Every athlete wants to get faster and have more speed. The 3 components of speed development are acceleration, maximum speed, and speed endurance. During training make sure each athlete’s sport is evaluated to assess the sports demands for speed. We focus heavily on acceleration with our soccer athletes as the majority of runs are less than 15 yards during a game of soccer.

Each athlete should allow 48 hours between the training of each component. Perform all sprint activities focusing on acceleration at 90-100% intensity. We also recommend each athlete perform a strengthening/stability and flexibility routine. This routine should have a heavy focus on strengthening the muscles that produce power during running (triple extension), and improving mobility to reduce injuries.

Acceleration:

Acceleration involves increasing an athlete’s velocity focusing on 5-20 yard drills. We focus on several factors when training acceleration including mobility, strength, reaction time, form, stride frequency, and stride length. Training techniques including form drills, start drills, resisted runs, and stick drills are all effective for increasing one’s ability to increase acceleration.

Form drills can include arm swings, high knees, buttkickers, and A/B/C drills. Start drills include falling starts, pivot starts, crouching starts, prone starts, and sport specific starts. Resisted runs focus on making acceleration more difficult but the athlete needs to focus on technique. The resistance should also not slow the athlete down by more than 10%. Stick drills will focus on increasing stride length and frequency.

Every speed program should have a focus on each factor when trying to improve acceleration and focus on accelerating in multiple directions. Remember if you get to the ball first, you will have a large advantage.

Fitness Edge Performance, the official strength and conditioning providers for the Columbus Crew, can help you achieve your speed goals. Visit www.fitnessedgeperformance.com for information on how you can increase your speed!