If you care about speed development, you have to prioritize strength training. Here is why:
“The goal of strength training for athletes isn’t to get perfect at any specific exercise. It’s to gain access to more force.
For this reason, we should choose the simplest means to gain our desired access.
Get strong in the general setting.
Displaying it in the specific one.”
-Ray Zingler on X
If you read any of the literature (which I know even most “professionals” in our field don’t) or get on twitter, you’ll see endless variations of: “This is better than that” and “my style is superior to yours”.
But at the end of the day, when it comes to athlete performance, it all works.
The reason it all works is because for ball sport athletes, their objective isn’t to become “the best in the weight room” or “have optimal track sprint mechanics”.
The goal of strength & speed training for athletes is to gain access to more applicable force. Period.
Sports are games that reward force.
Whoever can display the most force most effectively on the field of play generally wins. That’s how it works.
So being PERFECT at the front squat or back squat, really has no bearing on in-sport performance.
The same is true for the coveted “pOwEr ClEaN” that many people program for pure “we’ve always done it!” reasons.
Now obviously if your sport is Powerlifting or Olympic lifting and the lifts “are the sport” then yes, of course, becoming highly proficient in the technical aspects of the lifts is paramount.
But, if you’re not a powerlifter or a weightlifter, things get a LOT more flexible as far as exercise selection and technical mastery go.
No this doesn’t mean you can just do whatever the hell you want to do at the local fitness center and no I’m not saying that technique doesn’t matter.
What I’m saying is that we don’t have to lose sleep over front squats or back squats.
The reason is because, again, all we are trying to do is enhance our “force reserves”.
We are simply using the weight room (general setting) to accumulate higher levels of force usable force, so that we can display our newly found force (strength & speed) in sport (specific environment).
If we understand this, which if you’re a strength coach working with kids, especially, we should choose the SIMPLEST means to gain access to the coveted “force”.
In sport, they don’t get rewarded for perfect power clean form.
They get rewarded for being the strongest and fastest.
Don’t overthink it.
Make them strong & fast.
Let them display it in their desired setting.
