while searching it came up that sprinting on grass is lower cns stress than say sprinting on a track… so i was wondering, does this mean that grass sprinting would be less effective in increasing speed than track sprinting since its less of cns stimulus??
Sprinting on grass is less intense on the cns, if you are trying to work on max speed, keep off of the grass. I will work on the grass during gpp but doing hills. Charlie had mentioned in another post that if you are on the grass, work on the hills or with a sled to help accel.
what if you used cleats?
You are not going to go nearly as fast, so you won’t really improve max speed, though accel can be improved in the beginning (especially in the ways HSboy mentioned).
hmm the only track i have access to is a “dirt track” would this be ok or is in still less than optimal for speed develpment…?
Dirt is better than grass for speed. In general, the harder the surface, the faster it will be.
My situation is that the “people in charge” at my college won’t let me train on the tartan track. Ive hopped the fence and gotten away with it several times, but ive had to do it late at night(most of it is lighted) and i am paranoid as hell when i do it cause i have to be really quiet and i am constantly looking over my shoulder to watch out for campus police… but the last time that campus police caught me training on the track he told me that “the next time i catch ya here imma taking ya away in handcuffs.” They say that its a liability to let me train alone at the track “b/c i might get hurt”…but yet they won’t let anyone train there ever,so how can i have someone with me?..this is a nice modern track (it surrounds the football stadium, a small stadium) and they are just letting it sit there to rot (my college doesn’t have a track team)…Im an athlete here on the soccer team but i still cant get them to give in. Im really reaching the limits of my nerves. SO, apparently i have to do my speed sessions for now on grass. Any suggestions on how i can make the most out of speedwork on grass…can i even wear my sprint spikes on grass? HELP PLEASE!
It is ok to wear spikes on crass, it might even be better if the ground is wet, so you dont slip.
I remember charlie mentioning that if you do have to be on the grass why not do hills or sled pulls.
It is not optimum but we make do with what we have.
Pay the guard off to look the other way.
Just some thoughts
if you have the option, never do speed work on grass. unless it if totally flat and hard, which i have never seen!! most are crap.
Perhaps racing flats on bitchmen might be a better call for those with no option but grass? For max speed work, even speed endurance - my strained hammy says so. :mad:
Speed work on grass?
Certrainly, you won’t reach “max speed” on grass as you would reach on track.
Certrainly, you won’t reach the level of acceleration on grass as you would on track.
But…
Does that mean that speed/acceleration work (for non-sprint athletes like soccer players) should be done on track only?
We have done starts on grass from various positions, and hills on concrete this summer…
Why not combining the stuff? Over Offseason (team athletes) do tempo on grass, hills on grass. After hills procede to track (should they buy/wear spikes???) and then back to grass (soccer)??
This is very interesting topic…
i would like to have more input from Charlie regarding this quagmire that im in (speed training on grass). Apparently, due to the ignorance of those in charge at my school…im going to have to be doing most of my speedwork at school on grass or on pavement. Its very frustrating, but at this point i dont have a choice. Its just amazing to me that there is a perfectly good track right here at the school…but no one is allowed to use it. Just crazy.
Irong, what is the reason you were given by ‘those in charge’ that you can’t use it?
What about a formal request to the Dean in writing?
Well, at the beginning of the year i was just simply hopping the small fence that surrounds the track. I would do this once or twice a week to do my speedwork. The track surrounds the football field that is located in a small stadium. Ive talked to other athletes (i am a soccer player) who have done the same thing, and none of us have ever thought anything of it.
Then one night as im in the middle of one of my speed sessions (i like to do my speed sessions at night…the track is well lit)…a bright beam of light is shined in my face and the public safety officer (who is new at my school) tells me i have to leave and that if he catches me down here again i would be arrested. I told him that we would see about that. Very soon after that i go to the athletic director a my school and tell him about the situation and that i would like to be able to use the track. I explain to him that i can’t use the intramural track (which is pavement and about a mile long made up of hills) b/c of my sprint spikes and the fact that im doing speed work, not distance/fitness. He says that is fine as long as i get permission from my coach. I go straight to my coaches office and tell him about it and he says that i can use the track whenever i want to. He emails the public safety office and informs them that i am to have access to the track from now on and they are to meet me to unlock the gates whenever i call them to. He even told me that i could just probably hop the fence if i wanted to. So at this point i think that everything is settled. The next two times i go to the track i call the public safety officer/s and they meet me to let me in.
