Speed kills....or does it?

     Every March thousands of prospective NFL players come to Indianapolis to participate in the in the NFL combine. The NFL combine is multi day evaluation that includes interviews, physicals, field drills, agility drills, bench press, long jump, high jump and of course the 40-yard dash. Over the years the 40-yard dash has turned into the pinnacle of the event. The first question pertaining towards skill players is, "What did he run?" That question can vault a player into the first round or drop them into the later rounds. Since the event can determine a salary; I ask the question what is speed?

    Speed by book definition is the question, how fast? velocity and speed go hand in hand however there is a slight difference. If speed is simply how fast, then velocity answers the question of where. Velocity is how fast plus direction.  The nerdy aspect of speed is the rate of force development, or the maximum amount of force applied in minimum amount of time. Sound familiar? It should because that is the definition of plyometrics. Change in force over change in time. Think about a sprinter or a football player running a 40-yard dash. The initial burst is using the maximal amount of force in the shortest time possible. Additionally, remember muscle firing rates? If you don't then I got you fam! (rate coding). CNS wise sprinting and plyo's are basically same in same training wise. If you want to jump higher then jump (its more detailed than that but yea) If you want to sprint faster, then sprint more. This will train your brain to react faster and more forcefully. 

    The absolute key to sprinting is stride length and stride frequency. Increasing both will increase your force production. Just increasing stride length will throw off you're landing thus causing more braking within your stride. Focusing on increasing the stride frequency gives a runner more "shots" at applying force to the ground thus propelling you down the track faster.