3 Common Speed Faults

By Mike Caza,
CSCS Director of Performance

1. Running on the toes

Many athletes are taught to run on their toes. This is a big no-no because striking the ground on the toe puts the ankle in a weak, unstable position causing longer ground contact times. Stand up on your toes and try to jump forward, and then stand on the balls of the feet with your heels approximately 2 inches off the ground, then jump forward. You will notice when you are on the balls of your feet, you can jump farther forward. This is because your ankle is stronger, which allows you to push harder off the ground with greater force. Now think about when an athlete is sprinting up and down the playing field in their relative sport. Sprinting on the toes = weaker ankle = less force production. Sprinting with proper ankle position = stronger ankle = more force production = potential for faster sprinting. At PSC, we use a 10-step teaching process that focuses on improving speed through proper body positions and technique.

2. Co-contractions between muscles

When one muscle contracts, the opposing muscle has to release to enable an athletes running stride to be efficient. When an athlete is inflexible, the muscles are in a shortened state, so the shortened muscles cannot work efficiently. This in turn causes the opposing muscle to have to contract harder in an effort to compensate for the shortened, inflexible muscle, thereby causing both muscle groups to contract at the same time (co-contraction) which causes slower sprinting speeds which can eventually lead to injury.

3. A Weak Core

If a garden hose had leaks in it, there wouldn't be as much water power coming out of the end. If an athletes core muscles are weak, this can reduce an athletes leg power when they drive off the ground in sprinting since energy will be lost through the weak core muscles. Additionally a weak core can cause a variety of injuries that include hamstring pulls, stress fractures, lower back problems to name a few.

Mike Caza spent 3 years as a member of the Canadian National track team where his experiences allowed him to compete worldwide on 4 different continents and be mentored by some of the top coaches internationally. Mike's athletic experiences combined with the in depth knowledge gained over the years has enabled him and the PSC Staff to devise the most comprehensive athlete conditioning program in the area. For more information on PSC training, contact the training office at (330) 487-0810 or online at www.pscfit.com.

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