What Are the Best Speed Training Drills?

“How can I get faster?” It’s one of the questions athletes, parents and coaches ask us most. The good news is that speed can be trained. The right speed training drills make almost any athlete quicker off the line, faster at top speed and sharper when they change direction.

Here are the drills and training methods that make the biggest difference, how they fit together, and the common mix-up that keeps a lot of athletes from getting faster.

What Actually Makes an Athlete Fast?

Speed comes down to how much force an athlete can push into the ground, how quickly they can apply it, and how well they hold good positions while doing it. Strength, power and sprint technique all feed into that.

That’s why the best programs combine sprinting itself with strength, power and plyometric work instead of just running more. A review of 48 sprint-training studies found that sprinting drills gave the most reliable gains, and that strength and power training can add to them. A separate review found that when athletes get stronger in the lower body, their sprint times tend to improve too.

1. Olympic Lifts, Taught by a Coach

Olympic-style lifts teach athletes to drive hard into the ground and move a load quickly and vertically. That same powerful push through the hips, knees and ankles shows up in sprinting, jumping and quick changes of direction. These lifts are technical, so learn them with light loads under a qualified coach before adding weight.

Hang Clean

The hang clean builds strength, power and coordination through the hamstrings, glutes, quads, calves and upper back.

1. Set up: stand with your feet hip-width apart and take a hook grip on the bar, hands just outside your hips.
2. Lower: hinge at the hips until the bar sits just above your knees, back flat.
3. Drive: extend your hips, knees and ankles explosively and keep the bar close to your body.
4. Catch: pull yourself under the bar and catch it on the front of your shoulders in a quarter squat.
5. Stand: drive back up to standing, then reset.

Keep it to 1 to 3 reps per set. Once technique is solid, the original program used about 70 to 80% of the athlete’s max.

Split Jerk

The split jerk trains fast feet. Your feet have to move and stabilize quickly, which strengthens the core and leg stabilizers and builds the kind of control that helps protect ankles from sprains.

1. Set up: grip the bar just outside your shoulders and rest it across your collarbones.
2. Dip and drive: make a short dip, then drive the bar overhead as you jump your feet into a lunge.
3. Land: catch the bar with your arms locked out and your feet in a stable split.
4. Recover: step the front foot back, then the back foot forward, and lower the bar to your collarbones.

The original program used 4 sets of 3 reps at about 60% of max, with about 3 minutes of rest between sets. Back squats, dumbbell rows, and bench press paired with barbell rows build the base these lifts rely on.

Rest matters. Speed and power work needs long rest, usually 1.5 to 3 minutes between hard efforts, so every rep is close to your best. Heavy, explosive lifting with full rest builds strength and speed without adding unwanted bulk.

2. Plyometric Drills

Plyometrics use your own body weight to teach your body to produce maximum force in a short time. Many need no equipment and can be done in a backyard or on a field. They help stride length, first-step quickness, cadence (how many steps you take per minute) and foot speed.

• Bounds: an exaggerated, powerful running stride that builds stride length.
• Scissor jumps: quick leg switches in the air that build cadence and make sprints more efficient.
• Jump rope: builds quick, springy ankles, foot speed and coordination.
• Towel sprints: short, resisted starts that make the first step of any movement quicker.
• Standing long jump: a few max-effort jumps with about a minute between reps build horizontal power.

Start with low-level jumps and soft landings before progressing. Our guide on plyometric training for athletes shows how to build up safely.

3. Strength Training for Speed

Strength work that carries over to speed comes in three types. Athletes usually move through them in this order over a training cycle.

Maximum Strength

Maximum strength work prepares muscles and connective tissue for the explosive training that comes later. It uses compound, multi-joint exercises that train several joints and muscles at once:

• Back squats: total lower-body strength.
• Lunges: single-leg strength and control.
• Nordic curls: strong hamstrings for top-speed running.
• Deadlifts: a powerful hip hinge.

Explosive Strength

Many sports need sudden bursts like jumps and sprints. Explosive strength work trains those bursts with fast, powerful movements. Master the squat and the deadlift first. Good options include squat jumps, box jumps, medicine ball tosses, explosive push-ups and box dips.

Reactive Strength

Reactive strength training mimics the sprinting motion and teaches the body to put out maximum force in the least amount of time. Some drills use only body weight, while others add sleds, vests or medicine balls. Examples include ankling, vest sprints, hops, sled sprints, explosive step-ups and, for advanced athletes, box-to-box depth jumps. These come later in a program, once the athlete has built a strength base.

Don’t Confuse Conditioning With Speed Training

A lot of people, including coaches, mix up conditioning and speed training. Conditioning matters, but athletes generally don’t get faster from conditioning alone.

Think of conditioning as endurance training and speed training as sprint training. Conditioning helps athletes keep their energy through long games and races. Speed training builds the bursts needed for quick movements, sprints and surges.

The rest is different too. Conditioning uses short rest between reps. Speed training needs near-full recovery so each rep is a true max effort, like a short sprint or a burst into the end zone.

How We Build Speed at Back In Motion

Every athlete is different. One needs more strength, another needs better sprint mechanics, and another needs to clean up how they land and stop. Our speed and agility training starts by finding the athlete’s limiting factor, and every program follows The Gray Method™. Programs are overseen by a Doctor of Physical Therapy, so athletes train hard and safely.

Keep reading: sprinting mechanics for athletes, training for speed and common mistakes in speed training.

Research

• Rumpf MC, Lockie RG, Cronin JB, Jalilvand F. Effect of different sprint training methods on sprint performance over various distances: a brief review. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(6):1767-1785. PubMed
• Seitz LB, Reyes A, Tran TT, et al. Increases in lower-body strength transfer positively to sprint performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2014;44(12):1693-1702. PubMed

Ready to Get Faster?

Whether your athlete wants a quicker first step, more top-end speed or sharper cuts, our speed training in Fort Myers program builds speed the right way, with strength, power and technique coached together.

Ready to get started? Inquire About Training →

Call our office at (239) 223-0484 to schedule your athlete’s first session.