A few days ago i go to check my email and i have an email in my inbox from the athletic director. It has been forwarded to all the public safety officers and to my soccer coach and basicly says: "With respect to the young man who has requested access to the track, i agree that he should not be allowed there at night and that from now on, in order for him to have access to the track, the gate must be opened by (my coaches name), and that he should be supervised by (my coaches name) while he is there training." I am almost positive that the reason for this is because the security officer who kicked me off the track the first time sent an email to, or visited in person, the athletic director and told him that he thought it was a bad idea for me to be allowed on the track. I could tell this b/c the email that was sent to me and all the others (regarding me using the track) was a reply to another email that was sent to the athletic director. Somehow, he managed to sway the athletic director.
So, apparently, in order for me to be able to run on a track, i have to have my soccer coach hold my hand and walk me there, unlock the gate for me, and stay the entire time while i am training. They dont seem to understand (or care) that my coach is in the midst of a busy season and that he doesn’t have the time to sit and watch me run on a track for 2-3 hours straight.
I talked to my coach the next day at lunch and he said that he was sorry but that i could no longer train there after dark. I said that that is fine, and that from now on i will only train during daylight hours. But apparently, he still has to let me in himself, and even watch me. I do not want my soccer coach to have to waste his time and sit and watch me like i am a toddler. He is too busy for that.
I will get my speedwork in twice a week, period, even if i have to drive 50 minutes to the next closest university to do it. I have trained there before, and their track is open 24 hours a day. However, i really dont want to have to make that trek twice a week, especially since there is a perfectly good rubber track right here. This whole situation has turned into a giant shitstorm, and i am at my wits end on what to do about it.
Anybody have any suggestions? 
PS–im going to be in Chicago around the Univ. of Chicago area in 2 weeks…does anyone here who lives in or around that area want to get together to train? Im always up for it.
Unbelievable! That is nuts. Sounds like you are in a similar situation to Comach09 however I don’t think he’s really talked to the coaches and athletic director. Like you, I figured getting the ath. directors approval would be end of story…
I think there def are some guys on here in the Chicago area btw.
It is an issue I can relate to as the only track here closed at 6pm from April-September :eek: and I have been kicked out a few times :mad: Fortunately I managed to get that reduced to May - August but it helped having contacts.
My suggestion is firstly while trying to get it sorted play by their rules, pissing them off is the last thing you can afford to do. Whatever you do it must not become personal or aggressive, try and stay as objective as possible! I appreciate that may be difficult.
So it is locked during the day?
You must have a student council, I would try and involve them so it becomes more than just you versus them. Are their other athletes in the same situation? Ideally you want to be putting forward a proposal that benefits a number of people.
Does your school have a policy about encouraging physical activity for all students?
First off I would reply to all on the email politely expressing your disappointment at the decision and the reasons why. I would ask for clarification of the reasoning.
This wont be a quick fix! If you want a hand at any stage with correspondence or a proof read of letters let me know.
The only thing I use speed training for is the 40 yd dash. We always time it on the grass and never on the track. Would it make since just to go ahead and do all my speed training on the grass with my cleats?
i would think so.
eg. beach sprinters in the surf life saving. they sprint, but in soft sand you have to dig your feet into the sand, v’s dorso flexing. different technique.
if your 40yards on going to be run on average or poor grass, and you have been doing tons of work on the tartan, your legs wont be used to sprinting on the uneven grass surface, and injury could happen.
if unlike me your grass surfaces are ideal, then perhaps either surface will do.
Well there is also a kind of field turf that most college teams. It has like fake grass with tartan pebbles in it. I could see using track spikes on that stuff. Your thoughts BW?
all i had for yrs and yrs was grass. i always used spikes on it. you can buy Grass spikes, that screw into any shoe. i used distance or mid distance shoes for tempo, and sprint spikes for speed. about 9mm in length was about right. if its real muddy and slopy, up to 13mm or more might be needed. the only difference ever was the lenght of spikes, the shoe remains same.
What do you guys think about speed training on a basketball gym floor? I suppose i could work on starts and 20-25 yard accels in there. Like ive stated before, they will no longer let me on the tartan track, however, i have access to a basketball gym and weight room pretty much anytime i want. What do you think about this for some speed sessions? After working on starts/accels in the basketball gym i would head straight to the weight room. Thoughts?