Strength or Speed?

Does your athlete need strength or speed training to help them excel at sports?

Most parents assume that if their kid is slow on the field they need speed training. That seems like a logical conclusion, but it is not always the correct answer.

The answer to whether or not your athlete needs strength or speed training is going to depend on a wide range of factors including: training age, skill level, specific speed and strength abilities, and stage of development.

In youth athletes the limited factor in speed development is often the ability to produce high ground reaction forces. An increase in strength increases the athlete’s ability to produce GRFs and thus directly improves speed.

In more experienced athletes that already have the ability to produce high GRFs strength training probably won’t do much in terms of increasing speed.

Ideally an assessment should be performed to determine if an athlete has the ability to produce sufficient GRF and programming should be tailored based on these results to produce immediate increases in speed.

At Genesis we utilize a tool called a force velocity profile, which allows us to determine whether an athlete needs more foundational strength to improve their speed or if they already produce sufficient GRF and should focus more on sprinting and plyometrics.

I want to help athletes learn where to focus their training for the best transfer to the field or court. Therefore, we offer this assessment as a free tool to any interested athlete.

If you would like to perform a free force velocity assessment let us know and we will get you scheduled. From there we can make recommendations on best practices to immediately improve your speed.

- Graham