3 Mistakes Young Athletes Make When Training for Speed

In today’s email, you will learn about 3 common mistakes young athletes make when training for speed that you can help your athlete prevent to help them get faster.

1. 30-second sprints and resting 30 seconds

This is not sprinting or training for speed, it’s conditioning.

If your athlete is training for conditioning, then go for it.

However, if athletes want to get faster, they should be doing 10 to 40-yard sprints with full rest in between.

2. Not taking enough rest in between reps

Here’s a rule of thumb:

Rest 1 minute for every 10 yards.

So for example, if your athlete runs 40 yards, he should rest for 4 minutes.

Keep in mind that fatigue is not the goal of speed training.

Fatigue would be more for conditioning training.

3. Not timing your sprints

If athletes don’t time their sprints, they won’t know if they’re improving.

It also makes it harder for athletes to run with full intent and full speed if they don’t know how fast they’re going.

If the athlete does NOT have a timing system, that’s okay.

Another option is to run against somebody to ensure the athlete runs with full intent.

If the athlete doesn’t run at least 90-95% speed, then the athlete won’t be giving enough stimulus to their body to get faster.

Have a great day.

Liam

If you’re interested in learning more about youth athletic developement you can check out my podcast below!