CB Athletic Consulting, Inc. Training Report
Issue #125
Inside this Issue:
- How to Train Young Athletes for Speed: Part 2
1 – How to Train Young Athletes for Sports Speed: Part 2
In the second half of his interview, speed expert Lee Taft describes his favorite core exercises to help kids get faster. Lee is known as one of the top athletic movement specialists in the industry. He frequently lectures and performs clinics for athletes, coaches and trainers on the subject of speed and quickness technique in all directions. Lee is also part of the International Youth Conditioning Association.
CB: What is the role of strength training in developing speed and what types of strength training should a young athlete pursue?
LT:
Strength training is vital in developing speed due to the greater force into the ground and speed of limbs.
I believe in using exercises such as: lunges, step-ups, and one-leg RDL’s to gain complete control of balance and body control before adding weight. Once the athlete is older and experienced enough I believe in Olympic lifts (for those capable), front squats, weighted single-leg movements, hip extension and hamstring movement (glute-ham…).
I also believe the upper body needs to be strong to improve posture and arm drive. The most overlooked region in proper speed strength development is the core region. The pelvis needs to be held stable to allow proper leg action through the cycle.
CB: What exercises do you use to train the core to help with speed development and keep the pelvis stable?
LT:
I have found over the years that young athletes, or older athletes lacking specific postural running strength, will allow a couple things to occur:
First, their pelvis will move in the sagital plan and get pulled into lordosis decreasing the proper actions of pulling the knee into a good high recover, which simultaneously creates a lower foot height during the swing phase and just prior to hip extension occurring.
Second, when the athletes get fatigued during a longer sprint, the pelvis will tend to move in frontal plane creating poor leg actions.
Due to the fact the core is not stabilizing properly to maintain a solid pelvis from a cycling motion or single leg planting, I will use some of the following exercises:
Standing single leg knee raises – I will make the athletes focus on keeping the “tail tucked under”, and the hips stay level in the frontal plane.
Hanging knee raise, double and single leg – I will focus on the same things as in the standing single leg knee raises.
Swiss ball hip flexion from a prone position (push up position w/ feet on the ball) – Once again I want the athlete to move the ball in and out of hip extension and flexion while maintaining a neutral pelvis.
Hopping on one foot while the opposite knee is held at 90 degrees – Watch for sagital and frontal movement.
A lot of single leg balancing while the opposite leg is moving in different directions – I want the pelvis to fight the urge to tilt.
Side bends from a standing single-leg or double-leg position to strengthen the Obliques, Quadratus Lumborum, and hips to aid in frontal and transverse plane stabilization.
The main things I want is for the lower abdominal to not get overpowered by the hip flexors. I will stretch the hip flexors after workouts a lot (if needed). I want the pelvis the have endurance to maintain a healthy position. I want the core to stabilize the pelvis during single leg contact while the opposing leg is pulling the hip into flexion.
There are many other exercises I will do depending what the athlete needs, but these are my staples in terms of running core strength.
CB: Do you train any athletes different from others? For example, do you use any specific techniques with soccer players?
LT:
Only when the athletes get much older and need more specialization.
Now I will certainly take the time to train a younger soccer player to have good hip stability to kick and plant with. I will make sure ankle strength is good to handle contact with the ball and planting with cleats on, as well as neck strength. For the most part, I want a well-rounded healthy athlete.
CB: Same with hockey, do you use any specific techniques?
LT:
Basic same philosophy.
I do believe in spending more time in correcting the weak areas and tight areas developed by the specific movements in hockey. For example; hockey players push off with the feet at 90 degrees. Over time they develop tight hip external rotators. This needs to be addresses with flexibility and strength training.
Hockey players need to have strong wrists and forearms to be quick with the stick. Many young hockey players get fatigued easily in the low back do to the skating posture. I will spend time strengthening this region as well. For the most part making a better overall athlete will work wonders with young athletes.
CB: Do you use different drills to teach game speed as opposed to improving 40-yard dash performance?
LT:
When teaching game speed, I will always make drills random and reactive to simulate the feeling and the actions needed to play the game. I will teach techniques first to make sure athletes understand what the movement should feel like, then immediately move into random based training.
Teaching the 40 is all about technique. It is in the start and in the first 10 yards. I want the athletes to rehearse the same movements over and over again until they are automatic. Game speed is not automatic; the technique may be but not the random movements.
CB: Do you give any special considerations when training female athletes for strength or speed?
LT:
The most obvious concern with females is the risk on knee injury, especially ACL injuries.
I will emphasis strengthening the hamstrings to combat the dominance of the quadriceps in females. I believe females also have more of a tendency to collapse the knees internally during landing or striking the foot to the ground. This is usually due to the weakness of the hip external rotators and also cause by the increased Q-angle. In terms of overall posture, it is important for females to become strong in the posterior aspect of the shoulders and thoracic region. Many girls going through puberty tend to round the shoulders forward due to the awkwardness of their developmental stage.
One final comment on the female population that is important to always consider is the fact that some females have a tendency to be hyper-mobile and can easily injure a joint due to over stretching of this joint. I tend to stay away from any formal static stretching with these girls and focus more on strengthening the muscles to protect the joint. There are certain other female considerations that would take longer to discuss.
CB: Please, tell us more.
LT
Some of the other concerns with females with regard to training are:
Hormonal concerns- During PMS female athletes may experience such pains as: back pain, fatigue, abdominal discomfort, feelings of depression among others. These issues will certainly play a role in disrupting normal training practices.
There seems to be a tendency for the ligaments to have more laxity during the PMS. This certainly would of great concern if training intensity is increased and plyometric training was involved.
Postural concerns with regard to the upper quarter. The head tends to get pushed forward and shoulders tend to round. This in some cases is due to when a young female goes through puberty and is self conscience of increased breast size. When girls have a growth spurt and become taller than their peers they will tend to hunch over to not appear so tall. Postural exercises are a must in this case to avoid chronic dysfunction in the future.
Nutritional concerns will become an issue if the young females feel overweight or don’t like their physical image. This is when these females need to be referred to a specialist in eating disorders.
Lee Taft
Owner of Sports Speed, Etc
www.sportsspeedetc.com
www.sportmovement.com
www.laserlikespeed.com
CB: Thanks Lee. We look forward to your future work with the International Youth Coaching Association (
www.iyca.org).
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