Sounds good. Hopefully the floor is well maintained and not slippery (dusty).
The basketball floor is very well maintained and not slippery or dusty at all. I would figure that doing some speedwork in there would be especially ideal during the winter months b/c of the very cold weather. So again, to clarify, you think that speedwork on this floor will be ok? (starts and 25 yard accels) using light flats?..would it be anywhere as beneficial as doing speedwork on the track? Thanks for the reply
Hate to ruin this but doesn’t the Mach charts suggest that sprinting on grass may be counterproductive due to prolonged contact times. It also mentions that grass may be better suited for tempo rather than sprinting because of the aforementioned.
Just asking
Should be fine as long as the footing is good… better than running on the track in freezing temperatures.
true, true. It helps to get clarity
At the NFL combine, they run their 40’s on that pebbely field turf. Yet they still manage to run blazing times electronically. Would yall think that if they ran ET on tartan track that they would run much faster?
also what do yall mean by mach charts?
Don’t know of any reason not to sprint on grass- if you follow the rythem of the surface. Fotball players will know the feeling. On the turf, you can’t fight for speed effectively- you must relax and let the rebound characteristic of the surface dictate the rythem of the run.
In the competition phase, you might not wish to switch surfaces but earlier on in the season it’s not a problem and your ability to continue with grass work will depend on the quality and flatness of the grass.
Thank you Charlie for commenting on this subject, ive been hoping you would.
So to clarify…considering that my competition begins in February…you are saying that it is ok to do most (if not all) of my speed training on grass? Would this be as beneficial as doing the speed work on the tartan track? Can i wear my sprint spikes on grass? (i would assume that the lighter the shoe the better).
I remember that you stated in the forum review that doing speed work on grass better protects the shins and the muscles, and that Ben ran 10.06 on a grass track (thats awesome).
Thanks for helping us in this debate Charlie.
Thanks for this world class info charlie. I was worried where else I would do my speed training since football is the only sports I play.
I just tried to do some speedwork on grass. My performance compared to speedwork on the mondo track was horrible. The contact times of each footstrike on the grass were so much longer than compared to the mondo track. I dont see how i can possibly improve my speed from training on grass considering i move so much slower on grass. If you ask me…i would just use the grass for tempo work
ya, everything does feel a lot slower on grass. Ive noticed from the turf I played on last week.
if you are to race on grass, then learn to run on grass. the technique is slightly different, to do so, you need to train on grass. You need to learn how grass reacts (or doesnt) to your movement.
If you are to race on rubber, train on rubber.
i have had no problems training on a track and racing on grass and vice vera, my training times on grass are maybe slightly slower if not equal to my track.
i think the technique is the same and both compliment each other. on the grass i found it helped my developing a fast contact coz if that contact is no fast the ground will just absorb to much of the force.
Hey what happened to the basketball court? I agree with you on the grass as I mentioned originally. Unless the grass is amazingly maintained, your times will be crap.
then you have been training on better grass than me
I guess you are right, why train on rubber if I dont play on rubber.
as a rule for the past few years during the GPP phases and sometimes early into SPP we have always done every 3rd or 4th week on entirely grass…we are blessed here with great grass fields which is fortunate for us.
during this time we have been lucky to never have anyone out injured when it matters and whether its because of the occaisional change up to grass or not i am not sure but it works in well for us.
we also do our 2 tempo sessions each week on grass.
quality on rubber, quantity on grass
Because it improves the speed at which you apply force, therefore making you faster.
If you were to do all your speed work on a 50 yard strip of bed matresses how much do you think your speed would improve?
tell that to fb coaches who time us on grass fields