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How to Increase Your Speed With These Speed Drills

Here are a few tips you to give you that competitive edge that speed brings no matter what sport you play.

Author: Van Casey
Date: Aug 23, 2010 - 10:44:43 AM

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Here are a few tips you to give you that competitive edge that speed brings no matter what sport you play.

For a Winger in Rugby or in Football your pace as well as your agility are two of your most valuable natural talents. The best wingers in the world be it at club or international arena constantly work on keeping their acceleration and speed up for as long as physically possible.

As a winger myself I have a number of drills I do by myself to help maintain my speed . You are going to have to get a few things first that you can easily obtain   by doing a search on the internet or get on eBay.

These are simply a weighted vest, ankle weights and a speed parachute pack.

Always remember  a disciplined warm up before and warm down at the end of everydrill session is vital.

My First Drill: Ankle Weights Drill

I sprint the full length of the pitch with ankle weights on my ankle. As a good starting block I would suggest you should try 5 sprints a day with this exercise to get yourself used to it. Perhaps you can start off with   60% pace for your first two sprints then gradually up the pace to 75 then to 85 then sprinting at your full pace by your 5th sprint. Your rest periods should be the walk or preferably   the jog back to  the starting line. You will notice you get fitter and  feel lighter when you run normally with no ankle weights. For the weights I would suggest 2.5lbs should be fine to start off with and you can gradually make them heavieras you continue.

The Sessions for the 1st Drill Drill

3 sprints sessions per week will be ideal, sprinting with this drill, doing this drill, abiding by this training every other day is the ideal programme to enable you and your body to recover.

My 2nd Speed Drill: Weighted Vest Drill

This requires  you doing  the length of the pitch sprints with a weighted vest on, this might be a bit taxing   for some people so if you do go with this drill I would advise you ask your general health practiioner first that you are in the right shape to utilise this drill. In any case it is not a rush to get as heavy as possible on. Rather it is a steady consistent  progression, start of gradually with 5kg in the weights for say every other day of sprints. Then in the next week increase the weights to 7kg and the week after 10kg.

The Sessions for the Weighted Vest Drill

Three sprint sessions a week will be  ideal. For instance every other day so if you start on Monday then next session should be on Wednesday and the Third should be on Friday. This allows you with 24hours in between sessions to allow your body to rest. Just as with the ankle weights drill you should allow yourself the rest in between sprints to be the jog back or preferably the walk back to the starting line  this will improve your cardioand pace as you progress through the drills and the weights.

My Third Drill: The Parachute Drill

This is a lighter version of the 2nd above; it involves you wearing a parachute backpack on your back and doing sprints with it. I use this drill as a warm down after the weighted vest drill. However this drill can also be used on its own especially if you do not have a weighted vest at first. The Sessions for the Weighted Vest Drill

As this drill is not as strenous I would say ideally ten sprints every other day should be ideal. However rather than attempting them 10 at a go what you can do is break them into 5 sprints now then take a break by jogging round the pitch at a slow pace and then do the next 5 straight away.

Final Thoughts

Self-Discipline, speed, confidence and fitness are all qualities that show signs of improvement  and develop train with drills and I hope these drills help you to leave the competition behind as you zip passed them.

Van Casey enjoys writing helpful articles on various topics from improving speed, moving house to picking the best Polk audio Speakers or finding amazing deals on Polk Audio Monitor 70 speakers

View all articles by Van Casey

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