Lacrosse Training - Running Drills to Improve Speed

Speed training is important, and some players are naturally faster than others, but you can improve your speed through conditioning and strength training.

For conditioning, set a goal of running one to two miles three times a week, ideally throughout the year but definitely three months before the start of your season. If you haven't been running frequently, I wouldn't try to make a time in this range the first time out, but it is a good milestone to gradually work toward.

Sprinting drills are extremely important for developing quickness, agility and fast feet. Set two cones or pick two landmarks 10 yards apart, and sprint back and forth between them as many times as you can in 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds and repeat.

Lateral drills, such as pushing side to side off one foot to another while running forward, will help develop muscles needed to execute a good dodge or maintain good positioning as a defender.
To strengthen your legs, deep-lunge walk for 15 yards.

As for dodging defenders, practice split or face dodges using a trash can as an imaginary defender.

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Allyson Felix Runs Faster Than You

Eyes On The Olympics: Allyson Felix

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be the fastest person in the world?

What would it be like to be able to say that you could out run any other person?

There are a lot of fast people in the world, but only one person is the fastest. Could you imagine being that person? Imagine what that would feel like: You’d crouch down, get your stance ready, and then with a burst of energy propel yourself forward. The wind would fly across your face so forcefully that tears would begin to run down the side of your face - your legs dancing across the ground. Bystanders would surely stand with jaw-dropping expressions, as you raced by, an indistinguishable blur.

Of course I’ve never felt this incredible speed (I was a mediocre high school track athlete)… the closest I’ve come to experiencing such a rush came when I decided to drive with my head stuck outside my car window.

While most people, like me, can only envision what it would be like to have that raw explosive ability, one recently graduated college student, Allyson Felix, need not imagine. In a few months Felix will be able to say that she is the best, the fastest in the world. She’s competing at the upcoming Beijing Olympics; her eye is on the gold.

Tons of college students are heading to Beijing to compete in the Olympics this year. Allyson Felix, a 22-year-old USC alum and world class sprinter, is one of them. Look for her to score the gold in August!

For the rest of the Allyson Felix sprint training article Click Here

Plyometric and Power Training Guidelines

So let's get into how to effectively introduce plyometric training in a way that will result in positive growth in the area of strength, power, coordination, body awareness and, of course, speed...

The underlying principle behind teaching plyos is simple. The concept is something that you've heard me preach over and over again:

Start with simple movements and progress to more complex movements ONLY when players have mastered the basic ones.

With my teams and groups, I let athletes 'graduate' to the next drill in our progression once they meet the criteria required for advancement.

In fact, players get pretty intense when it comes to 'graduation'. They all want to be the first to move on, but more importantly they don't want to be the last.

So using 'graduation' as a reward is a great way to get players to focus on the task at hand.

Remember, only do plyos on your speed days. They tax the same energy system as speed work and the weight room. So don't have your players do explosive plyos on your recovery days.

Here are the principles to follow when doing your plyos:

STEP 1: Start with basic stabilization exercises that begin and end using both feet.

Athletes must learn to control movements off of both feet before advancing to the more demanding drills.

Additionally, be sure to keep the number of ground contacts (total number of times the feet hit the ground) low until player learn to handle the increased load.

You can see the specific plyo progressions that we've found to generate the best results by getting your own copy of Complete Speed Training.

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Step 2: Emphasize soft landings.

When doing plyos, players must learn to land softly. Cue them to absorb each landing with the muscles in the legs, not with joints, bones, ligaments, and tendons.

Each foot strike or impact should make a minimal amount of noise. Athletes can't graduate to the more 'fun' drills until they can learn to land softly.

If you cave in and let them graduate early, before they have acquired the necessary skills, then their ability to learn the new drills and avoid injury will be greatly reduced.

Here are some tell-tale signs that your players are not performing the drills correctly:

* Loud slapping sound with the feet upon landing
* Landing on the balls of the feet, with the weight forward and heels
off the ground
* Taking off with one foot instead of both feet
* Landing on one foot instead of both feet
* Inability to maintain/loss of balance upon landing

Once basic drills are mastered, and these common mistakes have been eliminated, players can start the bounding drills that people traditionally equate with plyometric training.

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Step 3: Use medicine balls.

When athletes have a tough time with 'regular' plyos, I'll often back off and use medicine ball throws.

This will teach them many of the same explosive elements, but can be easier to master the movements. It also takes some of the pressure off of trying to succeed in the more difficult drills.

Of course, I use medicine ball throws for the more skilled football players as well. As always, make sure that the football players are doing the drills with perfect form.

The main flaw that I see with these drills is that athletes will throw the ball with their arms. The arms are a guide for the weight and shouldn't be the primary mover.

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Plyometric workouts require a coach's close attention.

Hopefully I've given you some useful ideas on introducing these valuable exercises into your program. The temptation to skip the basic elements will be great, but I implore you to force your football players to be patient.

Get started today...

Power Training and Plyometrics - What not to do

Today we need to address how to develop the explosive power of your players by using plyometrics.

Now, plyos are one of those touchy subjects that some people don't have a very good understanding of.

So, the first thing we have to do is get a working definition of what plyos actually are. Otherwise, we can't be sure we're doing them correctly, if at all.

Plyometrics are defined as movements that cause a rapid change from eccentric contraction (lengthening a muscle) to concentric contraction (shortening a muscle).

In fact, the very act of running fast is a plyometric activity, as it trains for the storage and release of elastic energy. And elastic energy is required for faster running.

You can develop the ability to store and release this elastic energy by having your team engage in a variety of activities such as hopping and bounding drills, box jumps, hurdle hops, medicine ball throws, etc.

But there's a catch.

These movements require a healthy degree of strength, coordination and balance.

My point?

You can't just decide that tomorrow you want to do hurdle hops or single leg bounds with your team.

Plyometrics are a SKILL that take a great deal of practice if your expectation is that players are going to do them correctly and actually get something out of it.

Ok, it's story time...

Last year I was at an area high school gymnasium helping a friend of mine while he conducted practice for the team that he coached.

On the far end of this gymnasium a football team was lined up in front of a row of 8 plyo boxes that were of various heights between 24" - 48".

So I decided to watch, hoping that I was going to see an impressive display of athleticism brought about by some coaches who had taken the time and effort to learn how and why certain activities are performed before having their football teams perform them.

Well it turns out that my wish went unfulfilled.

These football players started doing their box jumps (jumping up onto the box), then went right into depth jumps (dropping down off of the box) trying to negotiate 8 boxes of different heights.

So, like clockwork, the line of kids began to lose focus. Their form, this was already terrible, began to fall apart. This was not geared to improve their speed training at all.

Then it happened.

One young athlete, during a depth jump, landed awkwardly and began to fall forward. But instead of stopping or bailing out of the drill, he tried to jump up onto the next box.

For a number of reasons, that didn't work. He clipped the front of his toot on the box, fell over the box, and landed on the floor in a heap, clutching his leg.

The result?

The kid broke his ankle in three places.

Needless to say it wasn't pretty.

Don't let this happen to your athletes.