Young Athletes speed training secret
What’s your ‘Secret’ to making young athletes faster?
Leave a comment and then read what everyone else says…
… I’ll bet you’re going to be very surprised…
My Secret Speed Training Method is Here —> http://youthspeedspecialist.com/
– Brian
basic excercises and plyos.
One word – Strength!
Hi
For me it has to be power and flexibility. Power is the obvious answer but I think alot of us may not see a strong link with flexibility and speed. But in my experience, someone with good technique and form, has always had great flexibility, making them efficient runners!
short interval training at high speeds and elevation
Basic running mechanics, head position, arm position, hands relaxed, rotation out of the shoulder, knee drive.
My Secret to making young athletes faster?
1.) Making sure they understand their body and body position that is need to be fast
2.) A dynamic warm up that develops the athlete body to produce second nature movements. Example, high knees: bring the toe up as the knee comes up. These type of things will carry over to the actual running or field of play.
Increasing hip and thigh flexor strength coupled with form running and increasing stride cycle.
Improving their body composition and getting them to relax
1. Proper mechanics
2. Core Stability
3. SL Strength
4. Mindset
I assume that we are straight speed here? I agree with the above comment by Bob, but would just like to add to that slightly. Strong focus should also be placed on the hamstrings.
Since the stride cycle consists of stride rate and stride length it is easier and safer to focus on improving stride length in children. Stride length can be increased by increasing leg strength. For that, we love to focus on resisted running drills such as tire/sled pulling, uphill running, parachute running, partner assisted resistance training, etc.
Stride frequency can be increased by doing overspeed training such as downhill running and band assisted running to create the overspeed effect, but because of the possible dangers we like to stay away from stride frequency drills when dealing with the younger athletes.
I am not a coach, but I think there is only one secret or way for each person, I mean discovering and working on the weak link. For basics, I agree with the perspective of biomechanics: as Pose method says, firstly we need to work on perception of body weight and gravitation law, in order to handle with properly (movement is changing of support).
I get small children (5 and 6, and even some 4 year-olds) to do a squat.
I tell them “Don’t kneel down, sit back”
I then perform a full squat to my heels (I am 58 years young).
I know even without telling them, that they will try to get down to their heels, because now they want to do it. They all want to be as good as their coach.
Other exercises I disguise as games named by animals.
For example, “Kangaroos” are simply a basic plyometric hopping keeping two feet together for about 10 to 15 metres.
“Frogs” means to squat down, place your hands in front, and on a given signal e.g. a whistle blast, leap and bound as far as you can, Then resume the start position. I do this again over a distance of 10 to 15 metres. Any longer than that is a strain for a young child.
Proper mechanics – lower & upper body
Hip strength
Balance/strength
confidence in abilities
Balance & Variety. In a word cross training. cardio high intensity intraval’s. Timed wind sprints with form coaching,Agility “stations”. Strength training w/multiple variation to hit both fast and slow twitch. Incuding explosive power, and stamina. Along with super sets , drop sets & circut training. Tailored of course to meet individual and age.
Explosive starts
fluid movements
proper/quick hands
There is no “secret.”
Strength is the cornerstone of speed.
Don’t make it harder than it is.
KISS.
A well thought out plan of progression in all areas with constant adaptations as needed.
Strength – hips, core
Power – plyometrics
Form
I really don’t have a secret what I believe is that if you teach proper form of running along with applying force the the ground you will get faster.
I also think that if you strengthen the core & work on the flexibility through the hips an athlete can get faster.
1. Correct Dysfunctions
2. Proper Progression
3. Hip Mobility/Strength
4. Core Stability/Strength
5. Single Leg Balance/Strength
6. Mechanics/Technique
I first evaluate the natural movements and mechanics of the child I am working with and develope a strength and power program to accomodate these natural abilities and instruct on ways that would aid his/her natural abilities most effectively and efficiently. I watch, listen, learn and deliver data to enhance each child’s natural abilities.
Well,5-7yrs; they’ve only just learnt how to walk so,small steps using small building blocks with repitition and variety and make it fun.8-10yrs;start to challenge them mentally?feed their minds with the what,why,when and how on each step/exercise,but keep them busy and having fun.11-13yrs;start building that core/pillar area,cont. to challenge them mentally but,we begin to turn the table on them to challenge themselves.
Speed comes down to efficiency of force and movement. Sport speed (multi-directional) is about ability to stop and go based on an athletes ability to control their body. The more efficient they are the better they move.
It is a combination of stability, strength, flexibility, and learning proper body mechanics.
1. Bare foot sprinting on grass and in sand
2. Single leg sprinting
3. Practice, race someone a little faster than you daily
In order to be fast you must train fast. High tempo in everything after a proper active warm-up, with proper form and technique taught by a good coach.
