Running On Empty

Do you train your quarterbacks to throw like a shot putter? Then why do you train your football players to run like a track star?
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FOOTBALL PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN TIMING PLAYERS in the 40 yard dash for years and making evaluations based on the results. But while the test is time-honored, is it really an accurate assessment of how fast a player will be on the field on any given Saturday?

As an expert in speed development for football players, I feel that straight line sprint speed is only a partial assessment of an athlete's playing speed. The reason is obvious. Few football players run full bore for 30 to 50 yards during a game. In contrast, all players need to make variable speed changes to be effective on the field.

Some coaches are aware of this, yet continue to strive to improve 40 times and develop straight-line speeds.What we really need is a better measuring tool for assessing football speed. Often you'll see a 4.5 guy who has a slower athletic speed time than a 4.8 guy. A different test would show which athlete is truly faster on the field and different training would potentially make all athletes faster.

Building speed

The 40 time will not disappear anytime soon. In the meantime, every football coach who is serious about making his players faster should try to understand how to improve playing speed. The concept is simple. To make players faster, a coach should emphasize speed. Most coaches emphasize strength and power as the main menu for speed.

And while strength and power are important, they alone won't make players fast. The most important speed skills to be developed for football are: acceleration, the ability to increase velocity in a short distance; change of pace, being able to control leg frequency and limb synchronization while accelerating and slowing down; direction changes, redirecting momentum with maximum control, efficiency and quickness, and speed burst, or being able to abruptly apply leg cycle force to the ground in a synchronized manner with arm cycle rotation.

Unfortunately, these skills are rarely taught. Programs that are working on speed development typically use a random set of drills that are don't help a football player get fast on the field.

The majority of speed development programs use techniques that have been been used successfully in track and field. Unfortunately, the game of football is physiologically and mechanically far different than running track. Coaches applying track principles to build speed on the football field are missing the mark entirely.

Remember, the techniques applied for track are useful for direct line sprint speed when the athlete's goal is to run at maximum speed for 100 or more yards. One hundred yards is a short distance for a sprinter, but a long sprint for a football player. There are some key mechanical functions that are necessary for playing speed performance.

For instance, keeping the center of body in line with the foot strike placement at all times will maximize ground force control. This will enable an athlete to run at varying speeds successfully and increase his ability to change direction quickly. Cyclic arm/ leg synchronization must be balanced, while at the same time maintaining body center positioning.

A few years ago I trained an athlete who aspired to play in the NFL. His name is Michael Bates, the younger brother of Mario Bates, who was playing at the time for the Saints as a running back and doing very well.

Michael participated in the 1992 Olympics, where he was very successful in the 200 meters. He brought home a bronzec medal which meant he was one of the fastest humans in the world. Unfortunately his NFL experience didn't get off to as strong a start. After three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, he was released. Shortly afterward he was picked up by Cleveland but a year later, he was released again. Four years of effort, world class speed and no job in the NFL.

Michael had size, would run through a cement wall and certainly had speed, but the problem was he had the wrong kind of speed. He had sprint speed, and he was having a difficult time using it on the field of play.

When I began training him, I asked him, "Do you plan on running track any longer?" Michael thought for a second then answered, "No, I am trying to focus my abilities on football." I warned him that by the time I was done with him, he wouldn't be the track star he once was. He said, "Let's go to work."

We began by turning his mechanical sprint skills into "athletic speed skills" - the ones he needed to play football. After the training, he signed with the Carolina Panthers. He has made the Pro Bowl squad for each of the last five years and was selected to the NFL's all decade team of the '90s, which included people like John Elway, Joe Montana, Junior Seau, Ronnie Lott, and many other NFL greats.

What made the difference for Michael was learning how to turn his direct line sprint speed into useful athletic speed. Michael's situation underscores the importance of developing the right kind of speed for football.

Training for speed

Weight training has been around for some time, and there's numerous lifting methods for developing strength and power for football. However, in the area of speed training there are many unanswered questions.

