The Need For Speed

What Every Athlete needs to apply to their training in order To enhance their sport specific speed

By Jason Zaretzky

Sports Performance and Corrective Exercise Expert

I’ve got the need…The NEED FOR SPEED!!! And you should too. Every athlete needs to realize that they should always be searching for new ways to improve their speed. That’s because in sport speed kills.

You can never be fast enough. However, it’s not just how fast you can run from point A to point B. You have to be able to be as fast as possible while moving in various directions, starting and stopping constantly. After all, what sport do you know of where change of direction doesn’t happen? Not Many.

So let’s cut right to the chase…

Here are the top ways to enhance your sport specific speed for any sport:

1.) Be specific – to the demands of what type of speed you need in order to excel at your respective sport. For example, the type of speed needed for a football defensive lineman is totally different than the speed needed for a midfielder in lacrosse, or a forward in basketball. So your speed training must reflect the demands of your specific sport.

2.) You won’t get faster by simply running around a track - A major misconception to speed training has been to just run like a maniac around a track and expect to get faster. The problem here is that you may need other methods of training such as stretching, strength training, core training, balance and/or stability training in order for you to get faster.

maybe it's a lack of flexibility that's slowing you down

3.) Stop training like a body builder – Instead of training on that hamstring curl machine, try some multi-muscle movements like Olympic lifts (snatch / Cleans), squats, and dead-lifts. Not only are these exercises better than any kind of isolation based exercise (hamstring curls and leg extensions), they actually strengthen your leg muscles (and entire body) and train them to work together as a unit. While you’re at it incorporate some single leg exercises such as lunges, and single leg deadlifts. By doing so you will further mimic your body’s running actions.

add some cleans to your sports training program for some serious improvements in speed & power

4.) Find your weak links, and correct muscle imbalances – You are only as strong as your weakest link, and muscle imbalances will always lead to weak links in your body. Take 2 to athletes that are the same speed. Athlete 1 has poor hip flexibility and weak abdominals, while athlete 2 has weak hamstring muscles, and tight quads. If all these athletes did was work on hip flexibility and core strength, Athlete 1 may get faster, while athlete 2 may actually decrease performance. So getting faster isn’t a one size fits all approach – you need to focus on the individual first.

If your not assessing your just guessing!!!

There you have it, 4 easy ways to immediately increase your speed through proper training and smart programming. The only thing left to do is ‘Just Do It’!

Yeah, Yeah, I know what you’re saying, “But how do I know what my weak links are, and what the best exercises for me to do?”

click here for a free coaching session @ OPTC - we will evaluate you and point you in the right direction to enusre you are on the right path to athletic success!

The easiest way is to seek the advice of a highly qualified professional who has experience assessing and training athletes. Visit, our website, and sign up for our free email newsletter. It provides the information regarding sports performance enhancement, and info about all programs run out of OPTC.