Improving sprint speed

[dave333]

I'm kinda stuck at around 43 seconds for the 300 meter, 27.5 seconds for the 200 meter, and 62 for the 400 meter sprints. I'm 15 on the indoor track team, though I initially was only doing it to be in shape when the tennis season starts.

How should I go around improving these times?

One thing that I notice is my god awful quad flexiblity. I can't even kick my own ass. If I improved the flexiblity of my quad, would that improve my speed?

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Don't know if improved quad flexibility will help you with your sprint times. Nevertheless, you should make a distinction between dynamic stretching and static stretching. Static stretching, to improve fexibility, should never be done as part of a warmup for tennis or for other competition like sprinting. This type of stretching should only be done afterward, as part of your cool-down or at other times (when you are not going to exercise). On the other hand, dynamic stretching should be an integral part of your warmup routine.

What will help your sprint times is power training & plyometric exercises. Power is defined as speed strength, the kind of strength that you need in your legs for sprinting and for tennis. You also require power in your arms and core for tennis. These types of training focus primarily on your fast twitch muscles (type IIa and type IIb). You need to develop the explosiveness of your muscles.

Rope skipping is an excellent low-level type of plyometric exercise. For other types (both low & high-level) of power training & plyo exercises try a google search as well as a TW search. Try these to get your started:

Human Kinetics

Plyo & Power Training

Guidelines & examples

 

[snoopy]

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kelly20.htm

I just skimmed the article.

It says first develop your quads with squats. Get to the point where you can do more than 1.5 your bodyweight. At a certain point squats at too high of a weight will harm your speed development. At this point you are building too much muscle mass.

Once you have strong quads start working on your posterior chain. This means work on your glutes and hamstrings. Do stuff like glute-ham raises. You need to have the right muscle balance between your quads and your posterios chain.

 

[WildVolley]

You've been given some good advice. Squats and other overall body strengthening exercises are good for developing sprinting power and speed. Also, you should be doing shorter sprints at all out speed on days when you're rested and have warmed up.

The kicking the heel to your rear thing can be helpful in making it easier for your hip flexors to bring your knee forward and up on the recovery part of the stride. The faster you can recover one leg the harder the other leg can drive your body forward with ground contact. One caution, you should already be warm before doing any active drills involving bringing your heels to your rear. As a sprinter and jumper in college, I injured a knee doing that exact drill.

How much time does the tighter turn cost you on the indoor track compared to an outdoor track?

 

[dave333]

Thanks for the advice.

The turns don't cost me too much time, maybe a second or too. Its a 200 meter track instead of a normal 400 meter. I'm decent with leaning during the turns and not losing speed.

 

[chess9]

Those are not terrible times, Dave, for a tennis player. More important would be your 50 meter time, at least for tennis.

You are slowing quite a bit for the last hundred meters in your 300 and 400 meter times. 62 seconds for 400 meters won't get you on many high school track teams, unless you are in a rural area, but you are a 9th grader? Plenty of time!

If you want to go faster at 400 meters, your track coach should have you doing intervals to build muscular endurance. I wouldn't want to say anything to counter his advice.

Today, even 400 meters is a sprint, though it uses mostly slowtwitch muscle fibers after the first 100 meters. So, genetics plays a huge role. If you can sprint 50 meters very fast, then you can probably migrate easily to fast 400 times. You are also very young, so you will probably get quite a bit faster in the next 5 years if you keep training hard.

I doubt quad flexibility is a limiter for you at age 15.

-Robert

 

[dave333]

My 55 meter time was 7.43 seconds. I was pretty surprised too, since I beat my friend that usually beats me on other events like the 400.

As for my 62 second time, its kind of slow but I live in CT so the standards there aren't as high.

 

[chess9]

That's a very good time. I was going to say around 7 seconds for 50 meters would suggest some good sprint ability, but I was afraid I might say the wrong thing and hurt your feelings.

You should be pretty fast around the court, I'd think.

The 400 is a great race, IMHO. It was always my favorite event in high school.

-Robert

 

[onehandbh]

That's a very good time. I was going to say around 7 seconds for 50 meters would suggest some good sprint ability, but I was afraid I might say the wrong thing and hurt your feelings.

You should be pretty fast around the court, I'd think.

The 400 is a great race, IMHO. It was always my favorite event in high school.

-Robert

Hi chess9,

How do 50 yard times translate to 50 meter times?
My fastest 50 yard time is 5.9. I think I improved
about .3 - .4 seconds just from improving my
running technique. (this was using starting blocks)

 

[chess9]

Hi chess9,

How do 50 yard times translate to 50 meter times?
My fastest 50 yard time is 5.9. I think I improved
about .3 - .4 seconds just from improving my
running technique. (this was using starting blocks)

I'd say you and Dave would have a pretty close race. 50 meters is ROUGHLY 10% longer than 50 yards, so add about .6 to 1 second.

