Speed Development

by Aron Branam, CSCS, Saint Vincent Outpatient Rehabilitation Center

As Fall approaches athletes ranging from the grade school to professional levels are preparing for the upcoming sports season. Many believe that a team’s success depends on what individual athletes do to prepare for the season and not solely on what they do during the season. With this school of thought becoming more and more popular with coaches, pre-season camps are popping up all over the country. These camps give coaches more time to evaluate their athletes and set up programs to address their problem areas.

An area that is often evaluated is speed. Speed is essential to the success of most sports. Many believe that a person either possesses speed or doesn’t. This is not necessarily true. With proper instruction and training a person can develop speed. The athlete may not ever be "fast" but can be "faster" in a relative sense. There is a great deal of potential to increase an athlete’s sprinting speed that is needed in sports today.

To improve the components of speed a thoroughly designed program should involve resistance training, a focus on running technique, assisted running, resisted running and plyometrics. The components of speed are stride frequency, stride length, form and speed-endurance, reaction time, acceleration, strength, power and flexibility.

Stride frequency is described as the number of steps taken in set amount of time. If an athlete can increase their number of steps taken without shortening their stride they will be faster. The frequency can be increased with sprint-assisted training that involves such activities as downhill running on a slope 3 to 7 degrees (Figure 1).

With a slope greater than 7 degrees the stride frequency would be too rapid and the risk of loss of control and injury is too great. Downhill running should cover 30 to 50 yards. Before ever starting a downhill running program an athlete should be involved in a sprint program on a level surface to accustom the body to the rigors of training.

Another technique of increasing stride frequency is the towing method. This involves athlete A holding a free end of sport tubing which is connected to the waist of athlete B approximately 30-40 yards away. Athlete C is also holding the tubing at about half the distance between A and B. Athlete B then runs for 10 yards and with the tubing pulling towards A, B sprints as fast as possible. C is there to gather the tubing to keep B from tripping on it (Figure 2).

This will help the athlete sprint at a faster speed than which they are accustomed to. This method has shown to increase sprinting speed as much as 5-10 percent than that of traditional sprint training.

Stride length is the distance in one stride length during running. A longer stride length means more ground is covered with each step. To do this speed-strength needs to be increased. Training elements for speed-strength involves strength training, resisted (Figure 3)

and chute running, uphill running, running stairs (Figure 4)

and plyometrics. Beware not to focus completely on these activities because too much might actually decrease stride frequency. Make sure there is an even balance of all activities in your training program.

Many problems with speed stem from poor form. Learning good form at slow speeds is essential for the overall success of a program. Once good form is established at slow speeds then it is safe to progress to faster speeds. Form running drills such as high knees, rear heel kicks and power skips are simple ways to help perfect technique. With the whole body in motion it is quite easy to get one or more areas of the body doing the wrong thing during running. Starting at the head, it should not sway. Keep the head straight ahead looking forward. The arms should stay close to the body and the swing should come from the shoulder with elbows flexed at about 90 degrees. The hands should not cross the mid-line of the body, which would cause trunk rotation. Trunk rotation should be minimal. The hands should also not go higher than the face. The heels kick up further towards the rear with greater speed development and are essential to proper leg turnover. The upper body should have a slight forward lean as to keep the body weight transferred in the right direction. The feet should point straight ahead and should contact the ground in the order of ball, heel, ball. An athlete should not sprint on the balls of their feet only. Relaxation seems to be key in sprinting. Someone who is a very tight and tense sprinter struggles with developing speed. Try to relax the hands and jaw. The body should flow in a smooth motion and not be stiff and robotic. Tension creates resistance and results in decreased speed.

Though sprinting is only done for short durations and distances, most sports require that the athlete be able to perform sprints off and on throughout the game. Because of this the athlete needs to possess speed-endurance. Interval training is an excellent way to develop and improve speed-endurance. Interval training involves high intensity activities followed by a rest period that is then rotated back and forth for a predetermined amount of time. The recovery periods should imitate the rest allowed in a game situation to best condition the athlete. For instance, the rest a football player receives between plays is much longer than what a soccer player receives due to the nature of the game. Therefore the recovery period is proportionate to the time spent in activity.

Plyometrics are activities that enable the muscles of the body to reach full strength producing potential in as short a time as possible. With the help of gravity, plyometrics store potential energy in the muscles and then immediately create force in the opposite direction. For example, when a basketball player lands on the floor after trying to grab a rebound, his recovering bent knees and legs are holding potential energy to spring right back up in the air with quick, explosive force. Plyometrics such as split squats, tuck jumps, lateral cone hops and vertical power jumps are useful in all sports that require both speed and strength. These sports include football, soccer, volleyball, rugby, baseball and basketball, just to name a few.

The speed at which sports are played today are almost growing exponentially. The athletes are not only faster but are bigger also. The combination of size and speed is deadly, hence the phrase "Speed Kills." For an athlete to compete today they need a wide array of skills and an abundance of talent. The important thing to remember is that the talents and skill needed to compete can be developed and honed with proper instruction and hard work. A good work ethic is hard to beat. So as the fall season draws near, keep in mind that most of the work for the entire season is done in the pre-season. Stay motivated and focused because nothing pays off better in sports than hard work.