that’s my first post here
are those spark drills good for improving speed?
like the step and cut on the ladder and those ‘‘technique’’ drills??
It’s SPARQ-Speed, Power, Agility, Reactive, and Quickness and no, no they’re not!! Let me correct myself. It’s not that they’re bad, they’re just not any good!! If you can’t get a hold of a good speed coach it’s probably better than nothing.
so doing them I will go nowhere?
no improvement??
can you suggest me a good program about running tecnique and ladder drills??
Using one of Charlie’s famous analogies, using the ladder or doing some of those so-called agility drills is like “spinning your wheels and not going anywhere”. Think of a game of football or a race where you take these little steps moving your feet as fast as possible as if you were stepping quickly through a 12" by 12" series of boxes. The entire game would flash right by you. It’s like a racecar burning its tires at the start. In order to move fast you have to push hard into the ground, not dance above it!!
oh great advice man!
so a which exercises must have a good speed program?
Well, relative strength is a big issue. You’ve got to be strong to be fast. How’s your weight training program? How’s your strength?
As far as drills, you can run through a list of drills/exercises and if you can think of a reason to not do it, then don’t.
Save your money and don’t buy the ladder. The only pieces of equipment you really need to develop speed are spikes (if you’re a track athlete), a couple cones, a stop watch, and a medicine ball.
The basic Mach drills are really the only ones worth doing. I keep coming back to them. There isn’t much correct logic behind most other drills. The problem with agility drills is that they don’t have much carry over to anything else, unless maybe you’re younger than 12 years old. You will improve at the drills themselves, but that won’t translate much to any other movements, unless you’re so out of shape and weak that they have a general strengthening and fitness benefit.
The best exercise to do to improve speed is sprinting. It sounds obvious, but in an age of “sport specific” training that does not actually involve playing the sport, the obvious needs to be repeated. Supporting general exercises like weights (squats, deadlift, pressing, etc.) and med ball throws are important but don’t put the cart before the horse.
ok I’ll keep the weight training…