-Robert

 

[dave333]

lol I have no idea how to use blocks

They don't provide us with blocks anyway.

Do they make you start a lot faster?

 

[Gmedlo]

lol I have no idea how to use blocks

They don't provide us with blocks anyway.

Do they make you start a lot faster?

They might shed a tenth of a second or so off of your times. Maybe more if you use them right.

 

[dave333]

Oh. blocks are when you go into a squatting position thing right?

 

[BeHappy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LPC-qZ6CO0

here's how to use blocks

 

[chess9]

lol I have no idea how to use blocks

They don't provide us with blocks anyway.

Do they make you start a lot faster?

When I was in junior high school, we had cinder tracks. We had no blocks. Also, I ran all my races barefooted until I got my track shoes in 10th grade. I was the only one who ran barefooted too. I did it because I liked the feeling of the cinders on my feet. Yeah, I was weird then too. I also high jumped without shoes for awhile, but I quickly learned that shoes made a big difference. I quit high jumping in the 10th grade, as I was only about 5'8" then.

Anyway, I think the running was good prep for tennis. Keep it up.

-Robert

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Oh. blocks are when you go into a squatting position thing right?

I imagine that the blocks would really help give your feet & legs more to drive off from. Do you assume a similar starting position when not using starting blocks? When the hands are pulled of the ground form this position, it puts your body in a very unstable orientation -- the center of gravity is so far forward that sprinters are actually falling forward for their first few steps. With the added leg drive, this falling action undoubtedly yields a much quicker acceleration.

Many elite tennis players use this idea of falling to achieve a faster sprint to intercept the ball. The gravity step (aka drop step) puts a player off balance to achieve a quicker start.

The other thing that really helps world-class sprinters is having a loudspeaker mounted directly behind them rather than taking their start cue from a starting pistol off to the side. Auditory (aural) reaction times are often quicker than visual reaction times by 25% or more. An athlete who has a visual RT of 170ms might have an aural RT better than 110ms.

Simple Reaction Time to an Audio Stimulus

Sprint starts & the minimum auditory RT

 

[dave333]

lol I quit hurdling after the first two meets where I got dead last every time to people that were all 1 head taller than me. Figured I was too short (I'm 5'8.5)

 

[whoopinstick]

I was in the same spot you were about two years ago doing the exact same thing. I ran xc in the fall and then decided to build my speed by joining the indoor track team. Luckily I had a really good coach who had been coaching track and xc country for more than 25 years so he knew all the in's and out's of running. We ran hills, and sprints in almost every variation out there but I never got that fast.
During the xc season I ran a 2 mile race in 12:30 flat with my mile splits at 6:08 and 6:22 but when I ran the mile during indoor track meets the fastest it got was 5:56 which isn't bad but it should have been faster compared to my times in xc. Even with all the speed workouts I did I couldn't get that much speedier.
I finally realized these past couple of months at the end of my third xc country season why I couldn't run as fast as I wanted to. The reason was that my body muscle was not as devoloped then as it is now that I'm older. I weighed 105 pounds my freshmen year. I was scrawny as could be. Now at age 17 I weigh about 140 which is still a low weight for my age but my muscles have gotten that much stronger that now I can run the mile in about 5:30 and 400m in 52 sec.
Don't be bumming about not being fast now at age 15 (unless you are aleady shaving, in which case ignore everything I said) because you will get so strong and fast in the next 2-4 years it will be rediculous.

 

[chess9]

I was in the same spot you were about two years ago doing the exact same thing. I ran xc in the fall and then decided to build my speed by joining the indoor track team. Luckily I had a really good coach who had been coaching track and xc country for more than 25 years so he knew all the in's and out's of running. We ran hills, and sprints in almost every variation out there but I never got that fast.
During the xc season I ran a 2 mile race in 12:30 flat with my mile splits at 6:08 and 6:22 but when I ran the mile during indoor track meets the fastest it got was 5:56 which isn't bad but it should have been faster compared to my times in xc. Even with all the speed workouts I did I couldn't get that much speedier.
I finally realized these past couple of months at the end of my third xc country season why I couldn't run as fast as I wanted to. The reason was that my body muscle was not as devoloped then as it is now that I'm older. I weighed 105 pounds my freshmen year. I was scrawny as could be. Now at age 17 I weigh about 140 which is still a low weight for my age but my muscles have gotten that much stronger that now I can run the mile in about 5:30 and 400m in 52 sec.
Don't be bumming about not being fast now at age 15 (unless you are aleady shaving, in which case ignore everything I said) because you will get so strong and fast in the next 2-4 years it will be rediculous.

