Kolo raised the whistle once more.
"Ready?"
Lukas nodded.
The sharp whistle pierced the morning air.
He exploded off the line.
The drill was deceptively simple. Sprint to the first marker, touch the line, sprint back. Then immediately out to the second marker and back. Then the third. Every interval became longer, every return more taxing, with only enough time to pivot before accelerating again.
Lukas attacked every shuttle as though it were the final run of a cup final.
His first few accelerations were so explosive that several players instinctively turned their heads.
By the third marker, his strides had lengthened. By the fourth, he was already separating himself from the pace everyone else had set earlier. Yet what caught the coaches' attention wasn't his top speed.
It was what happened every time he reached a line.
He decelerated almost instantly, planted his foot, changed direction and accelerated again without losing balance or rhythm.
