Speed is a skill.
Coach it like one.
Fireside interviews, coaching tips and a letter every two weeks from Dean Benton, speed coach and performance director to national rugby federations and professional clubs.
Latest fireside
All interviews →Why we built DynaSled
Dean sits down with Mark Fisher, founder of Swift Performance. [One-line summary once the interview is recorded.]
Decades on the field. Now in your inbox.
Speed coach and performance director to national rugby federations and professional clubs. Over thirty years he has coached speed from development squads to national teams, across rugby union, rugby league, Australian football and football, and with Olympic programs at the Australian Institute of Sport, the Queensland Academy of Sport and Athletics Australia.
Dean's story →
Coaching tips
All tips →Intensity: run fast to get faster
It isn't speed work until the athlete is running above 90%. Work at 95 to 97% to develop technique, and at 100 to 103% to get faster. 100% is maximal effort. 103% takes help: a tailwind, or a slight decline of 1 to 2 degrees. The improvement comes from intensity.
Frequency: two or three sessions a week
At least two sessions in a seven-day cycle, for example one speed and one agility. At most three, for example two speed and one agility.
Volume: count the fast metres
Per session. Mixing acceleration and max speed: about 500 m at 97 to 100%, for example 2 sets of 4 to 5 x 50 m. Direct max speed from a flying start: about 300 m, for example 2 sets of 4 to 5 x 30 m, or 2 sets of 2 to 3 x 20/20/20 m (20 m fast, 20 m float and relax, 20 m fast).
Complexity: add it with care
Athletes need more complex work to keep progressing, but complexity competes with intensity. Make the movement too complicated and you get load without progress.
Sled training, explained
Why coaches load a sprint, how to pick the load by how much it slows the athlete, and what a sled that measures force tells you that the plates alone can't.
Read the explainer →
A letter from Dean, every two weeks
One idea you can take to training. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
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