What is one thing that can always be noticed by watching professional athletes in their respective sports? Speed. Something you often hear athletes say when moving up a level in their sport is how much faster the game is. Sure the athletes are usually bigger and stronger at the next level, but a major difference is the speed of the athletes. A fast athlete can often control a game because speed is a high impact tool. On the baseball field, a fast player can take over the game by making exceptional defensive plays, stealing bases, and collect some “bang-bang” hits. In basketball, a fast player is tough to defend and also disrupts the opposing team’s offense by jumping passing lanes. In football, a fast player always has to be accounted for as they can turn a simple play into a game changer. Whether it’s one of these major sports or any other athletic activity, speed ALWAYS kills. However, many athletes neglect speed training. This may be the result of a lack of time, lack of motivation, or the athlete may have been blessed with some good, natural speed and doesn’t feel they need to improve. Everyone can improve their speed. It just requires the right training program. If a lack of time is the issue, try to work some speed training days into your schedule. If lack of motivation is the issue, think about how much your game could improve if you were faster.
Speed is the distance an individual can travel in a certain time. To improve speed, three main components must be addressed. These components are your stride length, stride frequency, and exerted force. Your goal with stride length should be to increase it. This will allow you to cover more distance with each stride–ultimately lowering the time it takes you to sprint a certain distance. The best way to increase your stride length is to increase flexibility. The more flexible your muscles are, the longer your stride will be. Other ways to increase your stride length are to perform form running drills.
With stride frequency, your goal should be to increase the frequency at which you strike the ground. The faster your legs fire, the faster you will be. To improve your stride frequency, you want to do some agility and quickness exercises. These include exercises like mini hurdles, speed ladder, or anything that forces you to use quick footwork. Another way to increase your stride frequency and explosiveness is with olympic lifts. An example of an olympic lift is the power clean.
Finally, to the force you exert when pushing off the ground with each stride is equally important as stride frequency and length. The more force you can exert, the faster you will be. To increase your force exertion, you NEED to weight lift and perform powerful sprinting exercises like a sled drag or prowler push. By working to improve all three of these aspects, your speed will increase and your athletic ability will be enhanced. Then there’s only one thing left to do: DOMINATE!
See the video below of Luol Deng performing a workout to increase his athletic performance with trainer Elias Karras at EFT Sports Performance:
