Athletes in field and court sports require reactive agility—they must accelerate, decelerate, and change direction in a constantly changing environment. These requirements result in technical differences between sprinting in a field or court sport and sprinting the 100-m.
The use of conditioning activities at maximal and sub-maximal intensities can increase subsequent sprint speed. This infographic describes how individuals’ responses can differ and suggestions to optimize post-activation potentiation (PAP) methods.
Personal trainersCoachesExercise ScienceProgram design
Learn about the anthropometric, kinematic, kinetic, and asymmetric variables that contribute to sprint performance, as well as how a coach can design effective speed development programs for male youth athletes.
Repeated sprint ability (RSA) may be one of the most important factors to consider when developing strength and conditioning programs for high-intensity repeated sprint sports. In this session from the NSCA’s 2016 Coaches Conference, Ernie Rimer reviews the latest science behind RSA, compares the pros and cons of RSA protocols performed in the laboratory and in the field, and suggests methods to improve RSA.
Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity, so this phase of sprinting is critical for changing directions as rapidly and efficiently as possible. Optimal technique for linear sprinting in the acceleration phase involves four factors that maximize stride length and frequency.