In this blog I will be talking about the methodology of Speed training for sports. Speed is the one ability which separates good players from great players; and is to a certain extent genetic.

When training an athlete for speed it is imperative to note the different types of speed required for their sport. This could be straight line speed, lateral speed and multi directional speed.

• Speed session as all should begin with a very thorough warm up period, in this case especially as you will be asking your athletes to work at a maximal capacity.
• The effort phases of the session should be short but maximal, and the rest phases should be very long (up to 5 minutes between efforts).
• One of the simplest ways to improve speed is to improve the athlelets technique and running style.
• Running drills such as Plyometric hurdles will improve an athlete’s posterior arm cycle which is then transferable to knee drive.
• As I said earlier tailoring the session to the needs of the athlete is essential, therefore it is imperative to include short multi directional speed work. If your athlete players a team game.
• Relaxation is a very important skill to learn when sprinting. A relaxed muscle will contract at a faster rate and to a higher intensity than a tensed muscle.
• At the early stages of coaching technique drills should be more prominent than maximal sprints.

In summary, technique and relaxation are vital methods to quickly improve your athlete’s speed and efficiency. Focus on the small details and these will have a great effect on performance.

Next months Blog will be about the training and importance of the trunk muscles or ‘Core’ muscles.

Today’s topic is Power Development, this can be simply stated as;

F=MxA (F is force, M is mass and A is acceleration). 

Power is one of the most important attributes for any sportsman and its development is often confused with that of Strength.

• Power Development (PD) is not about lifting heavy weight.
• The most effective methods of PD are not concerned with muscular development but with neural pathway stimulation and efficiency of movement.
• Plyometric movements such as bounding and reactive drills are a great method which can also be coached in large groups.  This method is also suitable for use in a warm up.
• Triple joint lower body exercises that create an eccentric stretch reflex in the posterior chain are the most applicable to most sports.
• An example of these PD exercises would be light weight squats or snatches (65% of 1RM) at a low number of reps (2 to 6). These should be performed as fast as possible in both the concentric and eccentric phases.
• Due to the large stress placed on the Central Nervous System (CNS) when employing most PD methods, a low volume is necessary.
• Complex’s; the use of a high acceleration low load exercise to excite the CNS, followed by a high load low rep exercise executed at maximum acceleration, are a great method of PD.  This will train the body to recruit a greater number of muscle fibers and therefore increase force development (power).
• Effective forms of Complex’s are Russian, Bulgarian and German (Not American).  All with slightly differing theories and methodologies. When planning to implement a PD phase into your athletes’ programming further reading on this topic is advised.   
• As I stated in the last article on Session Planning, you should put the most demanding and complex exercise 1^st when the most energy is available therefore allowing the most adaptation to occur.

To summarise; sub-maximal exercises performed at the athlete’s maximum acceleration, at a low volume are most suited to PD and a simple rule of thumb ( this is N/A to Plyometric/Shock training in its true form as more research into this complicated theory is necessary before implementing these techniques).

My next article will be about training for Speed and Acceleration.