There’s a guy in our area who is promoting speed camps during the summer. He’s a former track guy and a track coach. He had a number of local high school football players in camp last summer and the kids were quoted in the local newspaper. One kid said he improved from a 4.6 to a 4.4 40yd dash in an effort to help his chances of getting recruited.
The article described some plyo drills and the coach talked about making changes in the way an athlete runs. I think he said after one day he could make someone time faster. Everything made sense.
However, he was really marketing toward younger kids. He said that the greatest improvements could come from working with younger kids over time in helping them to improve speed now and as they aged.
I have a 9 year old who plays football/basketball/baseball and he attends various camps during the summer anyway. Would it be worthwhile to try something like this? Would track-style training help his speed in terms of athletic performance. Just curious.
He’s in summer camp all summer except the weeks he participates in sports camps. Most of the sports camps are only a little more expensive than a week in summer camp.
His was a little more pricey from what I remember.
Yeah, I could try the message board and such but my son doesn’t respond well to me drilling him as a coach would. He will work hard for others though.
As other said… As long as the price is reasonable anything is better than nothing. Also it will sure beat having him work with a coach who specializes in distance running and putting him through all kinds of aerobic work which will possibly have a negative impact on him forever.
Agreed with others- if it’s reasonable (cost) and it sounds like he may have something to offer, wouldn’t hurt to have him in the speed camp. I wish I would’ve been involved in that when I was younger, even in high school. I was always subject to intense sessions with high volume with not enough short speed work, which now I have to work a little harder for (but still have decent short speed; 4.55h 40 yard, 3.9h 30m). Developing a good speed base at a young age will help him in the future in my opinion.
Track Gymnastics and Swimming are a good way to get any kid fit and agile. In my kids leauge some of the better sprinters were gymnasts and the good distance runners come from swimming backgrounds. The main thing to look at for a youth program is that it should be specific to that age group but challenging at the same time. It should also be general (non-sports specific) There should be med ball and and tons of games.