SPEED

TIME TAKEN TO MOVE BETWEEN TWO POINTS.

THESE TWO LINES ARE NOT TYPICALLY IN A STRAIGHT LINE IN MOST SPORTS.
THEREFORE THE ASCA RECOGNISES THAT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT
WAYS OF LOOKING AT ATHLETE SPEED.
THESE ARE CALLED SUB QUALITIES OF SPEED.
THEY ARE:
– Reactive agility
– Change of direction (COD)
– Acceleration
– Maximum speed/velocity
– Speed endurance
REACTIVE AGILITY

• Reaction = the ability to react quickly to an opponent or to stimuli which may be

auditory, visual or kinaesthetic.
• Agility = A whole body change of direction, or speed, in response to a sport- specific
stimulus. Entails some COD.
• E.g. In basketball the reaction can be visual (reacting to what you see) or auditory
(passing the ball to a team mate upon hearing their call).
• E.g. In judo the reaction to predominantly kinaesthetic – reacting to change in balance or
shifts in body position/weight between the two judokas.
CHANGE OF DIRECTION

• COD can apply to pre-programmed movements, where the athlete knows that they have
to turn e.g. Turning in cricket.
• The greater the number of COD within a movement episode, the the lesser the maximum
velocity demands.
ACCELERATION

• Acceleration = the rate of change in velocity.

• Typically in sports it implies speed over the first 5-10m from a stationary start.
• However it also includes the rate of change in velocity from different starting/moving
positions.
• Field sports speed efforts can initiate from stationary starts, rolling starts and striding
starts (Benton, 2001).
• Therefore acceleration can mean the rate of change in velocity from any of these different
types of starts – they all need to be trained.
MAXIMUM VELOCITY

• Maximum velocity = highest speed or velocity attained during speed episode.

• Typically occurs between 20 to 30m or 30 to 40-m in a field sport athlete when starting
from a stationary start.
• May be 40 to 60 in a track and field athlete.
SPEED ENDURANCE

• he ability to repeat speed efforts with limited diminishment of performance (e.g. in field
sports).
• The maintenance of near maximum velocity/minimal diminishment (e.g. in track and
field and extended runs in field sports)
• Very important, however, speed endurance is the least studied of all speed sub- qualities.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPEED SUB-QUALITIES?

• Research shows that acceleration (E.g. 10m sprints) or agility and max. velocity (E.g.
40m sprints) may only correlate about r =.71 (share 50% commonality).
• With a sports skill introduced the relationship between max. velocity and other qualities is
lessened further.
• With decision making (reaction) and max. velocity the same result has been found (and
for additional of skill).
• Therefore the various speed sub-qualities require different training to straight line sprint
training.
METHODS OF INCREASING REACTIVE AGILITY

• Improve COD abilities.

• Improve acceleration.
• Improve basic reaction abilities (using varied stimuli, etc.).
• Improve sport specific reaction(context-specific drills).
REACTIVE AGILITY & COD & ACCELERATION

• The basic movement mechanics of reactive agility are often improved during training for
COD and acceleration training, especially in lower level athletes.
• HOWEVER, other aspects of reaction – decision making, ‘reading play’, pattern
recognition are best developed during sport specific training.
• Advocates of the ‘game conditioning’ philosophy maintain that this is one of the prime
benefits of that approach – that reaction is always being stressed in sport specific
situations.
METHODS OF IMPROVING COD

• The various drills that improve running COD ability can be defined as:
• – Rope ladder/hurdle/tyre drills
• – Box or bag or ‘statue’ drills (run around, in and out of)
• – Tackle bags, other athletes acting as statues, etc.
• – Cone drills (use cones to determine an agility pattern)
• – Line drills (use the lines of the court or field to determine an agility pattern)
COD DRILLS

• All of the above methods use the various apparatus to define a course of movement with
many changes of direction or foot patterns.
• The more changes in direction, the greater the COD demands and less the athlete has to
rely on their acceleration abilities.
• Athletes in certain sports use implements to aid COD (E.g. cricket bat, hockey stick) or
use opponents (martial arts, collisions sports).
ACCELERATION

• Acceleration = force/mass – therefore increase force or decrease mass.

• Body fat level correlate highly with sprint times, especially abdominal fat, i.e. The fatter
the athlete, the slower they are – decrease fat mass.
• Force must be sports-specific (in nature of time of application, etc.), but some generalised
strength/power increases per kg usually leads to improvement in acceleration.
• Better mechanics aids in force application.
METHODS OF IMPROVING ACCELERATION

• Increase strength/power per kg of body weight.

