5 ways coaches can improve athletes training for speed and power

Speed is crucial, game-changing, and one of the most important player performance factors in every sport. 

From soccer pitches to rugby matches to the football end zone, speed is an ultimate, game-breaking physical attribute of athletes at every level.

Faster, more powerful players score and win more. 

Success in competitive sports comes down to a lot of factors. Speed is always one of them. If you are playing against a team with faster, stronger players, there’s a better than average chance they could win the game. 

Quicker and more powerful athletes make bigger plays, scoring more victories, winning trophies, competitions and awards, as every SportsCenter “Top Ten” proves. In this XPS Sports Series article, we take a look at the ways coaches can improve training to increase players speed and power. 

5 ways coaches can improve player speed and performance 

#1: Train for everything, not just speed

As crucial as speed is, it’s far from the only physical attribute coaches need to work with athletes on. Training to improve speed should be integrated with other general physical activities, such as increasing an athletes general physical preparedness (GPP). Check out our article on this here. * < link to the article above once live 

Sports-specific training is even more important, especially during busy competitive seasons. When players are struggling to achieve the results managers want, then speed is going to be a factor in strategic training decisions. But it’s rarely going to be the only focus. 

So make sure players are being trained for every area where improvements are needed. 

#2: Coach athletes to manipulate speed 

With the exception of track and field, every court and field-based sport requires athletes to accelerate, decelerate and manipulate their speed quickly. If you have a race car going 200 mph it won’t win a race unless the driver can decelerate, re-accelerate and adjust speed during the race. 

Speed training should focus on deceleration as much as acceleration and maintaining an athletes max speed. Acceleration angles and front-side mechanics are crucial for increasing speed. But unless the same effort is put into deceleration and speed manipulation, athletes won’t be as agile in 

#3: Train players in Plyometrics

Plyometrics is an important part of any jump and speed-based training, but not every jump is a plyometrics activity. 

According to Mel Siff’s popular sports coaching and training book, Supertraining, which regularly features in top 5 lists for coaches, she describes plyometrics as “a sequential combination of eccentric (lengthening) and concentric (shortening) muscle action which was termed SSC.”

Coaches, therefore, need to train players to increase concentric work, stimulate stretch reflexes (muscle spindles), along with the storage and re-use of elastic energy in the muscle-tendon unit (MTU). All of this needs to happen rapidly, to ensure you are training players effectively in plyometrics. 

True plyometrics training means GCT activities should be 250 milliseconds (0.15 seconds), making each cycle appear jarring, and fast. Which in turn will help athletes manipulate speed and change direction. Do you need to improve an athlete’s speed? Use XPS Network to assess where your players are at right now and assess the gaps that need filling. 

#4: Enhance speed over shorter distances

Speed and strength conditioning training often involves getting athletes to accelerate rapidly and stop or change direction within 20 yards. If players aren’t trained properly there’s a good chance that injury risks will increase. 

Coaches need to ensure that training gets players to 95% or above of their top speed. When an athlete is at or above 95% of top speed, performance benefits include an “increased rate of force development (RFD), increased reactive ability, increased inter-muscle coordination, and increased intra-muscle coordination”, according to Joey Guarascio, a Level 1 Sports Performance Coach for USA Weightlifting, and a Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach (RSCC).

Check out how coaches at Australian Westfields Sports high school implemented plyometrics introduction ahead of each soccer training and how they used XPS Athlete Profile to monitor the final effect and the individual development of their players. Described by Kory Babington, the Director of Football in our latest XPS Webinar.

#5: Train players to prevent soft tissue injuries 

Soft tissue injuries are a problem for athletes in every sport that relies on speed, changes of direction and rapid acceleration and deceleration. High-speed running (HSR) is seen as one of the best vaccines against soft tissue injuries. 

According to research, high-speed running does help prevent soft tissue injuries. But this shouldn’t be done in isolation. Coaches need to use high-speed deceleration training, alongside acceleration and COD training, to increase an athlete’s robustness, and reduce the risk of soft tissue injuries. 

5 Key Takeaways 

1. Train for everything, not just speed
2. Coach athletes to manipulate speed 
3. Train players in Plyometrics
4. Make speed over shorter distances more effective 
5. Train players to prevent soft tissue injuries

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