We have all heard the expression ‘speed kills’ and if you look at the most memorable moments in sports they are often attributed by game winning feats of speed………That game winning break away to make a play or that game saving chase down tackle are all examples of such feats. It’s therefore, no coincidence that maximising speed is one of the most desirable athletic attributes and qualities for athletes to have at their disposal.

When we dissect speed development we must first acknowledge and appreciate our speed potential is largely genetic!…….So before reading on I’ll give you a second to go and blame your parents #awkward.

All jokes aside we definitely can TRAIN TO GET FASTER…MUCH FASTER 

Below are 3 keys to consider when developing speed for the field based athlete.

#1. Improve relative strength

This should come as no surprise as a stronger athlete has a greater speed potential. The more force the athlete can produce in the ground relative to their own body weight the more force that will project them forward with each stride (increasing their stride length….will explain importance below). This becomes particularly important for field based athletes who sports are heavily stop/start in nature, their ability to accelerate there own body mass from a dead stop/static position is critical to the success of the athletes sporting performance.

Stronger Athlete = Greater Speed Potential 

When we breakdown speed its simply the product of:

Stride Frequency Vs Stride Length  

Stride Frequency = Number of strides taken in a certain amount of time/distance

Stride Length = Distance covered/length of each stride

Generally speaking the athlete that takes the fewest steps and has the greatest stride length usually wins.  When we look and breakdown the fastest man alive Usain Bolt and his 100m gold medal winning performance at the 2012 Olympics he took 41 steps with all other competitors taking 44-46 steps to complete.

Bottom line is to spend time getting STRONG by incorporating both bilateral (two legs) and unilateral (single leg) fundamental movement patterns (Squat, Deadlifts, Split Squats, RDL’s etc).

#2. Improve mobility at key joints (ankles, hips and T- Spine)

If the athlete doesn’t have the necessary mobility or is restricted at these joints it will not allow them to get into the most optimal positions when it comes to acceleration and top end speed mechanics. Meaning there is a potential for an energy leakage making the athlete less than efficient and ultimately not allowing the athlete to unlock their full speed potential.

Typically athletes are the some of the best compensators. And sometimes whats seen as being ‘efficient’ or whats referred to as the path of least resistance isn’t always the most effective way for the body to perform that specific task.

For example lack of hip mobility (hip flexion in the leg/knee drive) will generally result in lumbar flexion compensation and a reduced powerful hip extension.

Lack of thoracic mobility particularly rotation can influence arm action resulting in potential excessive rotation at the core/trunk.

#3. Sprint FAST

Finally we need to actually SPRINT and train to SPRINT FAST!

To achieve the desired training effect, we need to allow for long rest periods in between your maximal sprints to ensure high quality maximal efforts are maintained and performed in order to chase the adaptation we are after…….SPEED

If we don’t allow for adequate rest between efforts we start to shift the session focus to that of conditioning. Understanding fatigue is the enemy of speed development is important when it comes to structuring individual training sessions and overall program design.

Too summaries nothing we can do in the gym will 100% replicate and transfer to sprinting itself. But by putting all the above pieces together it will go a long way to help develop game winning speed!!!