Speed Training for Team Sports - What is it?

Well first the questions that needs to be asked is - speed for what? Speed for a 100m sprint? this could be the ability to accelerate and reach top speed as quickly as possible, maintain this maximum velocity for as long as possible (usually 30mts) and then decelerate as little as possible over the last 30mts. This last 30mts is known as speed endurance.

Speed for: a rugby match, soccer match, a Gaelic football match, Basketball match, hockey….etc  is more likely to be referring to the player’s re-action and 10m acceleration, their ability to change direction, decelerate and change of pace.

Acceleration is much more relative to most team sports, such as soccer, rugby, GAA, hockey etc. If such a sports person can improve their acceleration over distances such as 10m, 20m and 30m they will be a much better player. Body position and ground contact here is different than that required during top speed (maximum velocity).

But how many coaches in charge of good teams out there have the knowledge to develop this kind of power and speed? Answer: very little. They prefer to knock endurance sessions because they know most young sports people have very little exposure to expertise and are easily convinced if they train hard they are training well, and they buy into the old school ‘be tough’ type training. Such training can actually be detrimental to an athlete’s speed, working all the wrong muscles fibres and leaving the player tired for the match ahead.

I recently had a Gaelic football player tell me how his team step up the quantity of training at the peak of the season, imagine trying to tell Usain Bolt to increase his reps or distances in the 6 week period leading up to the Olympics!! The coach would very quickly be sacked, and rightly so!

But what about the fitness required to last 60/70/80/90mins on the pitch? Well that’s speed endurance not speed. Yes we do want to develop speed endurance, but we do also want to dedicate time and training sessions to develop pure speed/acceleration. Speed endurance will be talked about soon, as will strength endurance.

There is a place for developing aerobic capacity, but it should be understood that this is not speed or speed endurance training. The work required for speed and speed endurance should be understood and implemented with some priority, with relevant volumes, frequency and flexibility according to phases of the season, fixture list etc.

Articles coming soon: Sessions and principles to develop speed and Speed Endurance