Speed
Simply put, speed is the ability to get from point A to point B in as little time as possible. Linear speed is the functional use of strength and power. Elite sprinters produce much higher forces into the ground with much shorter ground contact times than their sub elite counterparts. Now that you have developed the ability to produce large amounts of force, sprint training is where we start to bridge the gap from the weightroom to the field. With a foundation of strength and power, becoming a capable sprinter is a matter of mastering the skill of sprinting. Before any sprint training session we teach proper sprint mechanics with various acceleration and maximum velocity technique drills. This is used as a warm-up and also to teach athletes how to apply ground reaction forces the most efficiently which will result in maximal horizontal hip and body mass projection. Unlike conditioning, speed training is done for shorter distances and near complete recovery to ensure that we are achieving maximum velocity on each rep.
Agility
Agility is the ability to change body position or direction of movement in an efficient transition without losing balance; it is the functional use of speed. Muscular power, coordination, mobility and reactive ability are the foundations of efficient change of direction techniques. Once you have mastered the ability to apply strength and power in a linear sprint, then next step is to master applying it in different directions. Running into and out of directional changes required in sports exposes you tremendous deceleration and acceleration forces. Using deceleration drills will develop your “brakes” and will set you up to reaccelerate out of these cuts of breaks more explosively. Once your brakes have been developed, we then train agility with turn and run drills like short shuttle drills and figure 8s and well as drills that require you to transition between different modes of locomotion such transitions from back pedals or lateral shuffle into sprinting.
Skill
Skill is best developed in practice with specific drills and quality instruction. Practice is where you apply all the physical tools you developed into sport specific skill. The last thing you want to do is try to bring practice into the weight room. An example of this would be a boxer doing punches while holding dumbbells. The problem with this is that most of the so called “sport specific training” exercises are not nearly as effective at developing skill as actual practice does and can actually even develop bad habits by changing the mechanics of the movement. On the other side, they cannot be loaded nearly as effectively as basic strength and power exercises. Therefore, they are not as effective at exposing your body to the necessary stimulus to trigger a strength adaptation response. So you end up just wasting your time because you are neither increasing strength/power nor developing your skill. That is why we are not sport specific in the weightroom; we are strength and power specific. The application of that strength and power during practice is what makes it sport specific.
Benjamin Servias
M.S. Kinesiology: Exercise Science
NSCA-CSCS, USAW L-1
Lecturer