As a speed coach, my belief is that we should never get
away from speed work.

Even when your athletes are out of season, they should still
get some acceleration work in even if it is just once per
week. Because if they don’t use it they will lose it.

I just finished my first week of practice working with a new
group of high school sprinters. After watching them run
and asking some questions an incredible fact was revealed.

In the past, these *sprinters* didn’t actually do any true
speed work.

In my experience, most coaches (and athletes, trainers,
parents, etc.) don’t actually know what true speed work is.

And if it isn’t being done with track sprinters, then it sure
isn’t being done right in other sports.

So let’s define what ’speed work’ actually is:

Speed work is defined as 2-8 seconds of high intensity (that
means Full Speed) running without the presence of fatigue.
To avoid fatige athletes should rest *at least* 2-3 full
minutes between each rep.

Yes, minutes.

Any workout you have your athletes do that does not fit
into this definition is *not* speed work.

That means it will not improve your athletes’ fastest top
speed.

So repeat 200s at race pace or goal pace is not going to
improve top speed.

Repeat 40 yard sprints with less than 3 minutes rest
is not going to improve top speed.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t do those workouts.

They are a great supplement to training. But they won’t
make your athletes faster. So if workouts like the above
are the foundation of your training, you should immediately
rethink your strategies.

If your goal is to develop faster athletes, that is.

So check out this article on the most effective way to
make athletes faster, regardless of sport:
http://tinyurl.com/yq75kq
To your success,

Latif Thomas CSCS, USATF II
2005 MSTCA Coach of the Year

P.S. Here is how I teach speed from A to Z:

http://www.CompleteSpeedTraining.com
“I have heard people say ‘you can’t teach speed.’  I can
tell you, after just one month of using Complete Speed
Training, that is a huge myth.  I am a 46 year old man
with a 13 year old son.  With only a month to go before
he started football we trained for 4 weeks. Both of us in
that short of a time made quantum leaps in our speed and
quickness. Oh my goodness. It is an enlightening experience. 

My biggest regret is not getting it sooner.  Seeing how
much faster and quicker my son is, feeling how much more
spry I feel, I cannot say enough.  Anybody that cares
about athletic development should put what you teach to
work.  Thank you.”

John Reagan
Monterey, California
==> http://www.CompleteSpeedTraining.com
“Your information helps my track & field athletes perform
magic. (best performer, girl 15 year old running 100m
11.92 (electronic)and 200 m 24.88 (electronic) she took
part in 100m hurdles event for age 17 with a time of
14.61 two weeks ago. In April 2007 won the South African
Junior Champion Ships for girls 15 (90m hurdles). Without
Complete Speed Training I do not think it would have been
possible.”

Dirk van Rensburg
South Africa

==> http://www.CompleteSpeedTraining.com

------------------------------

Spread the Word:

 digg this  del.icio.us  Technorati  Blogmemes  Ask Jeeves
 Furl  Reddit  Rojo  Simpy  Spurl  Socialize It
 Earthlink  Google  Netscape  Windows Live  Yahoo

------------------------------

This entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Speed Training . You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.