How to improve this vital athletic quality - fast!
Quick Feet How to improve this vital athletic quality – fast! ne of the most coveted qualities an athlete can have is quick feet. Being able to move almost instantaneously in any direction can be what it takes for a fullback to break through a defensive line, or a tennis player to return a lightning-fast serve, or a volleyball player to “bump it, set it, smack it down!” And while genetics does play a significant role in being able to move quickly, any athlete can improve their quickness – probably more so than they realize. Due to the value of quick feet for athletic performance, many sport scientists have conducted research into ways to improve it.
For example, in the May 2008 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, a study was conducted on the value of using a backward (false) step to initiate forward movement. The study, which involved 27 men using a backward step followed by a step forward, measured how quickly the subjects could move 2.5 meters and 5 meters. What the researchers found is that training with a false step “may result in superior OIn 2006 Loganville High School was the BFS High School of the Year, and much of their success could be attributed to workouts that used a balance of strength and speed training. are often relatively weak in performance.”
In other words, the muscles that exter“one step back equals two steps nally rotate the shoulders – forward!” external shoulder rotation Although such research exercises, such as those is interesting and has practiperformed with dumbbells, cal application at all levels of would be valuable auxiliary athletic performance, there are exercises for these athother ways to get quick feet letes to prevent shoulder and also easily implement the injuries. training into any athletic train4. Improve Leg ing program. Any one of the 11 Strength. Being quick is methods I will discuss here will not just about quick feet – make an athlete quicker – and it’s also about strong legs.
implementing all of them holds This is why runners who the promise of helping poor excel in the shorter distancathletes become good, good es have more muscle mass, athletes become great, and great because they need that athletes become even better. strength to apply more 1. Get Lean. Unless your force into the ground. sport is sumo wrestling, possessThis is a fact supported by ing a high level of bodyfat is not research. In the November going to help athletic perfor2000 issue of the Journal mance and most likely will make of Applied Physiology, 33 an athlete slower – and more sprinters of various abiliso than you might think.
As a ties were studied and the practical demonstration, have an researchers found that athlete wear a five-pound weight “…runners reach faster top vest and have them perform any speeds not by repositioning standard test of quickness – a their limbs more rapidly 20-yard shuttle run is a great in the air, but by applying test because it tests both quickgreater support forces to ness and the ability to change Kenny Boynton of the University of Florida’s men’s basketball direction. Then have the athlete team demonstrates a drop lunge. More details about their pro- the ground.” 5.
Develop Singleperform the same test without gram can found in the January/February 2012 issue, available in the magazine archive section of our website, www.biggerLeg Strength. When it the weight vest – you will be fasterstronger.com. comes to changing direcsurprised at how just five pounds tion, consider that at some all aspects of conditioning, and therecan make a significant difference point an athlete will be supporting himfore in the off-season it’s essential to in athletic performance.
To be really or herself on one leg and that single quick you need to be lean – after all, you keep up the repeat sprint workouts on leg will have to stop the forces that the Tuesday and Thursday program can’t flex fat. propelled the body to that point in the 2. Increase Muscular Endurance. to maintain a high level of muscular first place. It has been estimated that endurance. It’s been said that if an athlete is tired 3. Correct Structural Imbalances. the ground reaction forces in the lower in the fourth quarter, it’s because they were not in shape going into the first.
If Sports emphasize certain muscle groups limbs can be as much as five times bodyweight when an athlete drops from over others and can create imbalances an athlete is tired, their form will suffer a height of just 12 inches. Similar forces that could affect movement. If a player and they are not going to be quick. occur when an athlete has to brake is injured, they will not move well. Part of the reason the BFS program is when changing direction on the field. Swimmers and throwers, for example, called a total program is that it works TRAINING & EQUIPMENT If an athlete does not have sufficient single-leg strength, they take longer to stabilize their body so they can change direction.
With all the rapid changes in direction that take place in athletics, especially in sports such as soccer and basketball, those fractions of a second can make the difference between winning and losing. Exercises such as step-ups and dynamic side-to-side drills such as those performed on the plyo ramp are specific ways to develop this strength. 6. Train the Calves. Having quick feet requires a good foundation. One reason a handball bounces much better off a wall than a racquetball does is that a racquetball absorbs more force than a handball. The same principle applies in training the calf muscles to repel these forces, essentially reacting more like a handball.
Calf training can be done with machines, but there are many simple exercises that can be performed off a step or small platform. One of the best calf exercises is the seated calf raise, as this exercise helps strengthen the muscles that support the arch of the foot. 7. Train Every Day. It’s been said that for every day of practice an athlete misses, that’s another day their competition moves ahead. It’s especially important that an athlete works on speed year-round, as speed training works the nervous system and gains are lost quickly. Great quick-foot exercises are the dot drill, plyo ramp, jump rope and plyometrics. 8. Play Multiple Sports.
Speed is influenced by the ability to react to different environments, and this is one more reason that athletes should be encouraged to play multiple sports, year-round. Also, trying multiple sports makes athletes competition-sharp, and this quality enables athletes to make smarter on-field and on-court decisions quickly. 9. Test. Testing not only motivates athletes to train harder but also helps to determine if what they are doing is working. Rather than skipping an entire practice to devote the time to testing, it’s best to incorporate testing into the workouts.
For example, by having a Just Jump and Run available in the weightroom, athletes can quickly test themselves in the vertical jump – or they can use it on the Tuesday/Thursday workout to test plyometric and agility drills. 10. Practice Good Biomechanics. Athletes need to pay attention to coaches and learn good biomechanics – using proper technique not only makes them look good in their sport but also enables them to perform more efficiently and safely. Even when your athletes are stretching, make certain they use good posture. To get you started, apply the BFS Six Absolutes of perfect technique in every movement. These absolutes are as follows: 1. Use an athletic or jump stance 2.
Be tall A great tool for developing quick feet is the plyo ramp. Shown is teenager Paul Dumais, a member of the Canadian weightlifting team that competed in the 2011 Junior World Championships.
Doing explosive lifts such as the power clean is a must for developing faster athletes.
3. Spread the chest (lock-in the lower back) 4. Align the toes 5. Align the knees (knees over toes) 6. Eyes on target 11. Train for Power. Explosive movements such as the power clean help athletes move faster, as they train the body to overcome inertia. In fact, elite Olympic weightlifters can often move as quickly as world-class sprinters for the first several steps. At a bodyweight of 240 pounds Olympic weightlifter Mark Cameron clean and jerked 500 pounds. Cameron attended the University of Maryland at the same time as Renaldo Nehemiah, the first man to run the 100-meter hurdles under 13 seconds.
From a standing start with no blocks, Cameron could beat Nehemiah for the first ten yards – after that, of course, Nehemiah easily rocketed ahead due to his superior acceleration and ability to maintain top speed. While some athletes are seemingly blessed with quick feet, the fact is that it’s an athletic quality that can be improved by training hard and training smart. MARCH/APRIL 2012 1 booster Plyometric box jumping video.
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From BFS Magazine — March/April 2012. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
