This is exactly the reason why people like Gambetta need to be drawn and quartered. We have to spend our valuable time explaining the obvious to clients/parents because their minds have been muddled by ridiculous statements like, “you don’t want to be too fast.”
It’s amazing how many times I’ve heard myself saying exactly what Charlie said. Soccer people are talking about agility and multi-directional speed when they clearly need to improve linear acceleration. If the ball is in front of you, you aren’t running serpentine to get to it. Get there as fast as you can to make a play - in a straight line. Same with baseball. I remember trying to convince a coach that they did not need an intricate agility test for their program (i.e. running around cones for 15 seconds). The ball is hit, you run to it (in a straight line), you catch it, then you throw it. And, they have “base-lines” to show the athletes where they need to run after a hit. Even when a player rushes the mound, it is usually in a straight line.
One so-called expert out where I live invests all his marketing in the importance of teaching people how to stop or brake. Madness. My guess it is because the athletes they train will have to stop quickly as they are being pulled out of the game and replaced by someone who can actually accelerate.