Did you see the Giants/Packers game last Sunday?  The Packers only touchdown was an out and up by Jordy Nelson.  It was a great shot of him separating from Corey Webster on the touchdown catch and run.  A great demonstration of speed.

I know that somewhere in the world, there was some blowhard sitting on his couch going, “Man, Webster is slow, I could have tackled that dude.”  Let me be the first to tell you:

No. No you couldn’t.

I don’t think our general public has a real grasp on just how fast these athletes are.  We throw a 4.4 around like it is nothing.  A legit 4.4 in the 40 yard dash is hard to come by.  You have to have real speed to do it.  I train with athletes that get timed in the 40 before their football season starts and there is always someone on their team that gets timed in the 40 by their coaches in a 4.4.

I’ve been part of those 40 yard dash tests.  Unless it is timed by a laser, chances are the kid isn’t running a 4.4.  I love my brother to death, but he got timed by his coach anywhere from a 4.25 to a 4.4.  He was fast, but I don’t think he was that fast.  The coaches eyesight must be getting a little hazy.

I’m a fast dude, but I couldn’t get up to speed as quick as some others.  Get me past a 40 and I’ve got a very good time.  As I got older and played recreational sports, yeah I was faster than most of the people playing, but most of the people playing weren’t training like professional athletes to improve their speed.

There was one guy in a flag football league I played in that was fast.  I’m talking 0-60 in a few seconds.  One of my teammates said that the ground shook when he was running.  If you can get up to blazing speed in a short distance fast, then you got a serious advantage in a rec league like we were playing in.  I was playing pass rush and I wanted to see how fast this guy really was.

One time, he got out around the edge faster than I anticipated.  I was pumping my legs as hard as I could just to get close to him.  You know that feeling when you are running downhill and you feel like you’re going to lose control of your legs at any moment.  That was my feeling.  He had gotten around me lickety split.  In one last ditch effort to grab his flag before he went to the house, I dove and barely knocked his flag off.  He only made a 5 yard gain, but it could have been worse.

This dude was faster than me and if we had been playing tackle, he would have been gone.

His speed though, is probably a little above average for skill positions in the NFL.  That is the real truth.  I had told someone one of my clients ran a 4.7 for his 40 test as a wide receiver.  He responded, “Man that is slow.  I could run that right now.”  Granted it isn’t the ideal speed for a receiver, but chances are you probably couldn’t run a 4.7 right now without blowing out your hamstring.  To your average person, a 4.7 is fast.  You do have to be in some sort of shape and have some fast twitch fibers to get to a 4.7.

As a competitor, I enjoy testing my speed against others, but it sure sucks when you are running your top speed and it still isn’t enough to catch someone.  That can be a tough pill to swallow.  It gets in your head.  You start over thinking, “How am I going to beat this guy??”  He knows it is an advantage for him and loves that you are squirming over it.

I talk a lot about improving speed and I know what it feels like to have speed.  But, I also understand what the flip side is like and what that person is going through as well.  For now, if you are a growing athlete, then all you can do is keep working on improving that speed.  At some point, you will hit your plateau, but by that time you might have had all the success you desire in your sport and speed might not be that necessary.