Developing & Training
Sport Specific Speed
John P. Piper, MA, CSCS, ACSM-HFI
Toppenish SD – Performance Training
The Toppenish Philosophy
 Injury
proof
 Improve work capacity (athletic
fitness)
 Improve performance through
athletic skill (vs. sports skill)
 Help each athlete have the best
experience possible
The Elements
 Performance
Psychology
 Performance Nutrition
 Injury Prevention
 Comprehensive approach to training
the Components of Performance
Fitness
Coordinating with Team Coaches
 Questions
and communication
 What’s the problem?
 What’s the Science?
 How do we apply the science to
move toward solutions? (Applying
the Science)
Want speed? Start early
“Speed is most efficiently patterned
early in an athletes development.
Therefore training should begin at
the critical stage of
development…bouts of exercise with
full recovery.
- Vern Gambetta
12 Components for developing
Sports Specific Speed
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#1 Movement Preparation for Speed Development
#2 Core Training
#3 Prehabilitation for Speed Development
#4 Strength & Endurance Training
#5 Power Development
#6 Straight-Ahead Speed
#7 Lateral Speed / Agility
#8 Metabolic demands
#9 Flexibility
#10 Recovery
#11 Nutrition
#12 Putting it all together
Running Speed,
Straight-Ahead Speed
Running speed is an interaction of an
athletes stride length and stride
frequency (stride rate).
 Stride length – relates to body height
and leg length (moderately
trainable).
 Stride rate – has a much greater
impact on final velocity (highly
trainable)
Injury from sprinting
injury occurs when sprinting due to
the deceleration of body segments.
 Hamstrings
 Hip Flexors
 Keys to prevention; strength &
dynamic flexibility

Injury from Agility
 Stopping
or breaking forces
 Eversion sprains
 Non-contact ACL (PEP program,
www.aclprevent.com/index.htm,
www.training-conditioning.com)
 Key to prevention: Proprioception
Component #1:
Movement Preparation for Speed
Movement prep prepares the body for the
demands of training or competition.
Prepare at the intensity that the body will be
expected to perform.
“Get ready to fly”
Movement Preparation
Ability to perform at a high level.
 High energy activities that stimulate all
systems – dynamic movements.
 Dynamic movements that simulate
performance movements – multi
directional Jumps, slides, and change of
direction
 Prehab acceleration and deceleration
training – decrease injury occurrence
(ACL)

Movement Preparation
Simple to Complex
 Increase body temp., heart rate, respiration rate.
- Jump Rope
 General Movements
- Skips, Hops, Jumps (45 pop)
 Dynamic Flexibility
- Hamstrings, Hips Flexors, Hip Rotators
 Compound Movements
- Multi-directional movements
 Transitions
- Quick, smooth changes from one pattern to
another (sports specific)
Component #2
Core Training
 What
is the core?
“The core musculature can be defined
as the 29 pairs of muscles that
support the lumbo-pelvic-hip
complex…The core is also referred to
as the ‘power house’, or the
foundation of all limb movement.”
Core Training
How should the core be trained?
 Strength vs. Stability
 Multi-directional
 Simple to complex
 Lying to standing
 Static to dynamic
Core Training
 Core
Bracing
- Stand tall
 Stabilization
- Planks and holds
 Flexion & Extension
- Hip-ups and walk-outs
 Rotation
- Chops and swings
Component #3
Pre-habilitation
 Prehab
acceleration and deceleration
training – decrease injury occurrence
(ACL)
Pre-habilitation for
Speed Development
 Hip
Complex
- Hamstring
- Hip Flexors
- Hip Rotators
- Train the movement,
not the muscle
Pre-habilitation
 Hip
Flexors
- Dynamic flexibility movements
 Hamstrings
- Step Ups
- Lunges
 Hip Extensors & Rotators
- Seated bands
- Monster walks
Component #4
Muscular Strength
& Endurance
Resistance Training (not always
weight training – body weight)
should be a part of your training
plan

Strength/Endurance
In-season strength training…
 Improves injury resistance.
 Maintains a higher season-long
fitness level.
 Improves confidence and self-esteem
(motivation).
Strength/Endurance Training
Simulate sport movement (2-3x per week;
1-3 sets of 10-15 reps)
 Double leg movements
- Squats
- Deep Squats
- Overhead Squat
 Single leg movements
- Lunges
- Touch Downs
- Cone Touches

Component #5
Power
Can be easily fit into practice plan
 Power is the ability generate force.
Strength + Speed = Power.
 Plyometrics (1-2x per week; 1-3
sets / 80-120 contacts, depending on
age)
 Teach jumping and landing
 Injury prevention
 Teach sport-specific explosiveness

