A quick thought on failure.
There is no failure; only feedback.
I don’t know who to attribute that quote to, but thank you to whoever originated it.
Everything you “fail” at is an incredible learning opportunity. Use it as such.
A deep dive on 3 speed myths.
Speed is a cheat code in sports. Getting faster makes everything a lot easier.
There’s a lot of information about how to get faster on the internet. Some good, some bad.
Some of these bad tips are repeated so often that they’re globally accepted. Today, I want to debunk 3 of those speed training myths.
- False steps are bad
On the surface it makes sense; we want to sprint forward, so any step that doesn’t move you forward is wasted motion.
Many coaches call that a false step. You’ll see it in just about every sport, but the easiest example to analyze is a baseball player stealing a base.
Before the pitch, the baserunner needs to be in a neutral stance to be able to run either direction. If the pitcher tries to pick them off, they need to be able to get back to the bag quickly. If the pitcher gets into their wind-up, then they need to be able to take off to second quickly.
They’ll have one shin angle pointing each direction to keep their options open.
Once they go to accelerate, good athletes will naturally pick their front foot up and replace it (or even step backwards). So many baseball coaches try to stop their athletes from doing this and call it a waste of time. In reality, the athlete is naturally setting themselves up to run way faster.
Why?
Acceleration is about how much force you can put into the ground, how quickly you can put it into the ground, and how horizontal you can orient that force.
If he steps forward immediately, his shins are going to point straight up and down. All of his force is oriented vertically, which means he is going to immediately stand straight up and down. This makes the overall sprint inefficient and slow.
If, however, he uses a “false” step, the shins are going to be horizontal. He’s going to push backwards into the ground, stay low during his acceleration, and be more efficient and faster.
Furthermore, by picking that foot up and replacing it, he can generate more force to put into the ground.
Taking that one step lays a better foundation to get to the bag much quicker.
2. Your arm swings matter
Most of the parents of athletes who come to me are primarily concerned with their athlete getting faster. When they talk about the issues their kid has, one of the first things they’ll bring up is their goofy arm swings.
I get it! It looks ugly and unathletic.
Their arm swings really don’t matter, though.
Goofy arm swings are more like a symptom of slow sprinting than a root cause. They’re probably compensating for some funky stuff happening lower in the kinetic chain (like too much or too little hip rotation, too much backside action, or excessive reaching).
Focusing on fixing their arm swings to make them look prettier has very little return on investment. Their probably not going to get much faster from changing their arm action.
The meat and potatoes, the stuff that actually makes them run faster, usually happens lower down in the body. If we focus on cleaning that up, the arms usually clean themselves up naturally.
Are there situations where we need to dive a bit deeper and be more intentional with arm action? Absolutely!
It’s just not high on our list of needs, especially for adolescent athletes.
3. You should reach out further to increase your stride length.
Sprinting is a product of stride length and stride frequency. So, if you have longer strides or faster turnover, then you’ll be faster.
People will see this and draw the conclusion, “Well, I’m going to step really far and then I’ll be faster!”
Again, on the surface, that makes sense. But, there are second-order effects that make that a bad idea.
If you intentionally reach further, you’re going to strike on your heel. When you strike on your heel, your shins are pointed either straight up and down or backwards (from bottom to top). That means you’re applying a braking force with every step you take. You’re slowing yourself down.
To overcome that braking force, your hamstrings have to pull your body through to the other side. This places a ton of stress on your hamstrings when they’re in a lengthened position.
You know that that leads to? Yep, hamstring stains.
The good way to increase your stride frequency is to get more powerful steps. You’ll project yourself further outwards, which increases your stride length. Your shin angles will stay forward (from bottom to top) and you’ll never have those braking forces.
(Sled sprints are a cheat code in this situation. I’m a big sled sprint fan.)
More from me…
- If you want to hear me rant a lot, follow me on TikTok @gtperformance_. I’ll be posting a lot of info over there, with the best videos also making their way to Instagram and Facebook.
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Thanks so much for your help in spreading the word about long-term athlete development!
Be >,
Zach
Dr. Zach Guiser, PT, DPT, CSCS