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The Speed Report: Football Speed and Movement Training – Making it Relative to practices and Gamesby: Dale BaskettFootball Speed Specialist © More from this issue Speed on the football field is every coach’s desire. The good news is that speed and movement can be developed. When I started developing football speed 36 years ago, no one believed it could be taught. How it was developed back then and even today, is still an issue that concerns me. Far too many programs are using inferior fundamental principles and, in most cases, they’re principles that fall short of the mark for maximizing results. Incorporating sound teaching fundamentals starts with the person setting and directing the training system. To best illustrate this, I’m calling on a colleague of mine, Coach Paul Gomes, the head coach at Rancho Buena High School in Vista, California. He will lend his input from hands on experience. Coach Gomes is a successful high school football coach of more than 30 years winning many regional titles and a state championship. Coach Gomes will discuss how he uses speed training the way it should be conducted. Player Knowledge – Sound Understanding “Synchronization accompanies the line with proper arm-leg movement gaining a collective force that maximizes power as they work together harmoniously. Foot strike from the downward leg action which descends quickly to the ground so your players can initiate immediate movement without losing velocity. As shown in diagram #2, integrating the proper force through foot strike allows a player to change the line of direction they want to go. This will give them control to move up the field as quickly as possible. As coaches, we all can agree that every drill and technique used in football requires proper movement principles so that players can move successfully. Repetitive, quality practice of the principles prescribed ensures technical accuracy by players. To maximize player learning, incorporating proper movement must be continuously taught. The optimum word here is taught. “As a coaching staff, we teach our players how to properly move which should be your number one objective. In addition, players can’t learn if they are not articulate about what you’re teaching. They must use the learned methods in practice at all times. Proper speed training and movement requires proper teaching. Looking at diagram #3, we constantly are coaching our players to keep moving their upper and lower limbs in a cyclical continuous rotation so they can create rhythmic cycle movement, at all speed levels. “When you apply diagram #4, it becomes critical that you teach your players to keep their elbows close to their body allowing this activity to become their normal movement on the field. Looking at diagram #5, we see that the eyes are always forward and the hip level must be up, not low. This gives the players a chance to increase leg speed because the angles will allow the hip to turn faster. Too many athletes have low hip positioning and are not aware of it, losing valuable frequency. “Consistently using these five foundational principles presented by coach Baskett will give you the tools to become dramatically faster on the football field. Other lineal applications of this sort will not solve the problem of speed loss during movement transitions. All changes to speeds while playing will challenge technical control that is necessary for purifying football speed and movement.” “Every coach in the country should adhere to his special bio-mechanical system. Other techniques fall short for football movement technique and control for playing fast. Coach Baskett has numerous packages that progress technically as you continue forward. That is, training packages that are not designed to be learned in their entirety through these short articles. All training systems stem from unified foundation facts. Investigate what his methods can do for your program. They’re not to be found elsewhere. Start today by making speed and movement training relative to your practices and games.” |
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