Speed, Agility,

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Speed, Agility, Speed-Endurance DevelopmentCh.
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• Speed- ability to achieve high velocity
• Agility- ability to explosively brake, change
  direction, accelerate again
• Speed-strength- force developed rapidly or at
  high velocities
• Speed-endurance- metabolic conditioning needed to
  support these qualities over an extended duration
  (6 s) or to achieve max acceleration or speed
  during repetitive sprints

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• Special endurance- applies when there are
  sport-specific exercise-relief patterns that
  consist of ongoing submaximal activity with
  intermittent, high-intensity bursts (or series of
  plays) interspersed with periodic rest intervals
• Metabolic power to execute skills at
  predetermined effort distribution, as well as
  capacity to recover perform subsequent reps
  sets

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Movement Mechanics

• Brief execution times of most sport techniques
  require rapid force generation
• The ability to develop force quickly achieve
  critical power output is dependent upon
  direction, magnitude, rate of force application
  all specific to the task involved
• Increasing impulse production by moving
  force-time curve up to the left (fig. 20.1),
  basic objective of speed agility training
• Generating greater force in given time, or
  improving rate of force production

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• Many functional mvmts. have ballistic nature were
  involved muscles are rapidly forcibly
  lengthened immediately followed by shortening
  (stretch-shortening cycle)
• SSC actions exploit stretch reflex as well as
  intrinsic elastic qualities of muscle-tendon
  complex

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• Force power absorbed by tissues while
  lengthening are typically greater than that
  produced while shortening
• Eccentric ground reaction forces in sprinters
  stride can exceed 4x body wt.
• If SSC actions not addressed in training, can
  lead to
• Technical inefficiency
• Lack of athletic ability
• Noncontact injury
• Improving eccentric reactive qualities of
  strength, another basic objective

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Simple versus functional movement speed

• Speed of execution in complex multijoint mvmts is
  determined by neuromuscular mechanisms
  associated metabolic processes
• Velocity in these actions expressed as
• Quickness
• Reactive ability
• Explosive strength
• Endurance
• Motor coordination

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• Mvmt velocity in unresisted single-jt. actions is
  expressed in independent forms
• Motor reaction time
• Individual mvmt time
• Ability to quickly initiate a mvmt
• Max mvmt frequency

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• As external resistance increases, so does role of
  strength in determining mvmt speed
• High force power are needed to rapidly
  accelerate decelerate to achieve high
  velocities to explosively overcome athletes own
  body mass, equipment, or opponents body
• Isometric or low-velocity strength primarily
  function of muscle cross-sectional area
• Power high-speed force output are determined by
  of Type II(fast-twitch) motor units

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Reactive ability vs. reaction time

• Reactive ability- important characteristic of
  speed-strength, as exhibited in SSC types of
  mvmts, which can be improved through explosive
  training
• Reaction time- relatively untrainable
  correlates poor with mvmt action time or
  performance
• Ex. reaction time to gun, not as closely related
  to performance as acceleration, speed-endurance,
  max speed

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Running Speed

• Sprinting is a series of ballistic strides in
  which the body is repeatedly launched forward as
  projectile
• Running speed is interaction of stride frequency
  stride length
• Stride frequency- varies among individuals
  believed to be more trainable how fast strides
  occur
• As athlete accelerates reaches max stride rate,
  ground contact time decreases impulse
  production becomes more dependent on ability to
  generate explosive ground reaction forces

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• Stride length- related to body ht. leg length
• Also determined by impulse generated during
  ground contact time
• As running speed approaches max, frequency
  changes more than length is therefore more
  important in determining final velocity

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Sprint Performance Stride Analysis

• Elite sprinters capable of achieving speeds up to
  26 mph by executing 5 strides per sec.
• Support phase- 0.08-0.10s
• Flight phase- 0.12-0.14s
• Optimal leg recovery characterized by good knee
  flexion with high knee lift, rapid foot descent
  with foot moving rapidly backward on ground
  strike, foot contact directly beneath or very
  short distance in front of center of gravity(COG)
• 1st two strides from start are behind COG

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Table 20.1 fig. 20.6

• Early flight (fig. 20.6i)
• Eccentric hip flexion- decelerates backward
  rotation of thigh
• Eccentric knee ext.- decelerates backward
  rotation of leg foot
• Midflight (fig. 20.6ii)
• Concentric hip flex.- accelerates thigh forward
• Eccentric knee ext. to eccentric knee flexion

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• Late flight (fig. 20.6iii)
• Concentric hip ext.- rotates thigh backward
  (prepare for foot contact)
• Eccentric knee flex.- accelerates leg backward,
  limiting knee ext. stops before foot strike
  (aided by con. knee flex. to minimize braking at
  touchdown)

