Speed is the rate at which you're able to travel from point A to point B. Athletes are particularly interested in developing their speed because it makes a direct impact on their success in their sport. Speed can be significantly improved with training. Training should be done twice per week, with at least 72 hours of rest in between sessions.
Needs
To increase your speed, you must improve your biomechanics and technique when sprinting, and increase muscle strength and power. Both of these factors together will improve your ability to accelerate, or get up to top speed as quickly as possible, as well as increasing your overall top speed.
Scheduling
Many teams and individuals work on developing their speed after their team or individual practice, which will adversely affect speed improvements due to fatigue of the neuromuscular system. The neuromuscular system, or the way that your nerves communicate with your muscles, become fatigued easily. Do your speed training directly before practice or in the mornings. In addition, do not complete speed training on the same day that you are expecting intense practices or days that you will be weight training.
Workout Tips
Begin each workout session with a thorough warm-up. Jog for a quarter mile and then go through lower body dynamic warm-up exercises, such as leg swings, body weight squats and skipping. Choose training drills that mimic what you must do in your sport. For example, if you play soccer and must cover a significant amount of ground, you will want to sprint longer distances. If you play basketball, your sprint distance will be limited to the length of the court.
Drills
To increase your speed, you need to practice sprinting. You will sprint at different distances, depending on whether you're trying to develop acceleration or top sprinting speed. Drills you can incorporate include basic sprints where you set two cones out at a specific distance and complete sprinting repetitions. Rolling starts have you jog for 10 yards prior to getting to the starting cone and then sprinting top speed to the second cone. Hill sprints will develop leg power. Doing exercises using an agility ladder will improve your feet and leg coordination and improve your acceleration speed.
Additional Considerations
Leg strength and power make a direct impact on your speed. The harder and more explosive that you push off the ground, the further you will propel yourself with each step. Incorporate regular strength training and plyometric, or jumping and explosive, exercises into your routine to maximize your results.
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