You’re not going to attain the speed you’re after with arm swing drills and icky shuffles.
“One of the biggest reasons parents believe their kids have sprint speed issues is because of their running form. I get it.
But, the limiting factor for most kids’ speed enhancement isn’t form.
It’s strength (force) & their inability to effectivley apply it in the ground.”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
I am very fortunate to talk with a plethora of parents on a weekly basis about improving their children’s performance.
More than any of the training concepts we talk about, though, I have a deep appreciation for parents who are not only looking to provide their children with performance training, but their desire to communicate and be educated on the matter. It really stands out to me.
One of the biggest assumed issues parents believe about their kids running speed issues is related to their (poor) running form.
And on the surface, it makes total sense, right? If someone is not running optimally, their running speeds will suffer due to the technical incompetence. This is 100% true and a great observation.
But let me explain what I’ve learned over the years assessing and training thousands of youth athletes across the spectrum.
Most (90+%) ball sport athletes I’ve seen, run well enough to get faster.
Are they floating down a track looking like Usain Bolt as they take off down the field? They are not, but let me assure you, they don’t need to be to get faster for softball or lacrosse.
Of course there are some simple technical cues that we can use and some more in-depth measures to fix technique for those who might struggle more than others, but for the most part, kid’s run just fine.
Afterall, the concept of running and sprinting is a natural movement pattern we are born with the ability to perform.
So where is the issue? Where is that “first step quickness”?
The issue, for most youth athletes is strength. They aren’t strong enough to run fast.
“Huh!?”
Let me explain.
Many youth athletes lack the requisite strength required to produce heightened levels of force into the ground when they run.
The heightened levels of force production are needed to increase speed.
You can push down on the gas pedal as hard as you want in a stock v6 Camry, but it will never be able to run like the v8 in a Hellcat.
Youth athletes need to develop stronger muscles and tendons to increase their force production capabilities.
As they become stronger and practice their newly found force on the field via sprinting, they will begin to run faster.
Strength = Speed for the youth athlete.
