What is Speed?

Scientifically? Speed = distance/time and expressed in meters per second.

In practicality, it is better to think of it as the time taken to cover a given distance. Looking at it this way allows coaches and trainers to develop speed programs for their athletes.

Now, I want to get into the concept of gamespeed. Gamespeed is applying speed to a specific sport for context. This is a true measure of performance for athletes. It takes into account distances covered, change of direction, and signals (both audio and visual) that trigger action. All of these factors need to be taken into consideration when designing a speed development program.

There is no one size fits all program for every athlete, every sport, or every skill level. I have found the best way to go about it is to teach the fundamentals and improve mechanics. You need to build on a solid foundation. If an athlete doesn’t have a solid foundation the rest of the work done isn’t as beneficial as it could be.

Once the foundation is built you can now start adding in specific drills, techniques, and exercises for the specific sport, position, or skill level the athlete is at.

Speed is flashy, impressive, and fun to watch, but developing speed is slow, methodical, and time consuming. There is no way around that. The payoff is rewarding but there is a ton of work in order to get that payoff.

If you have an extra minute go ahead and check out my speed ladder course and full speed developmenr system I have put together. These are great to help build your foundation or challenge you to improve your mechanics. Just go to:

https://speeddevelopmentsystem.com/speed-development-system

Until tomorrow,

David Banko

David@elitemilehighfitness.com