Unlocking Youth Speed: Innovative Sprint Training Methods

What if the secret to developing blazing speed in youth athletes isn't just about strength training or perfect form? Today, we uncover the groundbreaking methodology inspired by Les Spellman and Spellman Performance, used at HansenAthletics to catapult young athletes to their peak speed. You’ll discover why short, full-speed sprints with ample rest are crucial, and how incorporating resisted sprints can dramatically improve strength and power. Say goodbye to conventional wisdom and learn the real essentials for nurturing speed.

We also break down the often overlooked yet vital components of plyometrics and technical sprinting form. This episode offers a comprehensive guide from intensive plyometric exercises that bolster lower leg resilience to the critical role of proper—but not always textbook—sprinting technique. We’ll reveal why strength, while important, isn’t the be-all and end-all for speed development. Join us for an episode packed with actionable insights and practical advice designed to optimize your youth athletic training programs.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:27

What is up Today we're going to talk about the five pillars of importance when developing speed with youth athletes. This is the foundation and principle that we follow at Hanson Athletics with our youth athletes. It has come from our education and learning with Les Spellman and Spellman Performance and our tracking with Universal Speed Rating and our experience with the athletes. So I wanted to dive into the five pillars. These are in levels of importance. So, following through the five steps, also keep in mind that as we go through these number one your kid may be doing at a different strength conditioning program or with their high school weights and whatnot. So number one is always going to be sprinting, which sounds intuitive but is often missed in programs. So actually sprinting, getting athletes to where they're running full speed frequently and pushing themselves on those runs. So sprinting that means short distances, fast as possible with long rest in between, not conditioning. Biggest mistake we see a lot of times is people are not giving enough rest period for athletes or running too far that they're actually not able to sprint. It's more of a conditioning piece and that's not going to help develop speed. So if you're running, you know a decent run 40, 50, 60 yards and you're only resting a minute between sets. That is going to turn into conditioning very quickly and that is not going to be what we consider speed training, so actually getting the athlete to practice running fast. So, number one sprinting Great. Number two resisted sprinting. Now, sprinting with different loads light loads, medium, heavy and working different modalities based on what your goal is with the session, but giving athletes the opportunity to run under a little bit different load than just their body weight and getting resisted sprinting in frequently. This is going to help develop strength and power needed for the ability to sprint quickly. And this is something you may see more frequently in programs. We don't always see it at the high school level, but something that is important and done at most private facilities, where, where the nuances come in, is what adaptations are going for, what loads you're using, based on body weight and based on the athlete's ability to sprint and be powerful.

Speaker 1: 3:01

Number three is plyos, so plyometric movements, intensive and extensive. What that means is very intense plyometrics with low reps. So think about depth drops, think about loaded jumps, think about maximal effort on the jumps, and then extensive is going to be building volume of low intensity jumps. So pogos, skips, hops, anything that is not at max effort but is building the ability for the lower leg to strengthen and be resilient and really avoid injury down the road as they start to sprint quickly more often. So building a good base of that you can think about. A comparison would be versus like a heavy three rep squat, versus doing some goblet squats or lighter movements to build volume over time and allow the athlete to have the prerequisites to squat heavy, if you want to relate that back to sprinting. So plyos come in at number three. We do those in every training session and to some sort of extent, and in every warmup we do.

Speaker 1: 4:11

Number four is going to be strength. So this is where a lot of you guys might see a different experience or different opinions is. Typically people will take strength and put it at number one, and that's where a lot of people go wrong. Strength is important. There's a prerequisite of strength to be a fast athlete, but it's not as high as you guys think and definitely one rep maxing all the time is not the way to get faster. So strength is important. Strength is something that is a quality of athletes, but it does not come up super high on this list of development of speed for athletes.

Speaker 1: 4:44

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. 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 what sprinting should look like. But they have found a way to run with their body.

Speaker 1: 5:09

Now, with technical improvements, you can increase athlete speed, but 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 running form. So that's just a telltale sign that the technique is not always the most important part of sprinting. That is something that we work on 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 working on technique drills, right? 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 going to get faster or hit the goals that they have. That's something that needs to be dosed in appropriately. So again, running back through sprinting resistance, sprinting plyos, strength and technical in that order 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.

Speaker 1: 6:14

10 years ago, it was just thought if you were fast, you were fast, but it's very obvious that speed is a skill. While there are genetic barriers to how fast you can be or body types and builds everybody listening to this that them or their athletes can definitely get faster 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. Hopefully this is helpful to you guys. If you guys have any further questions on this or want to dive deeper, hit our website or send us a message on Instagram at Hans Athletics, and I appreciate you guys taking the time to listen to the episode.