If you are currently doing very little sprinting and then decide to begin a sprint routine on a regular basis you should improve you conditioning and work capacity but not necessarily your absolute speed. Running is a movement that requires a certain amount of skill if you wish to be great at it. Think about it…would you tell your kid to just go swing the bat in the cage to be a better hitter or throw the ball at the basket to be a better shooter. It would be much more beneficial to correct and perfect their technique with an expert coach before you have them do high volumes of repetitions. Perfect practice makes perfect! This concept holds true with movement training.
Most athletes I train have zero sprint training experience. It would be extremely beneficial to teach these athletes the correct sprinting technique before I tell them to go out there and run. Just like any other sports skill I implement remedial drills to emphasize form and technique. One drill that is great for demonstrating correct sprinting mechanics is the wall drill.
Once the athletes understand this body position and how the legs and arms move in space, then it is appropriate to say, “Go out there and run to get faster.”
You can teach kids to be faster – check out a previous post on this topic – http://blog.matthank.com/2008/10/03/mlb-leader-in-stolen-bases/
Train Hard-Train Smart
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When you take a look at the hamstring muscles it easy see that muscles work on all 3 planes motion. The three planes of motion are sagital (forward/backward), frontal (side to side), and transverse (rotational). You can clearly see how the hamstring raps around the leg inserting into the tibia and fibula. The hamstrings are not just muscles that work to flex the knee in the sagital plane, as most individuals believe (including trainers, PTs, and strength coaches). Instead, they work to control the lower half of the body during movements in all three planes of motion. They play a huge role in decelerating the body when moving and changing direction – which takes place in all planes of motion. Also, the hamstrings work to help assist the glutes during hip extension.
