CRITICAL ASECTS OF SPEED TRAINING

THANK YOUS…. The Super Coaches Clinic 2009 staff, Basketball Manitoba and the presenters in making this workshop/seminar top quality!

Introduction Sherwin Vasallo BA, CAT(C), CSCS, RKC Howie Eugenio BA, CSCS, RKC Acceleration Performance – Athletic Therapy and Strength Coaching for Elite level Athletes, sports teams and Weekend Warriors. Operation since

Assessment Note the mechanics of the sprint – have athlete sprint to see how they run! Typical improper sprinting styles: ◦Shuffler: no hip/knee drive, feet shuffle on the ground, no ‘toeing’ ability ◦Hockey Sprint: move laterally too much (simulate the skate motion) ◦No hands Ma!!: Sprint without upper body movement or improper upper body movement

Assessment con’t Typical improper sprinting styles: ◦Collapser: ugliest one of them all! Very poor strength, poor muscle coordination, increased risk of catastrophic injury! Commonly seen in female athletic population! Males not excluded.

What is wrong? Shuffle runners – tight hamstrings and calves. Poor hip flexor strength and power Hockey runner – over developed glutes; poor adductor (groin) strength. No hands Ma! Runner – no upper body involvement with running. Poor running mechanics.

Differences Males are stronger with respect to overall body strength. Males have a mechanical advantage – LB joints are lined up better. Increased lean muscle mass Females generally have stronger lower body than upper body. Females have a mechanical disadvantage – increased Q-angle

Strength In order to restore or correct improper sprint techniques – use strength training and proper coaching! Muscles to target: tibialis anterior, glute medius, glutes and hamstrings and core. Choice exercises: squats, high box step ups, SL Squat, BSS, lunge with knee raise, GHR, GH march, monster walks

Strength Exercises for Speed Strength Exercises for Speed Squats 3 x 8-12 Lunges with knee raise 3 x 8-10/leg Bulgarian splits squats (BSS) 3 x 8-10/leg Hamstring curls 3 x Bridge march/hip bridge 3 x tempo Glute Ham raise 3 x 8 Monster walks 3 x steps each way Please visit for exercise video indexwww.accelerationperformance.ca

Warm up Employ a dynamic warm up rather than traditional – ‘ride the bike’ or go for a ‘quick jog’ method. Sample warm up #1: (prior to strength or plyo w/o) ◦squats x 10 ◦Lunge rotation x 5/leg ◦Drop lunge x 5/leg ◦SL RDL x 5/leg ◦Mountain climbers x 10 ◦Reactive foot drill (1:1 work/rest ratio) Sample warm up #2: (prior to speed training) ◦Squats x 10 ◦Walking lunges x 10 yrds ◦Mountain climbers x 10 ◦A’s x 5-10 yards x 3 sets ◦B’s x 5-10 yards x 3 sets ◦C’s x 5-10 yards x 3 sets ◦Reactive foot drill (1:1 work/rest ratio)

Acceleration Mechanics

Acceleration The most important skill in getting someone faster is the mechanics of sprinting. The athlete must have proper mechanics or these drills or any exercises you prescribe will be pointless! These drills will help to teach proper acceleration mechanics

Acceleration Drills Wall/partner mechanics drills Drop sprints 5-10 yards Mountain climber sprint – 5-10yards Push-ups to sprint – 5-10 yards

Resisted Sprints Sled drag/sled sprints – 5-10 yards (lbs ???) ◦Too much will ruin acceleration mechanics ◦Too light won’t give you enough stimulus ◦No mathematical equation; observe and adjust the poundage Resisted band sprints – 10 yards ◦Partner drills allow for efficient programming ◦Bullet belt

Work/Rest Ratio Proper work/rest ratio for speed training is 1:3 (minimum) Opt for quality repetitions rather than quantity No longer speed training if your athlete is fatigued

Teaching your team Employ a military fashion training system Group your athletes and command their movements example: line up 5 or 6 athletes; 2-3 rows *bounce 3 – knee up (R), repeat (L); up to 10 yards. Employ military fashion in warm up as well This keep everyone together as a unit and easier for you to manage.

Interesting point DO NOT static stretch immediately after a speed, agility or plyometric session! Why??? ◦Speed/plyometric training is neuromuscular training, ie. GTOs and muscle spindle sensitivity. If stretch, we reset the sensitivity. The muscle spindles forget that you want them to be more sensitive to the eccentric phase/stretch phase of the jump/sprint.

When do we stretch? For our clients, we recommend static stretching at least 1 hour after speed, plyo or agility training. That way, your muscle spindles will have ‘cooled down’ from activating and becoming sensitive and you can relax knowing that you will not be resetting the CNS!

Conclusion Consider the muscular and structural differences between males and females with respect to sprinting or sprinting potential. Strengthen and/or correct muscle imbalances. Form takes precedence. Use the drills or ‘toys’ once form is perfected. Make all drills fun and encourage competition to get maximal effort form your athlete.

Q & A

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