8 Speed Training Tips from Coach Boo Schexnayder

Most coaches would probably classify speed as the most critical of all athletic abilities. Yet in spite of this importance, in many programs speed abilities go largely undeveloped. This is often because of the faulty assumption that speed cannot be improved, or simply because so many training systems follow traditional yet ineffective means for developing speed. Sometimes coaches think they are developing speed, but due to misconceptions about speed development, they really aren’t.

Improving your training program to enhance speed is often not so much a matter of changing what you do as it is taking a different philosophical approach to what you are already doing. It is not the purpose of this article to describe specific, detailed workouts for speed, but rather to examine gross premises and concepts around which the speed training program should be organized.

• You Can’t Train Speed Slowly
• Identify Types of Speed
• Make the Entire Program your Speed Development Program
• Be Careful with Endurance Work. Endurance work by nature is typically slow
• Don’t Mix Speed with Endurance
• Rest for QualityKeep Runs Short
• Keep Volumes Low
• Keep Power Outputs Up

Boo Schexnayder (Team USA Olympic Coach)

View Boo Schexnayder's website for more tips