If you do slow movements with weight, run 2 miles at a slow pace for a warm-up, (as a ton of coaches do) and never coach proper technique, and make the athlete more efficient, mobile, stabile, flexible, balanced, and stronger,then the results will be limited.
I get high school coaches all the time saying “I do not have any kids running a 4.6-4.8 in the 40.” My first question is, “What are you doing in the weight room and in your Jr. High program to prepare them for high school. Training is a process that if done correctly beginning between the ages of 10-11, can get those coaches the kids they are looking for.
Although strength training is important the first thing I teach is the four magic words.
Step over drive down
1st they need to develop a good base – strength and flexibility.
Then technique/mechanics needs to be dialed in, maximum efficiency with minimal effort. Clean technique goes a long way.
Once the mechanics are dialed in, repetition is needed to burn it in, video tape and do slow motion to confirm proper movement, spot check every week.
Once all these factors are dialed in, I love overload – underload training popularized by Eastern European countries. In this case overload with a sled and overspeed with downhill running on no more than a 10% grade.
Time everything to make sure you are getting measurable results.
Speed is the sum of 25% coaching, 25% work ethic, 25% dieting and 25% genetic. If you can maximize these key areas all at that the same time and the right time you will be fast.
Interest in the sport or activity.
Support from the parents and peers.
Have a good relationship with his/her coach or teacher.
By practicing your technique with slow movements so your muscle will memorize that movement when you move fast your body will follow the same technique without injuring your body.
Always looks for ways to improve their techniques.
Always ask questions on how to improve.
My athlete’s must first believe that they can get faster. I like to start with some visualization exercises. They have to be able to see them self doing it. I will take them through some 10’s 20’s 40’s; close the eyes and tell them in 10’s what the technique looks like what are we trying to do in that first 10yrds. And I go through the different technique for 20’s and 40’s.
This really helps prepare the mind and body for the workout. Anything that happened at home or school or on the way to training is no longer going distract our training session, that is how I capture my athletes mind to create supreme focus.
I have done this with 11 to 14 year olds and it has contributed to a productive training session every time. The mind is a terrible thing to over look when taking the first step in preparing to go fast……
I work from the premise that the majority of speed training approaches applied to young athletes are too complicated and too advanced for their developmental age levels. Even with so-called “elite” athletes, I keep things simple: stability, coordination, and multi-directional movement. I can confidently say coaches and parents have reported improvements in speed in almost every one of my young athletes; and this has been accomplished using a space of less than 7 metres square.
I would say all of the above are all right, however there is another speed which is of great importance and that is speed of thought. We can teach our young athletes all the strength, co-ordination, agility and all the other important things to increase their speed, however they need to learn to think quickly for themselves so when we as coaches aren’t around they are able to cope in all their sporting situations. As a coach our job is to give the information in a way that guides them rather than constantly correcting them so that they don’t have to rely on our instruction. We need to encourage them to try things and maybe get things wrong, every time they get something wrong it should be seen as positive as it is an opportunity to learn and improve. Maybe this doesn’t answer the question but it’s something to think about!
Making it Fun to Learn, Challenging so players fell like they’ve accomplished something worthy of their time and efforts, and Competitive so they can play with and learn with their friends.
i like all those answers. but, i really think the biggest thing is to just run on a daily basis. i thinks its that simple. a lot of the other answers can help, depending on what type of athlete you have, but if kids just run everyday they will improve.
All these guys have great view points.And some may be Coaches But to me is the love of running. I use to like to run along the side of the bus in the city of Chicago. And that’s when i was small. As i got older i could out run guys older than me. Just love the run that’s all i can say.
To run fast you must have desire to learn,workhard,listen,gather information from great coachs and then you must believe this info will work.
First, make sure they understand that there is no “magic bullet.”
Core strength
Functional flexibility and EXTENSIBILITY
Lower body power
Upper body control
Proper mechanics
A progressive program of developing these skills and putting them together.
Providing an atmosphere in which the athlete (of any age) can recognize their progress and want to achieve more.
Making it fun and memorable!
There you go…simple as pie, right?
Simply put speed is the combination of Stride lenght and stride frequency. We then need a series of well organize workouts that goes through all the phases of progression that targets the 5 elements of fitness. Strenght, speed, flexibility, endurance and coordination/agility.
Society is really over taking the speed and agility training for young kids in your opinion what is the best way to get kids more fit and better in tune with their bodies? Is it speed and agility or is general fitness?
Running Parachutes for kids is a great method. We use only two sprinting work outs per week to not tax their system as heavily.