It has often been said that a less than average exercise technique and a well designed program is much better than a well executed exercise and and a less than average program design. I tend to agree with this as long as the technique isn’t so bad that the athlete becomes injured.

Too many beginning coaches are paralyzed by all the information on different program design strategies to the point of not doing anything. There is no need for this. You can look at several different training philosophies and programs and find that they all produce great results if done well.  It isn’t always the program design, but how well it is being executed.

Another problem that contributes to poor speed workout design involves the speed training industry. We tend to base too much of our training off what the track and field industry does. It is great for track and field, but what about the coach that coaches a sport like volleyball or softball. They don’t need to follow the same program principles as a track coach might.

Here is my philosophy in a nut shell. Teach the techniques of speed each and everyday. Change up the exercise day-to-day by following these guidelines:

1. Train propulsion speed in any direction on one day. So, onlytrain acceleration techniques (lateral, anglular, vertical, retreating, linear…) and don’t be concerned with change of direction on the day during speed training.

2. Train change of direction and deceleration on a seperate day. Work on the techniques needed to be efficient when changing directions.

3. Don’t perform back to back days of change of direction intense work. The joints need a break from the intense pounding. Plus, the nature of the sport will usually require change of direction.

4. Teach multi-directional speed in chunks. Don’t feel like you need 10-15 minutes or more of time. Teach one aspect of speed in a 3-5 minute time block and do it well and with intensity. The athlete will gain so much more from this than doing long time frames.

5. Treat the speed skill just like any other sport skill. Be sure the athletes understand the importance of it before they do it. For example, foul shooting is so important in basketball that the players must concentrate on it with great focus. The same should occur if performing a lateral shuffle to cut the ball handler off.

6. Give the athlete an example of how the speed skill will improve their game. “If you are able to open your hips and retreat quicker you will be able to make more defensive plays”

7. Don’t use this time for conditioning. Athletes need to know that speed training is a skill and it needs full effort and great technique. Conditioning will destroy technique in many cases and lessen the intensity of effort.

As you can see from my philosophy, you can train and teach speed skills, make a huge impact on the athletes and still have more than enough time to fit it into a practice.

Treat speed as more of a skill and use the weight room to get your athletes stronger so they can produce more force. This will improve speed in and of itself.