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• Early support (fig. 20.6iv)
• Continued concentric hip ext.- minimizes braking
  effect of foot strike
• Brief concentric knee flexion followed by
  eccentric hip ext.- resists tendency of hip
  ankle ext. to hyperextend knee absorbs landing
  shock
• Eccentric plantar flex.- helps absorb shock
  control forward rotation of tibia over ankle

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• Late support (fig. 20.6v)
• Eccentric hip flex.- decelerates backward thigh
  rotation rotates trunk(prepare for forward
  takeoff)
• Concentric knee ext.- propels COG forward
• Concentric plantar flex.- aids in propulsion

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Sprinting technique

• Table 20.2 Sprinting Technique Checklist
• Sprint form running drills are usually aimed at 3
  respective technique variants
• Drive, stride, lift
• Drive- starting acceleration push-off action
  (first 22-33 yd.)
• Horizontal thrust with body low, piked trunk
• Powerful arm action through greater range than
  stride technique
• Full-range driving action with exaggerated knee
  lift

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• Stride- full-flight striking or pushing action
  (after 33 yd.)
• running tall posture, smooth continuous mvmt
• Full-range arm action (forward swing to shoulder
  ht., backward swing to hip)
• Clawlike striking action from high knee lift

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• Lift- kick-at-speed pulling action (after 33 yd.)
• running tall posture, rapid knee lift
• Full-range arm action, increased emphasis on
  rapid pumping or beating
• Lighter striking/clawing action

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• 3 aspects of sprinting mechanics when applying
  technique variants
• Eye focus- look at where going
• Arm action- facilitate leg action with aggressive
  hand knee hammering or punching motions
• Leg action- move legs explosively minimize
  ground contact time
• All 3 should be practiced perfected at learning
  speed before applying them at full speed
• Errors are usually associated with fatigue,
  deficient physical ability, or simple
  misunderstanding

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Sprint Training Goals

• Goal of sprinting is to achieve high stride
  frequency optimal stride length by
• Maximizing backward velocity of lower leg foot
  at ground contact
• Minimizing vertical impulse horizontal braking
  forces
• Emphasizing brief ground support time, explosive
  force production, rapid stride rate
• Developing eccentric knee flexion strength to
  improve leg recovery mechanics place foot
  properly at touchdown

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Agility

• Agility involves greater emphasis on deceleration
  subsequent reactive coupling with acceleration
  than does linear sprinting
• Changes in speed direction can be executed at
  various velocities, not just stop go
• Can be classified as general or specific
  depending on activity according to skill
  specificity of athletes sport or event

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• Consideration of of combination of horizontal
  (backward,forward,lateral), vertical (jumping,
  falling, tumbling) two-point vs. four-point
  mvmt patterns
• Can be characterized as closed or programmed
  (T-drill) or open or nonprogrammed (reactiontype
  drills with no structure)

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Agility technique

• Visual focus- key for sprinting as well as
  agility
• Athletes head should be in neutral position
  eyes focused directly aheadwhether moving
  forward, backward, lateral
• Except when required to focus on
  teammate,opponent, projectile, or other visual
  target
• Directional changes transitions should be
  initiated by getting head around finding new
  point of focus
• open up from top down, let hips shoulders
  follow eyes
• Hips shoulder before eyes results in rounding
  off turn or weaving outside path resulting in
  loss of time

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• Arm action- athlete must accelerate into new mvmt
  pattern path when redirecting or executing
  transitions turns
• In sprint start, explosive arm action used as
  means of rapidly reacquiring high stride rate
  length
• punch off line/out of corner (backpedal to
  forward sprint in opposite direction)
• punch through the turn (turn run)
• Inadequate or improper arm action may result in
  loss of speed or efficiency

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• Safely effectively able to decelerate from
  given velocity for changing direction must be
  addressed progressively
• Achieve 1/2 speed on hearing 1st whistle
  decelerate stop within 3 steps on hearing 2nd
  whistle
• After good execution of this drill, 5 step
  braking from ¾ speed
• Finally, 7 step braking from full speed

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• Similar steps can be taken for backward lateral
  mvmts
• Very important for athlete to be able to
  decelerate from different speeds before
  attempting to change direction

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Developing Speed Agility

• 3 tiers of training methods primary, secondary,
  tertiary
• Overlap between methods
• Primary
• Execution of sound technique
• Properly planting foot under COG, minimize
  braking forces ground support time, exert max
  backward impulse (explosive muscle strength
  efficiency)
• Initially this type of training should be
  performed at submax speeds to allow proper
  mechanics to be learned as technique mastered
  progress to full speed

