For the years, it was believed that athletes were inherently fast or slow. Consequently, the belief that speed was impossible to teach was widely accepted. Another wide-held belief associated with speed is that in order to become faster an athlete must run, run, run. Even today, when asked about the definition of speed, the most common answer is ” speed is how fast a person can run”.
Speed training counteracts all of the above mentioned beliefs. With the help of modern science, we now know that every individual is born with a certain percentage of fast twitch (fast) and slow twitch (endurance) muscle fibers. Maximizing an athlete’s fast twitch potential is the objective of speed development.
Speed development training focuses on maximizing three areas related to an athlete’s movement: speed, quickness, and agility. Often, speed, quickness, and agility are thought of as being one in the same. However, they are really three distinct skills that require individual development.