Power Training
Vertical Power
- Squat Jumps
 Horizontal Power
- Obstacle Jumps
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What does your sport primarily involve?
Component #6
Developing Straight-Ahead Speed
3 areas of focus;
 Sprint techniques and mechanics
 Speed Strength
 Speed Endurance
Speed Techniques & Mechanics
 Posture
– Stand tall
 Arm action – shoulders to pockets;
punch arms
 Leg action – Knee up, heel up, toe up
(Triple extension)
Speed Strength
 Assisted
Speed
- Objective: to develop stride rate
 Resisted Speed
- Objective: to develop stride length
and acceleration
Speed Strength
Resisted Speed (1-2x per week; 4-6 reps)
- Strap Pulls
- Parachutes
- Tire Pulls
 Assisted Speed (1-2x per week; 4-6 reps)
- Let-goes
- Down Hill Runs
- Bungee Cords

Component #7
Lateral Speed - Agility
 Agility
is the ability to decelerate,
accelerate, and change directions
while maintaining body control
without decreasing speed
Agility
 Identify
and develop the target
movement patterns
 Identify and develop key
movement combinations
 Identify key stimuli and
subsequent reactions.
Developing Agility
Areas of focus;
 Posture
- Athletic position
 Visual focus
- Look in direction of action
 Arm action
- Punch to sprint
 Leg action
- Step in direction of travel
“hips and shoulders will follow eyes and feet”
Agility Training
Starts, Stops, Restart
 Reaction (falling, square, lateral, reverse)
 Lines
 Cones
Turns
 Box Drill
 Touch Downs
General Movement Patterns
 Ladders
Specific Movement Pattern
 Daily work intervals
Component #8
Metabolic Demands –
Anaerobic Endurance
Lactic
Acid build up is the
major cause of peripheral
fatigue in anaerobic sports.
Solution: develop ability to
recycle lactic acid.
Metabolic Demands
Metabolic Endurance (work capacity)
- Out of season preparation for increased work
capacity
 Absolute Speed
- Maximum efforts with full recovery
 Speed Endurance
- Sustained effort equal to or exceeding game
efforts.
- How long will your athletes have to produce
effort?
- What distance will they travel in a competition?

Speed Endurance
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Needs to be sport specific
Ability to hold top speed for duration of
competition segment
Analysis of competition film
By sport position
Examples;
Baseball
Soccer
Basketball
Must have a sport specific aerobic base to build
on (appropriate work capacity)
Component #10
Recovery ? What’s recovery?
“Training recovery is the
recovery between successive
work-outs or
competitions…the period
between the end of one work
out and the beginning of the
next.”
Recovery
“Control what you can control”
 You can control what goes on at
practice.
 Recovery practices
 Daily fluid intake
 Practice nutrition
Recovery Practices
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Stretching
Yoga
Foam Rollers
PVC
Golf Balls
Component #11
Nutrition
Pre
Training
During Training
Post Training
Influence – Intake, Body
Composition
“If you see a turtle on a fence post you
know that he didn’t get there by
himself.”
- Former WSU Director
We can wait for the talented, or we
can develop their talents.
Component #12
Putting it all together (?)
 What
are the speed demands of your
sport?
 What will be your area of focus
(based on; age, training age, sport)
 In-season or out-of-season?
 Give it time to work
 Keep data, give feedback
Contact Information
John P. Piper, MA, CSCS, ACSM-HFI
Toppenish SD – Performance Coach
509/945-1128
jpiper@toppenish.wednet.edu
References
American College of Sports Medicine, American Dietetic
Association, Dietitians of Canada. (2000). Nutrition and
athletic performance – Joint position statement. Medicine &
Science in Sport & Exercise. Vol. 32, No. 12, pp. 21302145.
Bompa, T.O. (2000). Total training for young champions. pp. 93-113.
Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL.
Bishop, P.A., Jones, E., Woods, A.K. (2008). Recovery from training:
A brief review. Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 1015-1024. Journal of Strength
& Conditioning Research.
Brown, L.E., Ferrigno, V.A., Santana, J.C. (2000). Training for speed
agility and quickness. Pp 79. Human Kinetics. Champaign, IL.
Faries, M.D., Greenwood, M. (2007). Core training: stabilizing the
confusion. Vol. 29, No. 2, pp 10-25. Strength & Conditioning
Journal.
Ischander, M. et. al. (July,2007). Progressive dehydration causes a
progressive decline in basketball skills performance. Medicine &
Science in Sports & Exercise, Vol. 39, #7, pp 1114-1123.
American College of Sports Medicine.
References
Jeffreys, I. (October, 2006). Motor learning – Applications for
agility, part I. Vol. 28, #5, pp 72-76. National Strength &
Conditioning Association.
Jefferys, I. (December, 2006). Motor learning – Applications
for agility, part II. Vol. 28, #6, pp 10-14. National Strength
& Conditioning Association.
McBride-Triplett, T. (no date). Lactic acid: understanding the
burn during exercise. Vol. 3, No. 4, pp Performance Training
Journal.