• Improve technique/mechanics (this may also entail improving flexibility to improve
mechanics).
• Resisted training (sleds, uphill sprints, parachutes).
METHODS TO IMPROVE ACCELERATION

• Acceleration mechanics and technique

• Gym strength/kg of BWT
• Running acceleration strength via
• a) Hills
b) Sleds
c) Free sprints
ACCELERATION STRENGTH - HILLS

• Hills at incline of 5 to 25 degrees

• Length of runs 10-40 m
• Rest 30-s for every 10-m
• Total running volume = 200-350 m
• This volume is higher than flat acceleration/max velocity sprint work because the impacts
and velocities are lower
ACCELERATION SLEDS

• Sled resistance typically of 5 to 10% BWT, but can be effective at higher resistances
where warranted
• Length of runs 10-40 m
• Rest 30-s for every 10-m
• Total running volume = 200-350 m
ACCELERATION – FLAT SPRINTS

• Length of runs 10-40 m

• Rest 30-s for every 10-m
• Total running volume = 150-250+ m
• Lower running volume due to higher impact forces and velocities
ACCELERATION SESSIONS

• Sessions can entail a mixture of the above methods as well as strength work
• E.g. Contrast gym set and sled set x multiple repeats
• E.g. Contrast sled set and free running set x multiple repeats
• E.g. Contrast gym set and sled set and free running set x multiple repeats
MAX VELOCITY
METHODS TO IMPROVE.

• Increase strength/power per kg of body weight

• Improve technique/mechanics
• Resisted training (sleds, uphill sprints, parachutes)
• Assisted training (downhill, catapults, being towed).
MAX VELOCITY- GENERALIZED NON- RUNNING
METHODS
• Increasing strength/power (in squats, jump squats, power cleans, etc.) per kg of body
mass is usually associated with increase in max. velocity – however some exercises may
have limited transfer.
• Decreasing body fat will also improve power: weight ratio and therefore max. velocity.
IMPROVING TECHNIQUE AND MAX. VELOCITY

• Improving sprint technique / mechanics is the most immediate method of improving max.
velocity.
• Various drills (see some examples in the videos in later slides) can be used to improve
stride mechanics, resulting in increased max. velocity.
• Improving flexibility and joint mobility or “stiffness” is often part of improving
technique, leading to increases in max. velocity.
SESSION GUIDELINES

• Use hollow sprints or flying starts or buildups

• Length of sprint at max. velocity is usually only 10-25+
• Total max. velocity distances of 120-300-m
• These may require long rest periods of 1-4 minutes between reps
SPEED ENDURANCE

• The ability to replicate speed efforts with minimal diminishment in performance is

especially important in field and court sports.
• Repeat sprint testing (E.g. 8 x 40m or 10 x 20m with 20s rest) shows that well
conditioned elite field athletes diminish only 5% or less.
• This ability may give considerable advantages over more fatigued opponents.
METHODS FOR SPEED ENDURANCE

• Speed endurance does not just imply repeating 20-24m sprints. The ability to repeat the
type of sub-quality of speed that is important for the sport.
• Agility endurance, acceleration endurance, etc. are important in most field or court sports.
• Manipulate number of reps and recovery period to stress the endurance capabilities of the
sub-quality that you are trying to improve the endurance of.
• Again proponents of the ‘games approach’ to conditioning advocate that an advantage of
this approach is that specific speed endurance training is stressed.
GENERAL PROGRAMMING CONSIDERATIONS
FOR SPEED TRAINING
• Speed qualities need to be done at highest intensities (excluding warm-ups and drills) – 95-100%
MAX.
• High intensity speed work cannot be performed for high training volumes.
• Speed workouts should entail low training volume (< 500m excluding warm-up) at the highest
intensities for the first 4 qualities (can be more for SP-E).
• More than this volume may be emphasizing anaerobic power or capacities more than speed qualities.
• Allow adequate recoveries to ensure high intensity (E.g. 1:7 or more for max. velocity or 30-60s for
every 10m of high intensity running ~ a 20m sprint may require a 1-minute or even 2-minute rest
period
• Speed sub qualities need to be trained constantly (every week).
• Aspects like Reactive agility and COD can be effectively trained in the latter stages or
immediately after a dynamic warm-up.
• A number of aspects of speed can be emphasised in one training unit.