Some of my favorite posts are when topics of discussion
more or less happen by coincidence. For
example, I was teaching a class a few weeks ago and my athletes were on the
younger side around twelve to thirteen. The NFL Combine was in full swing,
which generated a lot of enthusiasm among the kids coming into the center. I
had a few kids ask, “Why don’t we work on three-point start like they do on
television.” Before explaining, I asked the kids what sports they currently play.
A few responded with baseball and a few with basketball. Not a single kid
played football. I explained to them in almost every team sport you will
accelerate from a standing position. I continued to explain that we spend most
of our time learning how to apply acceleration forces from a standing position
because it is most applicable in game scenarios. All of the kids then gave me
that look of, “touché coach”. However, I could see that one of my kids went
deep into thought. Finally, he looked at me with a grin and said, "Well,
we do not have sleds attached to us on the fields!?"
This is the type of class that I love. I love when an
athlete has the desire to learn to get better as well as the drive to work to
get better. I explained to them, “the sled helps us not only stay in our 45
degree acceleration angle, but then it also requires us to apply greater force
into the floor allowing us to increase our ability to run faster when the sled
is removed.” I reminded them of the policy, "Big Force, Proper Direction,
Quickly as Possible, Optimal Range of Motion." Now, some of this
information might be a little advanced for these kids but you could see their
curiosity and desire to understand why we train the way we do. I am challenging
them to understand the science behind our training and they are stepping up to
the challenge of learning as much as they can.
One day I come into work and one of my staff members says
to me, “I found an awesome website, it is kind of like your coachingspeed.com,
but I definitely like their logo better.” (Nothing like a competitive comment
to get me back to the drawing board!) He continued, “They also post up pretty
cool articles that scientifically validate what we do. If you want to read some
cool scientific article, I would absolutely recommend natureofspeed.com.” So, I
went to check it out, and their Facebook post was titled, "If you are under the supervision of a coach or
training system that does not incorporate sport science into your speed
development, run away!" Check out the abstract from the Journal of
Strength and Conditioning:
Relationships Between Ground
Reaction Impulse and Sprint Acceleration Performance in Team Sport Athletes
Kawamori, Naoki; Nosaka,
Kazunori; Newton, Robert U.
Journal of Strength and
Conditioning Research . 27(3):568–573, March 2013.
doi:
10.1519/JSC.0b013e318257805a
Abstract:
Kawamori, N, Nosaka, K, and Newton, RU. Relationships between ground reaction
impulse and sprint acceleration performance in
team sport athletes. J Strength Cond Res
27(3): 568–573, 2013—Large horizontal acceleration in short sprints is a
critical performance parameter for many team sport athletes. It is often stated
that producing large horizontal impulse at each ground contact is essential for
high short sprint performance, but the optimal pattern of horizontal and
vertical impulses is not well understood, especially when the sprints are
initiated from a standing start. This study was an investigation
of the relationships between ground reaction impulses and sprint acceleration
performance from a standing start in team sport athletes. Thirty physically
active young men with team sport background performed 10-m sprint from a
standing start, whereas sprint time and ground reaction forces were recorded
during the first ground contact and at 8 m from the start. Associations between
sprint time and ground reaction impulses (normalized to body mass) were
determined by a Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) analysis. The 10-m sprint time was significantly (p < 0.01) correlated with net
horizontal impulse (r = −0.52) and
propulsive impulse (r = −0.66)
measured at 8 m from the start. No significant correlations were found between
sprint time and impulses recorded during the first ground contact after the
start. These results suggest that applying ground reaction impulse in a more
horizontal direction is important for sprint acceleration from a standing
start. This is consistent with the hypothesis of training to increase net horizontal
impulse production using sled towing or using elastic resistance devices, which
needs to be validated by future longitudinal training studies.
So getting back, this post was generally directed towards my
curious kids I had the discussion with. If you did not believe me then, believe
me now! After that initiation into acceleration the ground forces were greater
as we got closer to the 10-meter mark. I always teach our athletes, “The first
step is extremely important in setting up successful acceleration.” It will be
harder to be great at 10 meters with poor form in the beginning. If your
mechanics cause you to transition and start to rise too early the force
horizontal force application will not be great at 10 meters.
I love when
science makes a speed program come to life, and I love when what is being
taught is validated.
Keep
working hard, Keep working Smart, Keep Coaching Speed
-Adam
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