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• Secondary- assisted resisted sprinting
• Assisted sprinting- methods to artificially
  increase speed as way to improve stride frequency
• Gravity-assisted sprinting (downgrade running)
• High-speed towing (harness or stretch cord)
• Or other means of achieving overspeed effect
• Use shallow (3-70) slope or other methods
  exceeding full speed by no more than 10 (2-3 mph)

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• Exceeding 10 increase in speed can cause athlete
  to lean back overstride in attempt to brake
  protect themselves
• 3 aspects of normal running need to be maintained
• Arm leg turnover rate
• Foot plant directly underneath hips
• Aggressively exploding through mvmt in effort to
  find 5th gear

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• Resisted sprinting- uses resistance to improve
  speed strength stride length
• Gravity-resisted sprinting (upgrade or upstairs)
• Or other means of achieving an overload effect
  (harness, parachute, or sled)
• 10 or greater change in external resistance has
  detrimental effects on mvmt kinetics overall
  technique

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• Exceeding 10 threshold can cause athlete to slow
  down in attempt to muscle through each stride
• 2 aspects of technique need to be kept in mind
• Explosive arm knee punching action
• Explosive leg drive off the ground

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• Tertiary-methods for improving speed agility
  that include basic fitness, power,
  speed-endurance training
• Basic fitness- endurance, mobility, strength
  base to safely effectively execute speed
  agility drills
• Power- strength in terms of acceleration,
  execution time, or velocity in given motor skill
• most athletic mvmts involve power transmission
  through kinetic chain rather than isolation
  within segments

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• Speed-endurance- different methods for different
  sports
• Table 20.4- classic endurance training methods
• Table 20.5- 5-step competition modeling
• Used to identify exercise relief patterns of
  virtually any sport establish criteria for
  specialized endurance drills or tests
• Can use sport-specific drills to make use of time
  achieve optimal learning training effects
• Does not provide direct measure of workload
  intensity unless accompanied by standardized
  tests
• May not account for total volume of work due to
  activity that occurs after play stoppage or
  substitutions

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Program Design

• Running speed agility training
• Max running velocity directly related to muscle
  myokinase(MK) creatine phosphate(CPK)
  activities inversely related to lactate
  dehydrogenase activity
• Thus, enzymes associated with ATP resynthesis
  pyruvate-lactate conversion are key determinants
  of sprinting speed
• Sprint-type training has its greatest effects on
  phosphagen pathways
• Increased ATPase, CPK, MK activities have been
  related to improvements

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• High-intensity, short duration activities engage
  phosphagen fast-glycolysis, especially Type II
  muscle fibers
• Extreme neuromuscular demands power production
  of speed agility drills dictate that they
  should be conducted under minimal metabolic
  stress early in training session
• Sessions should be structured around short work
  bouts frequent rest periods with minimum 2-3
  min to maximize power available during successive
  reps sets

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• Speed-Endurance Training
• As workload duration progresses (repeated sprints
  with little recovery), glycolytic activity can
  exceed capacity and acid-base balance in tissues
  can be disrupted
• Muscle lactate levels can increase and muscle
  function can be impaired
• Pyruvate-lactate clearance is achieved oxidatively

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• There is interdependence of oxidative
  nonoxidative metabolism during after intense
  workloads
• Submaximal exercise is appropriate for preworkout
  priming (warm-up) postworkout recovery (cool
  down) activities

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• Interval training can increase glycolytic as well
  as oxidative enzyme activities, acid-base
  buffering capability, various indices of
  anaerobic power capacity
• Whereas submaximal aerobic endurance training
  does not may even reduce anaerobic enzyme
  activities
• Practical way to resolve issue of training both
  oxidative anaerobic metabolic systems is to
  subdivide work volume into segments
• Training volume in terms of sets of shuttles
  instead of middle or long distance lap running

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• Training variables
• Fundamentally sound speed, agility,
  speed-endurance training programs are based on
  rational manipulation of following variables
• Exercise interval-duration or distance over which
  repetition is executed
• Exercise order- sequence in which set of reps is
  executed
• Exercise relief- relative density of exercise
  relief intervals in a set, expressed as ratio

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• Frequency- of training session performed in
  given time period (day or week)
• Intensity- effort with which rep is executed
• Relief or recovery interval- time period between
  reps or sets
• Repetition- execution of specific workload
  assignment or mvmt technique

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• Series- group of sets recovery intervals
• Set- group of reps relief intervals
• Volume- amount of work performed in given
  training session or time period