3 Ways Dominant Athletes Boost Their Speed
Whether you play hockey, soccer, basketball, football, rugby, run track or figure skate – – speed is key to your success. It’s what lets the top performers make the game look effortless while making their opponents look foolish 😉
You know that already.
Here’s what you don’t know about speed…it is a skill and it can be taught.
Let’s think about that for a minute, because some of you are probably thinking that you are just naturally slow and that isn’t necessarily true.
Yes, there is a spectrum and some of us will never bee the fastest player out there, but we can definitely make ourselves faster by practicing the skill of acceleration, deceleration and directional changes.
Just like if we started playing the guitar to day and practiced on a regular basis. We might never play like The Edge, but we could get quite a bit better than we are today. Right?
You know what is even better that just finding that extra gear on the ice, the field or the court? These same drills that make you faster ALSO reduce your risk of painful and career threatening KNEE injuries.
By strengthening your muscles in the right way and teaching you to use them properly, you will stop putting so much shear force through your knee, which reduces the strain on your ACL.
So here are the 3 drills that dominant athletes are already using and you can too…
Acceleration Wall Drill
Be very picky with this one – the key is to fire your hips as quickly as possible while maintaining a stable torso – your back position should not be changing at all. Also notice the range of motion I show you in the video. These are acceleration mechanics – your first step quickness, you are not taking big huge strides.
Start with 2-3 sets of 6 on each side
[kad_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/JvUendAqYhs” ]
Single Leg Squat Jump & Stick
Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to be able to do this properly – – yet!
Try 3 on each side…
[kad_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/hrfV2YnBvNg” ]
Notice how your knee falls in when you land and you might even lose your balance and have to do a little hop-hop to regain your position. That is really common, don’t worry about it.
Actually – do worry about it – when your knee falls in like that it is a…
- Risk factor for ACL tears (seriously)
- Speed sucking compensation pattern
So you really want to fix this ASAP. Start with perfecting your Single Leg Squat To Tap (do 2-4 sets for 6-8 reps each) and then just work on the Drop Squat (do 5×5-10s hold) until it is perfect (you can start with two legs, then once that is perfect, go to one leg).
[kad_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/yNfvGAjRV6s” ]
[kad_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/V3VL8-jZR8w” ]
5-10m Acceleration
This one helps with your change of direction mechanics and lets you use those acceleration mechanics you are learning with the Wall Drill.
Make sure you practice it on both sides, one side will feel much easier than the other way and this preference to change direction off your ‘strong’ leg will carry over to your decision making in games and can contribute to your getting out of position.
Start slowly and then build your speed while maintaining perfect mechanics.
Do 2-3 sets of 3 each way.
[kad_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/zsq4sZEI57o” ]
So there are three drills (and some bonus exercises) that elite performers use to enhance their sport performance speed and now you can do the same!
Cheers,
M
PS – Yes, I am working on the Spring/Summer schedule and will post it here and on our FB page when it is ready to go and open for enrolment. As always, existing Team RevCon athletes will get first dibs and then it will be opened to new members. If you have any questions just email info[at]revolutionconditioning.com or call 519-645-6161.