Some people are simply late bloomers, and the longer the distance, the later you are going to run your personal best. Some people are early bloomers as well. Remember when you were in 7th grade there were guys who were 3-6 inches taller than you, then by 12th grade they were looking up to you? You see this sort of thing in swimming all the time. Girls who were nationally ranked swimmers at 12 are nowhere in sight at 18. Comparisons among younger people are downright EVIL, IMHO. They inhibit development. Look at Moz in the other thread. He may have been slower than a Tortoise when he was 14. Now, he's got decent speed and he's almost 40!

-Robert

 

[BMC9670]

Those are not bad times for 15. You'll get stronger and faster naturally, but there are things you can do to improve. I ran track in college - 110HH and long jump so I have experience with speed training. Its all about explosiveness and fast twitch muscle reaction. At 15, I would avoid heavy weights, which do help if done correctly and safely, for a another year or two depending on your development.

Platform training was very effective for me at the HS level. Basically it's like isometrics using your own body weight. An example, get a platform or sturdy chair that places your hamstring 45 degrees to parallel to the floor, then step up on it alternating legs. when you get comfortable with this, turn it into a jump, exploding up. Also, running stairs is similar. Look it up for more exercises if interested.

And yes, flexibility is very important to speed as well as injury prevention when sprinting. Make sure and do a good stretching routine AFTER your workout.

Be patient with nature. The summer after my sophomore year in HS, I added nearly a foot to my long jump and took about half a second off my 110HH time in about 6 months simply by my body developing naturally.

 

[borg number one]

Many posters know much more than I do about specific off court sprint exercises, but let me mention a very simple thing that we should remember when working out or playing Tennis. Sprinting ability is critical, but remember quick stops/starts and bending down to get shots at the same time.

Almost every time I play or work out, I do what are called "8 ball drills". They have helped me immensely ever since I was about 14 (when my coach would make us do about 5 sets after working out for hours) to this day (I'm 41 now).

Here's how they work, if you are interested.

1. Place 8 balls near the net (say on the center service line).
2. place your racquet down just behind the baseline, directly in line with the 8 balls.
3. Start in a running stance at the baseline, standing near the racquet, and GO! (start time).
4. Run and pick up 1 ball at the net then race back and PLACE the ball on the racquet face. This forces concentration AND deep bending as well as quick stopping/starting. This is tough when you are dead tired already.
5. Repeat this for ALL the rest of the 7 balls. So, you basically have 16 total sprints back and forth with bending also.
6. You're done when you place the 8th ball on your racket face. Believe me, when you are done, you'll "feel the burn". My best time has been about 48-50 seconds to complete all 8 balls.

In my opinion, more junior tennis workouts these days should force tennis players to do such sprint drills, because they really helped my game growing up, and they still help me to this day. Try this out posters and let me know what you think. Spread the word.

 

[BMC9670]

^^^ Nice drill!

I've seen a variation on this that incorporates lateral movement as well: place balls in the 4 corners on half the court and a racket in the middle (service T). You then have to sprint to each corner, pick up a ball, and run it back to the center and place it on the racket, and so on for all 4 corners. Same idea, slight variation that gets you moving a bit differently.

 

[jazzyfunkybluesy]

Heavy weight leg workouts. The world class sprinters are the fastest because they hit the ground the hardest and take longer strides.

 

[cncretecwbo]

Heavy weight leg workouts. The world class sprinters are the fastest because they hit the ground the hardest and take longer strides.

they also have the best form/running flexibility and take the most strides in the least time.

Many of them do not squat or do not squat often (bolt, for one)

Leg strength is one part of the puzzle, flexibility and form are also very important.

 

[UnforcedError]

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kelly20.htm

I just skimmed the article.

It says first develop your quads with squats. Get to the point where you can do more than 1.5 your bodyweight. At a certain point squats at too high of a weight will harm your speed development. At this point you are building too much muscle mass.

Once you have strong quads start working on your posterior chain. This means work on your glutes and hamstrings. Do stuff like glute-ham raises. You need to have the right muscle balance between your quads and your posterios chain.

Ben Johnson could squat 600 lbs which was over 3 times his body weight and he could run pretty fast. I don't think there is a point where squating more will slow you down. From everything I've read you want to to focus on developing your rear chain (glutes) for speed, not your quads.

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/articles.html

Edit: Funny both our links are for articles from Kelly Bagget. You can squat in different ways: to target the quads or to target the rear chain.

