The number 1 question I get asked by athletes and parents who are interested in the program is “can you make the athlete faster?” This is and always will be one of the main components that determine what makes a top athlete. Unfortunately most athletes and parents do not like my answer – “Yes and No”. They get this look on their face thinking that the program is totally crap until I sit down and explain what I mean.
Speed on the playing field for the most part is totally different than being fast or having a good 40 or 60 yard time. Yet that is how we are taught to test speed. This is why athletes flood to chain sports performance places that promote “speed” instead of athleticism. However, this type of speed does not carry over well to the playing field. Unfortunately, it’s the athlete putting in all this extra effort that suffers.
Why doesn’t this type of speed training transfer well to a game situation? Ask yourself this – when was the last time any athlete has run a straight line over 20-30 yards without any contact, change of direction, or other obstacles to avoid? While this happens all the time on a track, on any other field or court it rarely occurs. Athletes rarely have the opportunity to hit maximum velocity (or even accelerate correctly) because they must change direction, go through or around other players, or only go 5-10 yards.
So, let’s revisit my answer of “Yes and No”.
Yes, your athlete will become faster and quicker on the playing field. I train athletes to become more powerful, have quicker feet, and become more explosive with every motion they do. This not only translates into making the athlete faster in a straight line, but also (and more importantly) carries over into any athletic situation in a way that will make that athlete faster on the field.
No, I will not teach them running mechanics such as how to maintain the accelerated position or correctly cycle their legs when hitting max velocity.
It takes hundreds of hours of repetition to alter your biomechanics and running form to increase speed. What if, instead, I can make an athlete more powerful every time their foot hits the ground? They will travel a further distance with each stride, automatically making them faster. Making an athlete faster by teaching them the correct muscles to use for power, strengthening those muscles by lifting weights and making each stride more explosive (using plyometrics, prowlers, and sleds) takes a lot less time and makes them a better athlete on the field.
Some athletes already have a great deal of power (mostly elite collegiate and professional athletes) and with those clients running technique becomes a priority. I do this especially if they are training for a specific drill (like the 40 yard dash) that requires them to run as fast as possible in a straight line. However these are the exceptions and not the rule.
How do you become more explosive, quicker, and more powerful with each step? You have to go back to the basics and have a good strength, quickness, and plyometric program. A good program requires the athlete to perform exercises like squats, deadlifts, foot speed drills like ladder and platform drills, as well as multiple types of jumps (broad, vertical, weighted, box, depth, etc.). Once an athlete starts progressing in all of these exercises, the speed follows closely behind.
Have you ever seen someone who can dunk that wasn’t faster or more explosive than someone with the same physique? I have yet to see any athlete that has over a 30” vertical get beat in any type of race by someone who has a 25” vertical. If you look at previous NFL combine results, you will notice that in general, the athletes who have the highest verticals always run the fastest 40 times as well. This is not a fluke.
By generating more power into the ground, the ground pushes more power back into the foot and body propelling the athlete either further or higher. This is simple physics, and unfortunately most people seem to forget about it when dealing with speed. Why? It is tough as a coach to monitor and teach the correct form on 15 different exercises when you could worry instead about only 3-4 different running drills that build technique and have athletes do those instead.
So if you are looking for that extra edge on the field and feel that it is speed holding you back, stop worrying so much about how you run. Worry instead about how much you can squat and deadlift, how many glute ham raises you can do, and how high your vertical is. In my experience, if you can add 2-3 inches to your vertical, your 40 time will drop roughly .2-.3 tenths of a second and carry over dramatically to your performance on the field.
Another way to get more powerful and become a better athlete is to pack on muscle (not just weight). If you are slower and skinnier than you would like to be, then be sure to sign up in the top left corner of the website so you can receive your free guide on how to put on 10lbs of muscle in 30 days.
As always feel free to comment or ask any questions you might have.
D
This is the most important aspect of most of these sports, the only problem is that even if you are one of the fastest players on the field, you are overlooked over and over because the coaches stick to the clip boards that have your 40 time. It happens to me every season, where i’m not even considered because of my 40 yard dash time when we all know it’s got nothing to do with game speed.