What Should Come First? Sprinting or....

Rather than asking the question of "The chicken or the egg" I am asking, "sprinting or multi-directional speed?" My question is; Should they be developed together? Read for my answer and why...

Sprinting

When we are speaking of sprinting we are basically referring to straight ahead linear based running. Obviously it is the most natural and easiest adaptation for young kids to perform. walking, jogging, running, skipping are all performed moving straight forward.

Teaching athletes to run, skip, and eventually sprint with good technique is a fundamental building block to the athletic foundation. But, does it necessarily have to come first or more importantly be taught before multi-directional?

Multi-Directional

Multi-directional speed is the ability to move in any direction with great control, efficiency and eventually power. This includes lateral shuffles, backpedal, crossovers, lateral galloping, etc. These skills are extremely foundational and fundamental to most athletic sports. However, should they take a back seat in the early stages of development to linear based sprint education (all forms of linear skills)?

My Personal Belief

I am a firm believer that both sprinting and multi-directional training can co-exist in the foundational stages of development. As a matter of fact, they each help the other develop faster.

In order for an athletes to sprint well and maintain the stability of the hips, ankles, and core musculature, it is important to have great frontal (lateral) plane stability. This stability allows the body to move more efficiently straight ahead. One of the best ways to develop this lateral or frontal plane stability is to train laterally. Put the body in positions were it must apply force laterally and control force laterally. This strengthens the all important frontal plane stabilizers and prime movers which once again helps control linear running.

Rather than compartmentalizing the development by doing one before the other why not develop these skills together. There are obvious stages where one skill will need to be developed before the other but in essence each will benefit the other. It is also important to understand the more abilities the brain/nervous system has stored in the early stages of development the greater the cross over from one skill to the other. Basically, if an athlete is able to move efficiently laterally they can certainly have the coordination to move linear. You should be trying to build as big a warehouse of skills and abilities as possible.

Summary

There is no doubt situations occur where compartmentalizing the skills is best but for the most part I have always developed my athletes through the use of multiple patterns of movement. Why? If I asked the athletes to go out and play in the yard or playground they would move in all directions, levels, speeds, and intensities with no instruction at all. I am simply going to follow their lead and make them better at what they already do.

Yours in Speed,

Lee

PS: Attention All Speed Insiders Members...Please pay attention in November. I have planned a special tele-seminar and you won't want to miss it. If you are not a Speed Insider and want to take a Free 2 month test drive it...go to http://www.speedinsiders.com/ and join us.