Building Speed in the Youth Athlete

Throughout my coaching career, I have had hundreds of parents ask me "what can I do to get my child to run faster."  The answer is simple.....you need to practice running correctly and at high speeds.  This might seem like a simple answer but it really isn't.  Many athletes who run slow, do so, because they are lacking in several areas.  The first area is relative strength to bodyweight.  Many athletes who are slow are unable to handle their own body mass and need to improve their ability to lift their body mass.  One way to do this is through decreasing their bodyweight.  They can do this by proper diet as well as doing body weight squats, lunges, lateral lunges, scorpion lunges, push-ups, and pull-ups.  Through my experience, it has been rare, if ever, that an athlete who is unable to control their own body mass has been able to run fast. 

The second area is learning the proper running mechanics.  Much like a baseball player needs to learn the correct mechanics to swing a bat, an athlete looking to run fast needs to practice proper running form.  This is done by training the body to systematically coordinate the correct muscle groups in a synchronized manner.  Through a series of seated arm swings, wall marches, triple exchanges, and hurdle progressions, an athlete can greatly enhance their movement mechanics.  We teach these progressions by having the athlete begin in a stationary position, gradually increasing movement, to eventually executing the drills at high speeds.  The system is predicated on slow to fast and easy to complex skills.

The key training periods are between the ages of 8-12.  The athlete will  learn the proper techniques and eliminate many of the dysfunctional movements that can lead to injury, improper muscle balance, and inefficient motor patterns that plague many athletes as they mature. 

Once the athletes improve these areas, they will be able to begin to improve their speed and train at a much faster and effective pace. 

Yours in performance,

Coach J