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Athletes are mainly
concerned with the development of acceleration rather than speed.
Top speed occurs in approximately six seconds when running in a
straight line with proper mechanics. Think about how many times
straight line bursts lasting for 6 seconds occur in your sport. The
average play in football lasts between five and seven seconds, but
that play is usually made up of a series of changes in direction or
collisions. It may take your basketball athlete five seconds to
sprint to the other end of the floor, but it is usually not an all
out sprint and many times the path is not direct. I think you can
see where I am going with this. We must know what the demands of our
sports are in order to develop a plan for our athletes to succeed.
Are you training for speed or acceleration? Acceleration training
work should be at distances that can be covered in less than 5
seconds.
Equally, if not more important, is training for deceleration and
changes in direction. Changes in direction are commonly referred to
as agility, which is the ability of the body to rapidly change
direction under control. This is especially important since most
injuries occur during deceleration with a change in direction. For
example, non-contact ACL injuries most commonly occur when there is
a sudden deceleration and some sort of rotation. By teaching
athletes how to decelerate properly we cannot only help them to
perform better in competition but also to reduce their likelihood of
injury.
Linear
Speed/Acceleration
Linear speed or straight ahead running is generally regarded as a
skill that one is either born with or not. Although that is true to
some extent, we know that everyone can improve by completing drills
in the proper sequence. Can we make everybody an Olympian? No! But
we can make a difference.
Running Speed = Stride length X Stride frequency
Stride Length
Stride length is the distance covered by one stride. This is a
highly trainable component for improving linear speed. Stride length
is probably the easiest way of improving speed and acceleration.
Techniques used to maximize stride length include dynamic
flexibility drills, weight training, and resisted running.
Dynamic Flexibility
Dynamic flexibility is the flexibility that we use during sport. I
have yet to see someone need static flexibility while in the midst
of competition. A first baseman doesn’t need to hold a split
position while reaching for a throw from the shortstop. What he does
need is the ability to quickly get into and out of that split
position. Dynamic flexibility drills should be included into your
warm-up to prepare the athletes for the specific movements that they
will be required to perform in competition. So when doing speed
workouts, we will always start with straight leg skips, high knees,
butt kicks, cariocas, shuffles, and so on.
Weight training
Weight training that focuses on the lower extremities needs to be
emphasized. Strength exercises such as squats and lunges combined
with explosive exercises like the hang clean and the hang snatch
should form the cornerstone for your lower body program.
Acceleration is represented as force divided by mass. With this
definition in hand we know that we can experiment with the athlete’s
body mass to find what changes bring about the greatest optimization
of acceleration. Usually an athlete that decreases body fat will be
able to accelerate more quickly. The other part of the acceleration
equation that we can easily control is force. With weight training,
we can increase the amount of force that the athlete can exert into
the ground to help them to accelerate.
Resisted Runs
Resisted runs work in the same manner as weight training. Running
against some form of resistance (parachute, harness, sled, stadiums,
hills) forces the athlete to push harder into the ground through
their legs. Resistance must be closely monitored so it does not
interfere with normal sprinting mechanics. If the resistance is too
great you will see that the athlete will quickly utilize the
survivalist theory of finding anyway to get it done. Usually stride
length will be negatively influenced and upper body mechanics will
breakdown. When running on a hill, the recommended grade is 2-3%.
This grade can usually be found on a football field. Football fields
are built with a crown in the middle to allow for water runoff in
the event of rain. When using sleds for resistance, 10% of the
athletes bodyweight is recommended.
Stride Frequency
Stride frequency is the number of steps taken in a given amount of
time. This component of speed is slightly more difficult to train
due in part to genetic limitations. Techniques used to increase
stride frequency are downhill running and towing. Both of these
methods teach the body how to move faster than previously capable.
Like uphill running, downhill running must be closely monitored.
Angles that are too steep will cause the athlete to heel strike,
which will act as a braking mechanism to slow the athlete. Similar
grades should be used in both downhill and uphill running. Towing is
when an athlete is pulled at speeds faster than accustomed to,
usually by using a long bungee cord tied around the waists of two
athletes. The lead athlete walks in front of the athlete to be towed
until there is tension on the cord. When the lead athlete begins to
sprint the athlete that is being towed must pursue the lead athlete
while receiving assistance from the cord.
Lateral Speed and Agility
Lateral speed and agility should form the basis of your speed
training. This is what separates those at the top of many sports
from the rest. In football one can instantly think of the way Barry
Sanders seemed to defy Newton’s Laws. Or in basketball, the way that
Allen Iverson can dribble down court and break his defenders down
with a crossover to the basket. And one final mental picture: a
shortstop going to the hole to stop an assured base hit. All of
these movements require lateral speed and agility.
Here is where knowing your sport becomes key in your teaching. How
do you want your baseball athlete to steal a base? How do you want
your soccer athlete to change their hips? You must know if you want
to use a crossover step or to open your hips with the lead leg. If
you watch an athlete over the course of a game they may use a
combination of the two. Perhaps you only want them to use one. Maybe
different scenarios require different movements. This is where you
need to be clear in your teaching. Athletes at the age of 18 have
already selected their preferred patterns of movement. It can be
extremely difficult to break 13 years of movement patterns (assuming
the athlete has been running since age 5). Think about how hard it
would be to change a pattern in your life that you have been using
everyday for years. Start writing with your left hand, if you are
right handed. Would you be successful if you only practiced it for
five minutes a day on Monday-Wednesday-Friday for four weeks (length
of pre-season) and then be expected to be proficient at it every
Saturday afternoon (game day)? Doubtful! This is why we need to
address our movement strategies year round at slow speeds. Just as
you would learn how to write with your left hand, you would start by
printing slowly before doing cursive. We need to teach foot skills
at slower speeds each day. If a proper base is not taught to the
athlete, the survivalist theory will kick in during the game. The
athlete will call upon the movement patterns that they have been
successful with in the past.
Speed training, runs performed at 100% intensity, should be
conducted as early in the week as possible. Fatigue grows over the
course of a training week and speed is not an attribute that can be
trained in a state of fatigue. Your speed training should also be
conducted at the beginning of your workouts following a proper warm
up and plyometrics (if scheduled).
Start training at slower speeds to perfect technical errors and
while introducing new movement patterns. Next, progress to faster
and more challenging assignments. Technique should be practiced at
speeds of 60-75% maximum. This way the athlete can feel what is
happening to their body and is able to make fine tune adjustments.
Make sure there is adequate recovery between efforts. To optimize
speed we must not have high levels of fatigue. Use work to rest
ratios of 1:10 and higher. This means that if you sprint for five
seconds you rest for 50 seconds. This should be a minimum ratio. I
like to go even higher. Remember this, if the athlete is fully
recovered that means that they have more to offer for the next
sprint. You will find that the quality of your sessions will improve
dramatically and after the workout the athletes will tell you that
the workout was extremely challenging. If recovery is insufficient,
you will get insufficient effort. Know what you are conditioning,
the mind or the body.
Every aspect must be taught as a progression. You must crawl before
you walk and walk before you run. Don’t start your athletes on a
resisted running program if they do not have the skills to be
successful at running.
Repetition is the key to life. The more you practice a task, the
better you become at it. How fast do you want your team to be?
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