Many coaches have limited knowledge about speed development and some have none at all. There are even those who believe speed is something people are born with and cannot be developed. Luckily, they are fast becoming the minority. Speed definitely can be developed. The key is using the right methods.

The belief that weights, plyometrics and other physiological applications are the whole and not part of the training scheme, is a common misconception. Although strength and power play a role in the production of speed, they are certainly not the only ingredients. Coaches and athletes often rely on the weights and plyos entirely, due in part to a lack of knowledge about developing speed. We need to look at speed development as more than just lifting and getting stronger and hoping this will make us faster.

Running is a series of cyclic force applications. Limbs rotate at varying frequencies and generate forces that produce velocity. I call this "cyclic compounding," which simply means that there are many cycle rotations that take place while covering a given distance rapidly. It can be either negative or positive.

As an athlete accelerates, momentum is constantly changing, and many moving parts and angles must connect properly to maximize cyclic force application. Mechanical errors compound negatively over and over during rotational limb activity. If the body positioning and limb use is sound then the force application will be maximized each step, which I term "positive compounding." The result of this positive compounding will be increased force production with each step, which will generate higher velocity.

This cannot be practiced in the weight room. Physical development in the weight room gives an athlete a direct source of strength and power that's useful to speed enhancement, but learning proper mechanical skills will do more to increase speed. I have worked with some very strong athletes whose mechanical abilities were significantly weaker than their physical ability. Even people who have never lifted a weight can improve their speed significantly after being trained mechanically.

What this shows is that athletes can increase cyclic force for speed without increasing their physical power. They can learn to run faster by learning to carry themselves correctly. By positioning himself correctly, the athlete will be in better position to apply leverages and forces that he already possesses.

Football coaches need to look at speed as a skill, just like the bench press or the vertical leap. They should pay equal attention to weight training and mechanical skill training so they can build the strongest, fastest athletes.

So what should a coach look for?

There are three easy-to-understand mechincal principles that must be in place at all time to perform the speed skills required for acceleration, change of pace, direction change, quickness and speed burst.

The first is alignment. When an athlete runs, the leg, torso and head should form a straight line. Coaches should watch this line as an athlete accelerates and make sure it stays straight.

The second principle is synchronization. The upper arm and upper leg should move at the same time. The focus should be on the upper arm being active at the shoulder joint at all times. The arm should be held at a 90-degree angle. Coaches should make sure players hold their arm in an L-shape. The arm should maintain this angle consistently while it is rotated from front to back so the upper and lower limbs will move in unison.

The third principle is where the foot lands, or foot-strike. The athlete should always land on the ball of his foot and it should hit the ground slightly in front of the hip.

When these three principles operate together at every phase of movement, your players will increase their speed during games. Coaches should focus on the three principles and demand that athletes use the proper form consistently, whether they are speeding up, slowing down, changing direction or running straight ahead.

Speed - a year round pursuit

Most programs have athletes lifting year round with periodization schedules of varying degrees for in-season and off-season training. Speed development can be worked on year around, too.

A schedule should be established so players are doing strength and power training, heavy plyos, load running, and mechanical skill work in the winter. In the spring, concentrate on intermediate speed work, with varying pace changes and direction change applications. High velocity speed work should not begin until early summer and should continue until the season begins.

Once the football season kicks in you will experience a drop in speed over the next couple of weeks because of all of the loading the legs go through during double-day conditioning. After the season begins your aim should be to do speed work when the athletes are fresh, not tired, so you can tap the nervous system properly for greater muscle contraction efficiency. You should also lengthen recovery time between efforts. This will give your athletes an opportunity to use the proper energy mechanisms anerobically for speed and movement development.

Randy Blankenship, coach of Fallbrook High School, in San Diego, Calif., began incorporating speed training into his practice schedule two years ago. He says the difference has been dramatic. "Our team speed was only fair when we started this system of application," he says. "Since using the new system the last two seasons we have developed the fastest teams I've ever had sideline to sideline."

Dale Baskett is owner of SpeedTec, a company based in San Diego, Calif., that specializes in training athletes, particularly football players, for speed.

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