As far as I know, the harder the sprinting surface, the more taxing on the CNS. How can this be applied to across different sports? Should someone who plays a sport on grass, do their speed work on the track? Or should they stick with the surface that they play on?
When I do SPEED work, then I do it on a track with spikes, etc to get maximum speed! When I am doing skills work (coverages, etc) then I do them on the field like I will be when I am playing ball.
Just as weight training is general (non-specific) when applied to sprinting, I think of speed as also being non-specific when applied to field sports. That is, I try to get stronger and faster and then apply it to the specific skills that I will need at gametime. As such, I train strength in the weight room, speed on the track and skills on the field.
This brings up another interesting question. Should all speed work be done in spikes regardless of the sport played?
That’s what I do. Of course, all my (pure) speed work is done on the track, so I’m not sure what else I would wear on my feet!
The size of the athlete will determine the shoe…Lineman in spikes can be a problem. I think anyone over 220 should keep to flats but this is not a researched area.