5 Pillars of Speed Development For Youth Athletes

In this episode, we dive into the essential components of speed development for young athletes. Discover the five key pillars that can help your child improve their speed, agility, and overall athletic performance. 

Speed is a vital aspect of athletic performance, no matter the sport. In this engaging podcast episode, we break down the five essential pillars of speed development for youth athletes.

By focusing on these fundamental aspects of speed development, you can set your child up for success and help them reach their full athletic potential. Don't miss this valuable episode packed with actionable insights for anyone looking to boost their young athlete's speed and overall performance.

Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:00:00) - What is up Today we're gonna talk about the five pillars of importance when developing speed with youth athletes. Uh, this is the foundation and principle that we follow at Han Athletics with our youth athletes. Uh, it has come from our education and learning with, uh, Les Spelman and Spelman performance and our tracking with universal speed rating and our experience with the athletes. So, wanted to dive into the five pillars. Uh, these are in levels of importance. So following, uh, through the five steps. The also keep in mind that as we go through these, uh, number one is gonna be the most important. Number two is gonna be, uh, number two and so forth. So, uh, gi it'll give you an idea on, uh, where we focus on and also might give you some insight into potentially where we have some differences in, in what we believe from, uh, what your kid may be doing at a, uh, different strength conditioning program or with their high school weights and whatnot.



Speaker 0 (00:00:54) - So, number one is always going to be sprinting, which sounds intuitive, um, but is often missed in programs. So actually sprinting, getting athletes to where they're running full speed frequently and, uh, pushing themselves on, on those runs. So sprinting that means short distances fast as possible with long rest in between, not conditioning. Uh, biggest mistake we see a lot of times is people are not giving enough rest period. Uh, four athletes are running too far that they're actually not able to sprint. It's more of a a conditioning piece, and that's not gonna help develop speed. So if you're running, you know, a decent run, 40, 50, 60 yards, and you're only resting a minute, uh, between sets you are, that is going to turn into conditioning very quickly. And that is not gonna be what we consider speed training. So actually getting the athlete to practice running fast.

Speaker 0 (00:01:46) - So, number one, sprinting, great. Number two, uh, resistance sprinting. Now sprinting with, uh, different loads, light loads, medium heavy, and working different, uh, modalities based on what your goal is with the session. But giving athletes the opportunity to run under, uh, a little bit different load than just their body weight and getting resistance sprinting in, uh, frequently. This is gonna help develop strength and power needed for the ability to sprint quickly. And, uh, this is something you may see more frequently in programs. Uh, we don't always see it at the high school level, but, uh, something that is important and done at most private facilities, uh, where, where the nuances come in is, uh, what adaptations you're going for, what loads you're using based on body weight and based on the athlete's ability, uh, to sprint and be powerful. Number three is plyo. So pl uh, plyometric movements intensive and extensive.

Speaker 0 (00:02:41) - What that means is, uh, very intense plyometrics with low reps. So think about depth drops, think about loaded jumps. Um, think about maximal effort on the jumps. And then extensives gonna be building volume of low, uh, low intensity jumps. So pocos skips, hops, uh, anything that is, uh, not at max effort, but is building, uh, the ability for the lower leg to strengthen and be resilient and, uh, really avoid injury down the road as they start to sprint quickly more often. So building a good base of that, uh, you can think about a comparison would be versus like a heavy, uh, three rep squat versus doing some, uh, goblet squats or lighter movements to build volume over time and allow the athlete to have, uh, the prerequisites to squat heavy if you wanna relate that back to screening. So plows come in at number three.

Speaker 0 (00:03:38) - Uh, we do those in every training session and to some sort of extent. And in every warmup we do, number four is gonna be strength. So this is where a lot of you guys, uh, might, might see a different experience or different opinions is, uh, typically people will take strength and put it at number one. And, uh, that's where a lot of people go wrong. Uh, strength is important. There's a prerequisite of strength to write, be a fast athlete, but it's not as high as you guys think. And definitely one at maxing all the time is not the way to get faster. So strength is important. Strength is something that is an, a quality of athletes, uh, but it does not come up super high on this list of development of speed for athletes. And then number five is technical. So the actual technique of sprinting, if you look at a lot of high level athletes, you'll actually notice that they actually run kind of funny.

Speaker 0 (00:04:26) - They wouldn't really, they would look funny on a track. They, uh, you know, don't run. It's not pretty, it doesn't look super, uh, textbook when it comes to, uh, what sprinting should look like. But they have found a way to run with their body. Now, with technical improvements, you can increase athlete speed, but, uh, with it being so low on the list here, what we're saying is it is not the most important. And that's why you'll see elite athletes that are fast and capable on the field that necessarily don't have the best, uh, running form. So that just is, that's just a, a telltale sign that the technique is not always the most important part of springing. It is something that we work on in, in doses every day at the gym, but at the end of the day, it's more important that like, number one, that they actually get full speed sprints in versus spending the entire session, uh, working on technique drills, right?

Speaker 0 (00:05:17) - And so if you're just always working on technique drills, you put a majority of your time in technique drills, odds are your athletes aren't gonna get, uh, faster or hit the goals that they have. Um, that's something that needs to be dosed in appropriately. So again, running back through sprinting, resisted, sprinting, plys, strength and technical in that order. Um, if you are currently training athletes or you have a child that you're trying to work with, I would recommend taking that approach with your athletes and stacking up sessions over time. And you guys should definitely see your athletes start to get faster and develop speed. Uh, 10 years ago I was just thought, if you were fast, you were fast. But it's uh, very obvious that speed is a skill. While there are genetic barriers to how fast you can be

Speaker 1 (00:05:57) - Or, uh, body types and builds, uh, everybody listening to this that them or their athletes can definitely get faster, uh, than what they are today. It just comes down to having a good program, having good coaches and understanding what adaptation you're trying to drive. Uh, hopefully this is helpful to you guys. If you guys have any further questions on this or wanna dive deeper, uh, hit our website or send us a message on Instagram at Enhanced Athletics. And I appreciate you guys taking the time to listen to the episode. Hope you guys have a great day.