Cech - How I improve my reflexes

Petr Cech has revealed that he uses tools outside of football to improve his reflexes and hand-to-eye co-ordination.

The Czech Republic goalkeeper has impressed during his debut season in north London, earning instant plaudits for his stunning reaction saves to deny Christian Benteke and Philippe Coutinho against Liverpool in August.

Cech could return to Arsene Wenger’s starting line-up against Crystal Palace on Sunday, and the 33-year-old says that he was still able to keep his reflexes sharp during his spell on the sideline with a calf injury.

“You have a natural ability so your body allows you to be super fast or not, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t get faster, even if you are super fast already,” Cech told the Arsenal Weekly podcast.

“You can use tools outside of football, you can use table tennis robots because they are perfect for reactions and hand-to-eye co-ordination. Even tennis robots which feed you the ball help because it can go in any direction with any different spin or flight.

“The ball is also smaller which helps your hand-to-eye co-ordination as it means you have to use separate hands. It makes it much better. You also have the luminous boards… the game where you have to hit the lights and react to it.

“There are plenty of things that you can do outside of the football pitch which can make your reactions better. It depends on the person, too. There are no limits. If you want to find an exercise, you search it and you really put your time into it. Then it will become really efficient.

“Sometimes 10 minutes outside of the pitch, doing things which are not physically demanding, can help just as much. It all depends on how much time you want to put in, how much you want to improve and how much you want to do the research. Without that you will not go any further.”