The first five elements are areas that we can improve upon in specific speed training. The last two are areas that are specific to soccer training with a ball.

Some key points to remember when doing specific speed sessions (that is sessions without a ball) are:

A lot of people say that sprinters are born and not made, and while it is true that genetics plays a large part in a players ability to move quickly, all players can improve all aspects that make up speed.

These are just some of the ideas I use when working on different aspects of speed.

acceleration

To get acceleration, a player needs to move his/her feet very quickly, gradually increasing stride length as he/she drives forward. Fast feet drills, using speed ladders etc. can greatly help a players acceleration as well as coordination. Strength can be increased using sprint drills and low intensity plyometrics (for players 13+).

Weight training is ideal to gain specific strength but not for youth players under the age of 16 or so.

maximum speed

Maximum speed requires leg strength and leg speed. One way in which youth players can gain more leg strength and leg speed is to work on sprint drills. These are drills that break down the sprinting action and work on specific areas. I like to use these as part of a long warm up session and usually perform them over roughly 20-30 metres. With all these drills, it is important that the arm action is strong and relaxed. Mimic the arm action of sprinting style, so for instance if doing bum kicks, don't try and kick your hand that you place behind you, run with normal arm action.

Do 2 to 4 repetitions of good quality drills, slow jog or walk back to recover.

reaction speed

Having players sprint when they are given a command. The command can be visual or a sound. Remember that in game situations, they will usually react to visual stimuli. It is also a good idea to have players react while they are moving rather than standing still. Players would not normally be stationary during a game, and nor would they usually be required to react quickly and at speed from a stationary position.

Lots of fun game type drills can be used, where players in pairs react to a command or signal as part of race or relay. This keeps players concentrating on the command and therefore making their running reaction more natural and relaxed. In other words, rather than have them stationary, then you say "set" "go", they are running on the spot and may have to jump, turn, or sprint forwards, backwards etc.

change direction

Setup drills and sprints where the players are not just running in a straight line. Get them to run back then forwards, side to side, then back, diagonally etc. In a game there are no restrictions on the directions they will so incorporate multi direction runs into speed training.

sustain speed

Speed endurance is the ability to hold close to maximum speed for as long as possible, a 400 metre runner has good speed endurance. A soccer player, needs elements of speed endurance but also need to be able to carry out many short bursts of effort during a match. To train for this requires, interval type training, with high intensity and a reasonable recovery period. This type of training, should take place once the player has had some base training to get some initial endurance on which to build more specific speed endurance.

For ideas on speed training, have a look at the programs page