subpar conditioning in field sports at a high level. At a YMCA men's league, sure, but that's the equivalent of your local town 5k. Someone with great talent who runs 4 miles twice a week could place well despite not being well trained. Someone like Nadal or Djokovik is in fantastic shape. They're not trained for a 5k but for the kinds of repeated explosive movements they need to do. Hockey players are in great shape too. They play short shifts but because you can push at an angle to the ice skaters with good power can get over 30mph in games. Obviously golf doesn't count, that requires great coordination and some strength but basically no fitness at all (John Daly is a fat drunk).

Back then, you had players that smoked cigarettes and stood around much of the game only to strike with their awesome freekicks.

Not true at all. There have never been players who just stood around waiting for free kicks. Not twenty years ago and not fifty years ago either.

Placekickers are a gridiron thing.

It's true that in the past it was easier for players in some positions to get away with not being very mobile. But the upside they had to have to compensate for that was excellent playmaking ability. Being a dead ball specialist would never have been enough.

I agree, he was speaking in kilometers. You have to go back to the interview he did when he was asked about helping his son with his school work. He said somehting like: He teaches me new things, not the other way around, I never got very far with me maths (sic).

So he takes his mileage and doubles it. Same thing most people on LR do....

seriously though, sounds like km to me and some journalist figured he'd change it to miles to keep the Yanks happy.

Methinks you are easily offended.

no advice but wrote:

I've heard from GPS experiments that the average pro soccer midfielder runs 6-10 kilometers. these are the guys running up and down the field the whole game. nobody on the field will run more than them.

yeah, Beckham is conveniently doubling (probably more) the distance he actually runs

Even if that were true- there is a lot of standing around. It certainly doesn't compare to running 6-10K continuous at, say, sub 5:00 pace. They rest A LOT.

runn wrote:

Even if that were true- there is a lot of standing around. It certainly doesn't compare to running 6-10K continuous at, say, sub 5:00 pace. They rest A LOT.

You're right, it doesn't compare. It's much harder.

Mario Basler, German national player in the 90's. Smoked a pack of cigarettes per day. Was famous for his free kicks and corners. He once scored three direct corner goals in one Bundesliga season. Not much of a runner.

he may have run that distance some years ago when he was young an dplayed well in some match where he had run all day long back and forth and the match when to OT and he had to keep doing it, right now? he doesn't even run 4miles per game.

Well how about Djokovic and Nadel. They supposedly ran a combined 30 miles over their epic 6 hr match. I believe that is more credible than Beckham running 12 miles in a 90 minute match. 1. it's 6 hrs. 2. They are in sprint mode when they are actually playing points.

I believe the statistic is distance covered, NOT distance run.

The article is misleading.

They do track players and how much distance they cover in a game. Beckham I'm sure has never run 12 miles in a game. But I'm sure he's run close to 12km many, many times.

Nostradanus wrote:

Methinks you are easily offended.

WHAT?!?

I Challenge YOU to a DUAL! Or is it DUEL! I can never remember. Well, one of those SWORD THINGIES.