Speed and speed are similar but not identical concepts; in fact, the term rapidity refers to the ability to react to a stimulus in the shortest possible time and / or to execute movements of single body segments against low resistance with maximum speed.
Speed is instead a physical concept generally referred to the whole body that expresses the relationship between the distance traveled (space) and the time needed to travel it (V = S / T).
Training aimed at improving speed varies from sport to sport since a fundamental role is played by the motor experience and the technical skills of the athlete. The result of this wealth of motor experiences is the so-called anticipation ability that allows the athlete to sense, for example, the trajectory and speed of the ball in advance.
The ability to sprint is a common characteristic of many sports and his training has a significant influence on performance.
Take for example a 100 meter sprint race: the athlete's performance consists of three distinct phases: in the first the speed increases (acceleration phase approximately 0-30 m) until it reaches its maximum value which will be maintained only for a few seconds (maximum speed 30-70m). In the final section, instead, there is an inexorable decrease in speed (phase of decreasing speed 70-100m).
In training, the ability to sprint is trained through repetitions of 30-40 meters starting from a standstill or slow running. In this way the improvement of the acceleration capacity is also stimulated. This first phase of the sprint is the most sensitive to the force while after twenty meters the nerve component takes over. In most sports, the acceleration phase is particularly important (football, rugby, basketball, etc.).
During repetitions on the thirty meters the athlete will have to commit himself to the maximum, without reservations. Depending on the degree of athletic preparation, different training schemes will be chosen. While the length of the repetitions (30-40 m) must not undergo significant variations, the number of repetitions and, if necessary, of the series will be influenced by the performance level, the length of training and the characteristics of the athlete.
For a medium-high level athlete, sprint speed training can be set as follows: 2 sets of 6 repetitions on 30 meters with two minutes between repetitions and four between the series.
Obviously speed tests must be preceded by adequate heating (at least 15-20 minutes) not only to prevent injuries but also to guarantee maximum performance in training (the internal temperature of the body must be higher than the rest condition to guarantee the maximum metabolic efficiency).
In football and in other sports games in which it is very important to take care of the acceleration phase, various training techniques can be used, more or less related to the athletic gesture. For example, the special training of the sprint can be performed by dribbling with the ball (basket) or bringing it forward with the feet (football).
The acceleration capacity generally trains by covering distances between 10 and twenty meters (the speed increase between twenty and thirty meters is in fact very low). To make the workout more fun you can run sprint races with a partner by starting the repetition with a couple of meters of disadvantage and trying to reach it in the few meters available. To make speed training more suitable for the athletic gesture you can also insert zigzag courses, dribbling between pins, jumping obstacles, sudden changes of direction or accelerations and decelerations of variable duration alternated by short stretches of slow travel.
Strength and speed training
Pure speed is the most important parameter in developing speed. However, attention must also be paid to strength training, especially to improve acceleration.
At the start of a sprint it is important to have a good explosive force (max force) that is used in the support and discharge to the ground of muscle power (it plays a decisive role in the first meters in which there is a longer contact time of the foot ).
It is difficult to train and combine strength training with speed training because the development of one tends to invalidate the other.
The contrast method was designed to solve this problem. There are two different types of work: against between the series in which series with heavy loads are alternated with series with lighter loads and against in the series in which heavy loads are alternated with light loads in the same series. These types of exercises serve to stimulate the neuro-muscular system more: the greater load involves a slower performance of the exercise while the lower load stimulates the speed of execution, in this way it is possible to combine strength and speed training .
