We all know the guy who looks like a Greek God and is crap on the field –

And the other guy who looks like a wet noodle but dominates every collision.

Yes, sport skill is the #1 factor.

But there’s also a physical reason: the critical time period of force production.

Most sporting actions occur in very short windows:

• Tackling, ball-carrying: ~0.1 s
• Sprinting: ~0.08 s
• Jumping: ~0.3 s
• Striking: ~0.05 s

A max effort squat can take ~2seconds:

• 20 x slower than tackling and ball carrying
• 25 x slower than sprinting
• 40 x slower than striking

After the beginner phase, maximal strength has hardly any transfer to these very fast movements. The difference is rate of force development: you need to produce force quickly, not just produce a lot of force

Many athletes—especially rugby players—rely on ballistic lifts (broad jumps, box jumps, loaded jumps), but these aren’t good enough – they’re still 4–6 x slower than most sport actions.

The exercises you need to do, are the ones you’re crap at.

Here’s my fast and dirty rules to improve transfer:

• If you squat >2× bodyweight, strength is almost never the limiter.
• Ballistic lifts are good but unlikely the fix. Just ~10–20 reps per week is enough for most.
• Low hanging fruit is high RFD and elastic work: skips, single-leg hops, bounds, hurdle hops, drop jumps, reactive bench throws, band assisted plyo push ups, drop med ball throws, accelerations, hill sprints, light sled sprints, and top-end sprinting. Aim for about 250 quality reps per week, but progress gradually — start with easier variations (e.g., begin with skips, then move to bounds).