Can You Coach Speed?

[macvolcan 0]

Have a player this year that given his age and size I would expect to be able to run a lot faster than he does. His FULL speed run looks that of a quarter to half speed jog. (he is 9 years old almost 10).

Mechanics wise, he takes very short hard pounding steps and doesn't swing his arms at all, as an experiment I asked him to try to swing his arms more rapidly and take bigger strides. For a single 15-20 yard run he seemed to run at almost double the speed I had seen from him previously. Of course next practice all was forgotten and he was back to his slow trek, pesumably reverting back to muscle memory.

From past experience for me it seems to take either a LOT of reps to re-train established muscle memory, and unless the player has a strong desire to do what you want, you will have to use a lot of time in practice to get them to break the bad habbits. I certianly have better things to do with limited practice time than have players run sprints up and down the field (aside from our occasional games of 'sharks and minnows' at end of practice).

Curious if anyone has any experience with this, is this something I should keep pursuing? Is there a good reference somewhere that discusses proper running mechanics?

[cazador suerte 0]

We do a lot of speed and agility drills with our team.....proper running technique can definitely help a kid be faster.

[macvolcan 0]

We do a lot of speed and agility drills with our team.....proper running technique can definitely help a kid be faster.

Can you cover some of your coaching points for proper running technique, or point me to some sort of reference material that is applicable to 9 year olds.

With limited practice time I have to be very selective with what I pull out of my normal practice for any kind of speed/agility training, but I do think there could be a place for it if I can keep it fun.

[whiskey.alpha 5]

Don't waste your time. Speed and agility are the product of mechanics, biochemistry and effort. You might can get a kid to give more effort, but it takes a lot of time and repetition to retrain neuromotor patterns. Instead, spend your time improving your players 'game' speed with execution, execution, execution. Mike Leach says it best: Crisp execution makes slow kids faster in the same way hesitation makes fast kids slow. You'll probably never get a slow kid to outrun a fast DB on go-routes, but you can work on play familiarity, stemming, blowing off the line, eliminating false stepping, etc.

[cazador suerte 0]

I bring in a speed and agility coach to run a practice at the beginning of each season, and then we mimic some of the drills each week. Proper running form, side to side movement, backpeddling, using cones and hurdles and ladders to work on speeding up the footwork.....

I dont think its a waste of time at all, but to each his own.

[whiskey.alpha 5]

A few comments, since I know something about biomechanics and speed/agility programming. If you’re coaching it in a group setting, you’re wasting your time. If you’re coaching it in a group setting to 9 and 10 year olds, you’re really wasting your time. I’m not saying such training has no value, but the bottom line is improving the rate of force development in young kids is an “in for a dime, in for a dollar” type proposition. It takes a LOT of time, effort, repetition, and individual instruction to yield meaningful results. And chances are, since you’ve got limited time to practice during the week, you’re not doing it near enough and/or with near the individual supervision required for it to yield meaningful value across the entire team. If anyone tells you different, be skeptical about their aptitude as a true strength and conditioning coach when it comes to young children.

Bottom line is speed is the product of physical factors AND execution. And execution is far easier to coach in a group setting when you have limited time, and it yields faster, more meaningful results. You’ll never take a bunch of 9 year olds who run a 6.0 forty-yard dash and turn them into a bunch of 5.3 kids through casual speed training. But you can probably achieve that same relative difference on the football field with good play execution, proper stemming and starts, etc.

Remember there is an opportunity cost to everything you do. If you spend your time doing X, the price is that you are NOT doing Y. Your response might be to therefore do some X and some Y, but, like cazador said: to each his own. Personally, I love watching opposing coaches spend time doing things other than working on their plays and play mechanics. Candidly, I think that’s a big reason we’re going to the NFL flag national championship this year and they aren’t.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

[macvolcan 0]

Small update here. I ended up taking the advice not to add this agenda to my practice time, have plenty of other stuff that needs refinement anyways. But I did have a talk with the parent of the boy in question (as well as the boy directly) and told him some reasons he wasn't able to run very fast and that with some practice at home he would be able to run faster.

I don't know how much they are practicing at home, but the boy is a lot faster now (still one of the slowest on the team, but no longer THE slowest) and seems to be much more engaged and trying harder. Mechanics definitely look to getting better already (still a long ways to go though)

thanks again for all the advice!

[Flagdad 5]

I have had similar kids, unfortunately I don't think we have the time to really focus on corrective behavior. What I do is send out an Extra Effort email each week for the parents to go over with their kids. This allows pro athletes to coach the kids and the parents. Here is what I send to parents about proper running techniques. I instruct the parents to watch each video and then highlight the areas I cover below the links.

1) Usain Bolt (World’s Fastest Man)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QrlPmK4B94 1:14

This clip point out to your son that Usain Bolt is pumping his arms Cheek to Cheek (hands go from cheek to back pocket). Point out that his heels barely ever touch the ground and all his power is up on his toes. Also, highlight how you never look side to side at your opponents, when trying to run your fastest as looking to the sides, slows you down.

2) Jamaal Charles (KC Chiefs Running Back and Olympic caliber sprinter)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmfe2Y0ct3s 2:58

At 20 seconds watch his first four steps. He is pumping his arms and his heels barely touch the ground, he is completely on his toes. The rest of the clips show the value of any exercises which require your brain to tell your feet where to go quickly.

3) Ladanian Tomlinson (SD Chargers All Pro RB)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItjlV-zqX1w 1:21

He is showing how to do a spin move. Keep the ball in the outside arm. Set up, get your balance, cut to get him off balance, accelerate out of your spin to the endzone