October 23rd, 2007

Are athletes born fast or is speed a skill?

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You would be surprised how often this question comes up.

I remember a Sports Illustrated article in the mid-1990’s
about a high school sprinter (from earlier-he was well out
of high school when the article was written) that was posting
10 flat times in the 100 meter dash. After the race he would
smoke cigarettes and the coach would be lucky if he decided
to show up for practice. He was self proclaimed ‘lazy’.

There was a girl that went to the same high school I went to,
she ran track in 1986, and she could run an 11.7 100 meter
and throw the shot 50 feet.  She also wasn’t a big fan of going to practice.

Obviously, both ‘athletes’ were naturally fast. There are some
athletes that are just born faster then others, but does that mean they can’t get better?

Are slow athletes doomed forever?

Can your athletes really *learn* to get faster? 

If so, how?

Check out Latif Thomas’s new article ‘Speed is a Skill’:

http://www.athletesacceleration.com/speedisaskill.html

Yours in speed,

Patrick Beith
www.AthletesAcceleration.com
www.CompleteSpeedTraining.com
P.S. – Speed is a skill. The ability to take advantage of the potential of one’s body, and do so consistently, is a highly technical skill. As coaches and athletes we often allude to this concept when talking about speed development, but rarely do we discuss how important this statement is and what effects it has on training and performance.

To read more and learn how to develop true speed in your athletes check out:
http://www.athletesacceleration.com/speedisaskill.html

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