 

[jazzyfunkybluesy]

they also have the best form/running flexibility and take the most strides in the least time.

Many of them do not squat or do not squat often (bolt, for one)

Leg strength is one part of the puzzle, flexibility and form are also very important.

True, well done.

 

[BMC9670]

Ben Johnson could squat 600 lbs which was over 3 times his body weight and he could run pretty fast. I don't think there is a point where squating more will slow you down. From everything I've read you want to to focus on developing your rear chain (glutes) for speed, not your quads.

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/articles.html

Edit: Funny both our links are for articles from Kelly Bagget. You can squat in different ways: to target the quads or to target the rear chain.

Again, not sure how developed you are, but at 15 I would consult a doctor or at least your HS trainer before hitting the heavy weights.

 

[WildVolley]

Beyond the squat and deadlift, I recommend high pulls for sprinting speed, especially starting speed. The Olympic lifts are good at developing vertical jump. Unfortunately, they are technically complex and dangerous for a beginning lifter.

A high pull is like a power clean, except that you don't actually attempt to get under the bar and rack it on the front of your shoulders. Instead of getting under the bar, you let it drop back down to the ground.

However, the most obvious exercise for sprints is sprints, especially shorter distance sprints (under 50m) at full effort. Bruce Lee said you don't train for sprinting by jogging. If you want to go fast, you need to practice going fast.

 

[Moz]

A somewhat strange thread as hardly anyone has mentioned, you know, sprinting. At least the other stuff is taken care of like drills, weights and flexibility.

You have to realise that 100 / 200 training has traditionally a different focus than 400m training. Anyway you can worry about that later. Elements to start you off with:

1) 100m accelerations: Gradual accelerations ending at about 400m pace. Never all out early in the season. If you do 10 of these with a slow walk back recovery twice a week it is a good start.

For each 100m rep think about another element of form while you walk back, e.g. knee drive, ankle extension, relaxed upper body, lower drive position etc. It's amazing the improvements you can make concentrating on form under fast relaxed speeds.

As the year progresses these can get quicker - or you can make them 150's or 200's etc.

2) Fly-ins: Once warmed up you can do these. Jog into the start and then explode into the sprint - you will reach top speed within about 30 - 40 metres - as soon as you do decelerate gradually. Do 5 - 6 of these with plenty of rest.

3) Weights - at college between drinking bouts we did some strength work, but mainly focused on dynamic / elastic strength - for example on the spot high knee runs with barbell, step-ups with barbell, jumping quarter squats with barbell, two footed jumping over hurdles.

4) Technique drills - these will help develop leg speed, technique and will assist with the natural development of a sprinters range of movement.

Good luck mate. Do all this properly and consistently and those times will take care of themselves. 6 months of this and you'll be ready for lactic acid clearance workouts (okay maybe not at 15) and jaccuzis with the cheerleaders (ok, maybe not....etc).

Never, ever underestimate the power of consistency, determination along with a coherent plan.

 

[Moz]

It was remiss of me. Do all of this conservatively and build up gradually. Think you can do more, heavier, faster? Leave it till next time or next year. Especially at your age.

Please don't come back here injured telling us how you tried to jump squat with 100 each end on your first session.

Best thing is to approach a coach familiar with dealing with athletes of your age.

 

[Lex]

Form and flexibility are major keys to sprinting. As a former D1 sprinter, we would stretch 2-3 times per day. After you go through heavy workouts, stretching is a must...several times per day.

Relaxed/good form is the model of efficiency too.

You also need to have a good ratio of fast twitch muscle fibers (genetics plays a role).

You can build power through plyometrics too. I made it to the D1 level without being a weight room junkie.

Heavy interval training is the staple diet for a sprinter.

From what the OP describes, I'd say his times are quite respectable for a 15 yr old.

When you do interval training, the intensity will increase and the rest period will decrease as you approach your timing for "peak" performance (end of an indoor season or outdoor season).

For more reading:

There are quite a few coaching guides available, including “The Athletics Congress's Track and Field Coaching Manual” by The Athletics Congress and Vern Gambetta and
“USA Track & Field Coaching Manual” by USA Track & Field and Joseph L. Rogers.


Keep at it!!!!!

 

[rjg007]

I wouldn't recommend that you hit the heavy weights just yet, I think that you are a bit young for that yet. By all means do lighter weights and get your technique in the gym up to scratch as this makes the progression to heavier weights much easier and you can move up weights quicker with a sound technique. When actually sprinting the big trick is to relax as relaxed muscles are much more powerful than tense ones, just watch Usain Bolt sprint and see how relaxed he is while reataining technique.
Just remember technique yields power and speed.