This past weekend I was at the NSCA Ohio State Clinic and listened to a lot of great speakers. One of the speakers, Chris Powell, talked about developing linear speed. This is essentially your straight ahead running and how fast you can get your first initial steps of acceleration.

For most athletes, developing linear speed is really important. The first 10 yards is probably the most crucial for athletes of just about all sports.

It can also be the toughest to try and develop. You need to develop an appropriate amount of strength and the ability to convert that strength into explosive power to make the improvements you want to see in your first several steps.

The older you are, the more variety we can do with the athlete. We also can do exercises that aren’t quite suitable for younger athletes because their bodies haven’t matured yet and can’t handle the stress of these advanced exercises. Nonetheless, I think the three drills I picked below can be done with athletes of any age.

Chris Powell is based out of Indianapolis and shared some of the drills that he has used for his athletes. I picked three of them that I thought would be easy to work on and something you could potentially do on your own.

  • Buttkicks Into A Sprint – Buttkicks are a drill that darn near every athlete knows how to do. It is just that half of those athletes don’t do it correctly. First, start with doing the buttkicks for a certain distance to work on your form. Then, try to get the same amount of buttkicks in that you did for the start distance and cut that distance in half. The athlete will have to increase the speed.  Once they are going at a fast clip, you can add a 10 yard sprint out after the buttkicks.
  • Forward Jump Into A Sprint – Forward jumps are a type of plyometric jump that will help develop power and speed. What you want to do is jump out as far as you can and quickly sprint out 10-15 yards. Your cue is to jump out far and get into your sprint fast.
  • Sled Runs – Sled runs are a great way to develop speed and it really helps the initial 10-15 yards. The trick is to find the right weight that won’t affect your body mechanics. The easiest to remember, and what Chris recommended, was putting about 10% of your bodyweight on the sled. You can have them run out anywhere from 10-30 yards, but no further.  

Obviously the sled would be a little investment, but the first two drills are something you can definitely do on your own. All you need is a space of grass going out 20-30 yards (or something similar).

You don’t have to do a lot of these. Do anywhere from 5-7 reps of these and you should be good. Make sure you are pumping your arms in good “L” shapes for all of these drills. Do that and your initial get-up-and-go should be improving in no time.  

Photo courtesy of USag – Humphreys on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usaghumphreys/