EVIEW
U^frl ©bylAAF
Sports Speed, Second Edition
By George Blough Dintiman, Robert D.
Ward, and Tom Tellez
When the first edition of this book appeared in
1988 it was still difficult for Sprinters and their
coaches lo find suitable training handbooks. This
has changed during the last ten years and speed
training has become one of the most topical sub-
jects in the athletics literature. Nevertheless,
ed is still recognised as a Standard book
in this area of training.
It is an undisputable fact that without adequate
speed and quickness, success in mosl sporls is
nearly impossible. Speed can be defined as the
measure of how fast an athlete can sprint short
distances while quickness refers to the ability of an
athlete to perform specific movements in the
shortest possible time. Quickness also involves the
ability of the nervous system to process and pro-
duce rapid contractions and relaxations of the
muscle fibres. An athlete demonstrates his or hcr
quickness by performing fast, explosive move-
ments of the entire body, e.g. in the starting and
acceleration phases of sprinting. by adjusting a
body part to start a new movement or by rapidly
changing direction.
In the past coaches and athletes alike were con-
vinced that speed and quickness were genetic
qualities that no one could do anything about.
Among Sprint coaches, emphasis was placed on the
improvement of form and conditioning (wind
sprini and other interval sprint training pro-
grammes). The idea was to produce an athlete with
upper- and lower-body movements in tune with
Ihe kinesiological principles of sprinting and then
condition that athlete through the use of repeated
spi mts both longer and shorter than the distance
ofthe sprinting event.
As long as the United States continued to win the
100-, 200-, and 400-meter dash in the Olympic
games. American training techniques wenl un-
questiom and the use of the old methods con
Si tinued. When Vaieri Borzov won the 100-meter
dash in the 1972 Olympics Games and American
sprint supremaey was shattered, the United States
began to realise that there was more to speed im-
provement than genetics ancl conditioning. It was
recognised that sprinting speed was increased not
only by improving form (the start and mechanics
of sprinting), holding maximum speed longer, and
reducing the slowing effect at the end of a Sprint
(interval sprint training) but also by improving ac-
15:2: 103-104,2000
celeration and taking faster and longer steps. None
of the training programmes in use during the
19605 had much impact on the latter two target
areas, yet these were the most important.
It was also in the 60s that work began to focus on
analysing the effectiveness of training the neuro-
muscular system. The question was: If the muscles
involved in sprinting were forced to move at faster
rates than ever before through methods such as
overspeed training, was it possible to permanently
increase the number of steps nn athlete takes per
second and also improve the length of strides. Dur-
ing his speed camps in the 1960s Dr. George Dinti-
man towed athletes behind a motor scooter and
automobile to force faster and longer steps.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Tom Tellez,
then assistant track coach at UCLA, was training
UCIA football players under head coach Dick Ver-
meil. This taking of speed training to the football
field was one of the early attempts to improve the
speed of athletes in sporls other than track and
field. Since that time, Coach Tellez has become one
of the world's greatest sprini. coaches. training Carl
Lewis. Leroy Burrell, and Mike Marsh among many
other world-elass Sprinters.
In the NFL in the mid-1970s, Dr. Bob Ward joined
the Dallas Cowboys programme to become the firsl
NFL strength and conditioning coach with füll
Coaching status. Dr. Ward revolulionised the way
football players were evaluated and selected and
the way they concentrated on strength training,
speed training, and general conditioning. Many of
his Special training techniques. synthesised in the
seven-step model, are still followed by the majority
of NFL teams.
Together, in this book these three experts have re-
fined the original seven-step speed training model
devised by Dr. Ward to provide athletes with a
sure-fire approach to improving their playing
speed in any sport. The model, which was devel-
oped from both the findings of re-searchers and
practical experiences with thousands of athletes.
covers all aspects of training to make athletes per-
form every skill and movement required during
competition faster and quicker.
The model includes
(1) basic training (to improve body control, muscle
strength. endurance. and sustained effort),
(2) funetional strength and power (explosive
movements against medium to heavy resis-
tance in an intensity ränge of 55 to 85 percenl:
of one's maximum intensity to improve quick-
ness and explosive power),
103
 Kl Vll VV: Spori'. Speed, Sceond Edition
(3) ballistics (focusing on high-speed sending and
reeeiving movements to improve quickness and
explosive power in specific body parts),
(4) plyometrics (explosive hopping, jumping,
bounding, hitting, and kicking to improve total
body explosive power and quickness).
(5) sport loading (focusing on precision loading at
high speed at an intensity of 85 to 100 per-
cent of maximum speed to improve high-speed
muscular contraction).
(6) sprinting form and speed endurance (focusing
on sprinting technique and improving the
length of time one is able to maintain one's
speed), and
(7) overspeed training (involving systematic appli-
cation of sporting speed that exceeds maxi-
mum speed by 5 to 10 percent).
The literature indicates that quickness is trained
throughout the entire sprinting act when training
exercises and programmes are similar to the
trained event in terms of ränge of motion, force,
and pace. The drills presented in this book to im-
prove speed of muscle contraction (initial firing to
maximum firing of muscles) and acceleration, such
as high knee lift drills, sprinting in-place drills, arm
pumping drills. plyometrics, and overspeed train-
ing. all develop quickness for sprinting and com-
petitive movements in most sports. The pro-
grammes presented in steps 3 (ballistics), 4 (plyo-
metrics), 5 (sport loading), 6 (form and speed en-
durance), and 7 (overspeed training) are ad de-
signed to improve both speed in covering a short
distance, such asa 100-meter sprint, and quickness
of muscle movements of the entire body or body
parts.
104
The actual programme takes place on the basis nf
some specific tests to give the athlete an idea
where he is now, so that he or she can plan his or
her speed improvement programme.
The book is concluded with a chapter about sports
speed nutrition, which shows that for an athlete to
be able to function within the so-called "Zone" the
biochemically run units of the body - the cells or
powerhouses - must be supplied with all the essen-
tial materials that are practical, healthy, and legal.
To sum it up then, Sports Speed is the perfeet train-
ing guide to help athletes of all ages and levels
maximise their speed and quickness. Using the lat-
est research, the authors have updated and ex-
panded their trend-setting seven-step model that
builds all key components in developing speed and
quickness for sports - strength, power, technique
and endurance. It is now widely accepted that ath-
letes do not reach their potential unless they use
such a complete approach to speed improvement.
The authors of this book have also made a major
contribution to the modern view that genetics is
considered only one factor in determining one's
maximum speed potential.
Although this book is not specifically geared to-
wards athletics it is definitely required reading for
all athletics coaches in the business of developing
speed in their athletes. •
George Blough Dintiman/Robert D.
Ward/Tom Tellez:
Sports Speed, Second Edition
Champaign (IL), 1998. 243 p.,
ISBN 0 - 8 8 0 1 1 - 6 0 7 - 2 , $16.95
Reviewed by Jürgen Schiffer