. speed

[Barnett Robinson]

My son is a 15 year old 9th grade football player, he received a lot of playing time last year with the varsity. He is a 140 pounds, but he can bench press 170, squat over 300, dead lift 300 and he has good speed, what are some good speed drills out there

[Wes Major]

I am the DC and Assistant Track coach at my school, I have my kids do shuttle drills and sprints with a chute or sled. The objective is to get him to sprint with more resistance than his body weight.

[Brian Manning]

What position does he play? The best skill to really work on in most situations is change of direction, anything that helps with explosion and starting.

One of my favorites is simple tennis ball drills. Find a hard top or basketball court, stand probably five feet away and drop a tennis ball from shoulder height and have him catch it before it bounces and hits the ground a second time. You can vary the stance he starts in (three point, linebacker, wide receiver, etc...) as well as whether he is facing the ball head on or from the side or starts on his stomach on the ground. Personally, I think this works well on really exploding from a stop and you can focus on things like not taking a drop step.

[Justin Cener]

Brian M's suggestion is a good one, definitely try that out. What also works in the long-term is occasionally wearing a weight vest during starts off the line (for WR/DB). Fast twitch muscles need to be the focus to increase quickness.

Justin
www.networkofcoaches.com

[Jason Hahnstadt]

As a DC in fall and then track sprint coach in the spring...I would recommend focusing on hamstrings in the weight room in addition to you squat and dead lift...straight leg dead lifts...single and double. Also, hamstring drops are great for really burning them out! Or if you have a hamstring machine. On the track it is hard to beat basic plyometrics and sprint drills for form. High knees, accellerations, explosive starts, pushup starts, bounding, skips, single leg hops, double leg jumps, backwards sprint, etc!

[GoSports Combines]

My opinion is that speed work is not a skill that can be improved in isolation. Speed drills should be integrated into a well-designed, comprehensive performance training program (that includes Strength, Agilty, Flexibilty, Core Stability, Linear and Lateral Movement, and Balance components) for maximum athletic development.

With that being said, when working on speed development, I would recommend focusing on 4 main areas with your son:

(1) Acceleration Drills: A Skips, Rapid Fire Wall Drills, Box Blasts, etc.
(2) Transit Linear Movement Drills: Powerskip, Straight Leg Skip, Trail Leg Walk, etc.
(3) Transit Lateral Movement Drills: Low Walk Crossover, Squat Turn In/Out, Side Slide, etc.
(4) Multi-Directional Movement Drills: Lateral Bounding, Anglepedal to Sprint, Backpedal to Sprint, Crossover Run, etc.

By combining some multidirectional movement into the straight ahead speed drills, you will find that he not only improves his speed, but you will also see his overall athletic development improve as well.

Shelly Francis
CEO
Go Sports Training
1-877-258-0852
www.gosportstraining.com

Train Harder. Coach Smarter.