Tag Archive for: Speed

GAINcast Episode 228: Fitting the event (with Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows)

Too often we have a concept of how to train for a sport or event and use that as the starting point for the plan. We fit the athlete to the event. That works in some cases, but other times you need to fit the event to the athlete. In no event is that more important than the 800 meters, where athletes come from a wide variety of training and physiological backgrounds. On this week’s episode coach Trevor Painter and former elite 800 meter runner Jenny Meadows join us to share some examples of fitting the event to an athlete, 800 meters training, and more.

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Improving speed across football codes

Sprinting is an important action in many sports. In soccer, for example, research has demonstrated that, whilst the total distance covered by a player in an English Premier League match has stayed reasonably consistent over time, the number of high intensity efforts has increased by 50%, with the total distance of high intensity running having increased by 30%. Studies from other sports classed as “football” (AFL, Rugby League and Union, American Football, Gaelic Football, etc.) demonstrate similar trends. As such, we can be confident that possessing high levels of sprint speed, and the ability to maintain this speed under fatigue, is an important aspect of success in these sports. The question for coaches, however, is how do we improve speed in our players?

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HMMR Podcast Episode 259: Speed in context (with Jonas Dodoo)

Sprinting on the track and sprinting on the field use the same blueprint. The key differences lie in how that blueprint is applied to a different context. On this week’s podcast speed coach Jonas Dodoo draws upon his experience helping elite players in nearly every sport get faster to explain the impact of the blueprint and the context on how you train speed.

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Rethinking speed development for team sports

Speed is often what defines key moments in team sports and distinguishes the good teams from the great teams. The key question faces coaches then is: are we creating and environment that nurtures speed, or kills it? All too often we see athletes that fail to get faster as their careers progress or typically, regress in their speed. The systematic progression of athletic and technical capabilities should see running-based sport athletes reach their speed potential in their late 20s or early 30s. It is up to coaches to create an environment to develop speed to its full potential.

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GAINcast Episode 227: Game speed (with Dean Benton)

Developing faster athletes for team sports doesn’t just mean training them like sprinters. Both sports require fast athletes, but in completely different contexts. Like anything, developing speed in a new context comes down to how you train and Dean Benton has spent his career trying to unlock the methods that can make his teams play faster. On this week’s GAINcast he joins us to discuss the significance of speed, how he defines the key elements of team speed, and his approach to developing game speed.

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Increasing team speed through progression, recovery, and collaboration

Fast players stand out in football matches. They stand out in almost every sport. The ability to outpace your opponent, with or without the ball, and to make a line break into space and receive the ball is a game winning ability. And the higher the level of competition, the faster the pace of the game, both physically and mentally. It is important then to make sure that players are prepared to run fast when needed. Whilst it is unreasonable to expect every player to be the fastest, I have an expectation that every player can be their fastest when coached well.

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Analyzing the Olympic 100-meter sprints

As always, the whole world was focused on athletics this summer at the Tokyo Olympics took place. Within the athletics program, the men’s and women’s 100 meters were the in the spotlight. Behind the historic performances is a treasure trove of data that helps look in more detail at the event, learn about it, and identify the latest trends in sprinting. Below are some insights on overall performance levels, how well maximum velocity and acceleration correlate, top speed, speed loss, race modeling, and more.

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Analyzing the Olympic pole vault competitions

Not only did this year’s Olympic Games mark the high point of the year for pole vaulters, it also presented a new era in the sport. Two first-time Olympians won gold, showing adversity of against the tough conditions, as well as two seasons training and competing under a pandemic. Below I take an in depth look at both the men’s and women’s competition, as well as some thoughts on what sets apart the sport’s biggest star: Mondo Duplantis.

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GAINcast Episode 223: Limitations on speed

What is keeping us from going faster? Ironically, a lot of times it is what we are doing rather than what we aren’t doing. What we other think is helping our speed can be counterproductive. On this week’s GAINcast we discuss some concepts that might be limiting your speed training, as well as methods and planning tips for getting faster.

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GAINcast Episode 216: Coaching errors

Every coach make mistakes, and some mistakes we all make over and over again. On this week’s GAINcast, we talk about eight common traps coaches fall into and how coaches can avoid them.

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