ATHLETE PERFORMANCE
How Can Young Athletes Get Faster?
THE SHORT ANSWER
Speed develops through quality sprinting, coordination, relative strength, force production and enough recovery to express those qualities.
WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS
Young athletes need opportunities to sprint fast with good mechanics, learn how to accelerate and change direction, and develop age-appropriate strength and coordination. Quality matters more than turning every speed session into conditioning. Long rest between true speed efforts helps athletes actually practice moving fast.
WHERE PEOPLE GET STUCK
A common mistake is using endless ladders, cones or fatigue drills and calling all of it speed training. Those tools can have a place, but an athlete also needs actual sprinting and progressive strength work. Technique tends to fall apart when every repetition is performed tired.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
Give the athlete a few short sprints this week with full recovery between efforts. Keep the distances short enough that each repetition can be fast and technically controlled. Stop the speed work when quality clearly drops.
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