subject: Increase Football Speed and Get Faster on the Football Field [print this page] Increase Football Speed and Get Faster on the Football Field
How to Increase Football Speed and Get Faster Where It Counts - On the Football Field!
Most football speed training programs are in a very sad state. Their goals are off kilter...rather than being concerned with getting faster on the football field, they are concerned with getting better at the tests! It's football's version of No-Child Left Behind.
The whole concept of getting faster for football has been corrupted by gimmicks and guys looking to make a quick buck off of unsuspecting, impressionable football players by selling them flash without substance.
I'm not sure when the football world went crazy when it comes to speed training..
Honestly, at some point strength coaches flipped their lids...mostly fed by the regular coaches who started drooling over anyone with a fast 40.
But, as we see hundreds (yes, hundreds) of times each year, a fast 40 does not equal a great football player.
Every single year guys pack into the combines in the hopes of playing professional football. Some of them are talented players but not good enough to play for pay. Yet, they bring with them blazing fast 40 and end up getting cut.
But, that part doesn't get any press...only the 40 times do...
As a result, players are desperate to become faster and test well. And, in their desperation, fall prey to the vast landscape of speed training hucksters out there, all selling one gimmicky device after another.
From parachutes to towing tubes to speed training DVD's that are slickly produced but offer no results, it's a virtual mine-field out there for unsuspecting football players.
The biggest mistake when it comes to football speed training, by far is:
Using Linear Speed Training Models for Football
We are all training for football speed. We're football players and thus need to get faster on the field of play.
So, why do so many coaches promote speed training programs that are based on Track and Field programs?
Not sure when this started, but, it's really killed football training. The vast majority of football speed programs are based on the training of Track athletes. They focus 99.99% of their energies on linear,
straight-ahead speed.
That's fine for track, but, we're not into track here are we? No, we're
training to get faster for football.
Football is a game played in all directions from all angles at high speeds. Running in a straight line with text-book perfect form is a figment of someone's imagination. To truly get faster for football, you need to be able to be fast in all direction
Track Training Neglects Multi-Directional, Football Specific Speed
Track is run straight ahead...they have no reason to develop anything
but linear speed.
But, on the football field, that just won't cut it. You're a football player, you know that you have to run forward, laterally, backpedal, and at odd angles, sometimes in a stop-start fashion. To only train for straight ahead speed is an enormous mistake!
You absolutely must train for lateral speed by not only running laterally but jumping and lifting in the same motion.
Movements like:
Lateral Lunges
Lateral Sled Pulls
45-Degree Angle Lunge
Asterisks Lunges
Lateral Box Jumps
Shuffle Sled Pulls
When you add these movements to your training you will get faster for football. If you ignore them and only focus on Track-style training, you might run a good 40, but, you'll never be the best player you could be.
