Running Backs: Speed Skills Can be Taught - Part II

The Speed Report
by: Dale Baskett
Football Speed Specialist
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As previously discussed in part one of our article on running back speed, natural gifts are what we would all like to have at our fingertips. The reality is the resource per school doesn’t always match the desire for golden talent. When rubber meets the road, year to year we must be able to develop certain athletes who can perform at a consistant level coming out of the backfield. I am a huge believer that when working with youth you can develop the talent level with any program. The problem with the desirous ones who see the natural wonder is that they sometimes fall short of learning to identify and develop the qualities of the athletes in the fold. The key to development is having an open attitude towards the “potential of an athlete” and inspiring him to believe in what can be done skill-wise with work and consistant technical applications.

Let's Develop What We Need

Many coaches believe that running backs must be discovered and are seldom created. A little of both is true. Sometimes, however, you can buy your bullets or load your own. The difference is having knowledge to develop the necessary skills required to produce backs that can move effectively and skillfully from year to year. When we speak of speed for running backs we must look at raw speed talent and movement skills combined. I believe that running back skills can be taught but the “Speed Report” is about speed for football so let's not digress to a subject that is away from the discussion at hand. That being said, speed, quickness and movement are skills that you and I as coaches can impact developmentally.

Identify the Type of Speed Needed

I started in the athletic speed development business when coaches believed that you either were fast or forget it! In 1980, speed development for football was nonexistent, unless you ran for the track team during the off season. Unfortunately, being a true sprinter and a football skill position player, such as a running back, two different types of training are required. Interestingly enough, they're indifferent due in part to the nature of football speed requirements. Contemporary, or current, speed coaches today are predominately track and field sprint coaches. The majority don't know whether a football is pumped, stuffed, round, or square. The 100, 200, and 400 yard sprints do not equate to the short, ballistic acceleration movement with multiple velocity and multi-directional changes required for football every time the ball is snapped. Many varying athletic speed requirements are engaged. Track coaches are not familiar with teaching athletes to control velocity changes and angle changes demanded by football.

I was a sprint coach and a football coach at the high school and college level for 12 years before entering the athletic speed development world in 1980. I understand the difference and that is why I was able to work with the 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, Michael Bates, to prepare him for an an NFL career. Interestingly enough, I worked with him after he had been cut from two NFL teams. He was one of the fastest humans in the world in 1992 and ran under 4.2 in the 40 yard dash. In high school he ran 12.98 in the high hurdles and had times in college of 45.5 in the 400 meters and 10.06 in the 100 meters. He was one of only three high school athletes to ever run under 13.0 seconds in the high school high hurdles in American history. The other two Americans became world record holders with their track careers. Michael switched to the flat sprints and received the bronze medal for the 200 meter final. This man was a special human and his gifts were like many elite freaks of the present and past; that is, those who have exhibited extraordinary human feats beyond the measure of the multitudes who perform at varying levels in sports. He went on to become an All-Pro player for 5 straight years after developing athletic speed skills. Michael changed his direction ability, his pace control, his multi-movement and planting skills. Did he become faster straight ahead (linear speed)? No, he didn't see the need to fix what wasn't broken.

Drills and Application - the Difference

The following will provide you with some drills I have formulated over the years that I’ve found useful for teaching your running backs to utilize particular skills: sprint weave ability, planting with major momentum, decelerating with control to allow your athletes to redirect, and / or burst, cut, and accelerate in an elite and effective manner. Field speed is purely trainable if we will teach and believe that speed skills and running back skills are a product of knowledge accrued and can be taught by every coach. I just finished traveling to two schools last week to provide them with my total team speed training package for their respective teams. In doing so, I was particularly impressed by one of the head coaches attitude at the first school I worked with during the week. He is a very successful coach over the last 12 years at this particular high school and has one of the best winning records in California over that time. His comment to me was refreshing to hear. “I want to be an expert at teaching your development system,” he commented. In other words, he wasn’t afraid to dig in and work at learning to teach a craft he could see value in that is a more advanced system of speed development than he had been using. The key to this story is that he was not removed from taking on a new challenge. This kind of change requires some extra work on his part but he was willing to spend more time to learn to teach new skills that he could see were cutting edge.

Drills for Running Back Speed Skills

Here are some running back drills for developing specific speed characteristics that can, hopefully, be useful in your program for teaching certain aspects of speed development.

1. First (five) yards is a 100% sprint to a decel for (three) yards to a lateral slide (which is at 45 degrees, keeping hips and shoulders square to the goal line). The back plants to 100% in a sprint weave. The technical aspect for a sprint weave is to sprint 100% in and around the placed cones. At the end of the sprint weave the athlete must plant to a lateral slide 45 degrees again and then finish with an extension plant to a linear sprint finish (See Diagram 1).

Diagram 1

2. Once again we have a sprint weave with (five) yard. linear spacing and a 1-foot off set on the middle cone. The second zone is (three) yards in length which requires shortening the rotation of the upper arm and slowing down the arm frequency.The player also keeps his torso and head in alignment with the foot strike landing position as you slow down step by step. The remaining zones repeat the same way. Quality of control of arm and leg cycle and the leg, torso, and head remain in alignment at all times during every phase (See Diagram 2).

Diagram 2

3. The back starts off at 80% of maximum speed for three yards. You must rotate the shoulder pretty fast to reach 80% intensity in this short distance. On the plant, activate the shoulder speed to 100%. Then, plant to the third angle, as soon as the hips and shoulders are square to the new angle (decel the upper arm cycle rapidly) until you reach the next cone placement. Then, plant to a 100% burst sprint (See Diagram 3).

Diagram 3

4. This drill simulates running back movement either left or right after the athlete goes through the first 2 cones. He runs straight through the 2 cones, then plants left or right to a lateral slide with shoulders and hips remaining forward and square to the end zone. The arms never stop rotating at the shoulder (continuous arm activity on every movement change). The arm motion keeps the leg cycle active during the plant (See Diagram 4).

Diagram 4

5. This drill works the lateral skill with a transition into a curve sprint to what I term a ‘speed curve accel.’ The movement on this is intense shoulder rotation that never stops rotating on all movement changes which is the “key” to leg cycle continuation as the athletes navigate through the drill scheme (See Diagram 5).

Diagram 5

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