The Most Valuable Piece of Our Speed Development = Timed Sprints
The Most Valuable Piece of Our Speed Development = Timed Sprints
A lot of people asked us to post about speed development so here ya go!
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Without a doubt the best speed development training approach we have is consistently timing LOW VOLUME, HIGH FREQUENCY SPRINTS. This approach also known as “Feeding The Cats” was taught to us by Tony Holler.
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Our philosophy is to run hard, for short yardage, often and provide consistent feedback to our athletes. We do this while also providing daily drill coaching in the warm-up via skipping, marching, resisted marching and pogos etc.
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None of these sprints are perfect by any means, but we’re not looking for perfect. We’re looking for small speed and technique gains every week. 90% of these kids are hockey players not sprinters. We identify faults in the sprint pattern, coach the most egregious ones, practice drills and continue sprinting day in and day out. In the end, the result is increased power output and more powerful skating. The “secret” is in running hard, announcing results and delivering consistent feedback. Their sprint time helps to validate coaching cues and provide an objective external motivator for the athlete.
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I’m looking forward to showing you all their individual progression and improvements at the end of the summer. Try timing your athletes consistently and let us know how it goes for you!
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PS: For those of you asking we use Brower Timing System available from @perform_better