Lateral Speed Development

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that speed is imperative in an athlete being successful in whatever sport that he or she participates in. More and more parents, coaches and athletes are implementing some type of speed training into their workouts to gain that extra edge or just plain keep up with the competition. Even though I have in recent blogs, posted the importance of straight ahead speed and first step quickness, lateral movement and being able to change direction is just as if not more important. In must sports, change of direction can mean going home or going to the next round! Usually in most sports, the athlete must first have to elude their opponent or obstacle before being able to get in the clear open field or court to demonstrate their straight ahead speed. Like I tell my parents and athletes, the emphasis should not just be on teaching sound technique, but also on being able to translate what is taught onto the court or field. Let’s face it, that’s the main reason why parents, coaches, and athletes seek out performance consultants to enhance their current level of performance! To do this successfully, training should focus on footwork transitions and shifting from a straight ahead movement to a side to side movement and vice versa efficiently. I stress with my athletes when teaching speed training to master the technique before adding speed!

LINEAR VS LATERAL SPEED

So that we are all on the same page let’s define a few definitions as it pertains to speed. Linear speed refers to running forward and backward with movement mechanics focusing on the sagittal plane. Lateral speed refers to side to side movement in the frontal plane, while diagonal drills are the combination of both. Barry Saunders was a great example of linear and lateral speed in motion. If you watched one of his games, it was like he was possessed and had two brains operating in two separate parts of his body. He was able to stop on a dime and without breaking his stride, generate top speed in the new direction.

Speed is not as simple as people think. When I talk to parents and coaches, I try to explain to them that there are many aspects to consider when their athlete comes to me for speed work. When one is learning the basic mechanical movements of speed, they must consider a lot of factors such as: the starting position, stride mechanics, leg turnover, and arm action, as well as other factors such as leg and hip strength and torso, hip, and ankle rotational speed. Each of these factors, when controlled and properly trained, will improve overall sport speed.

BODY POSITION AND ARM MECHANICS

Every sport has the same mechanical movements however; they serve for different reasons. For example, lateral movement and change of direction in football can be seen as important for a running back trying to elude a defender. In baseball, a runner may use lateral movement to steal second and third base. Likewise, in basketball lateral movement may be beneficial for a defender that is shuffling over quickly to take a charge from a guard that is driving the lane. Even though each player in the scenarios is using lateral movement and change of direction in their sport for their own purposes, their bodies are all doing the same thing in essence.

To successfully implement the lateral movement for each player in each scenario, their body should be in its sport-specific position, with weight on the balls of the feet and the head and chest should be up and looking forward. The arm action should originate from the shoulder with arms at about 90o of flexion. During movement, the arms should pump back and forth rather then opening up as in a triceps extension. I usually tell my athletes to envision their arms moving more so at the shoulder and doing more of an elbowing back motion and upper cutting forward motion instead of extending as if they are playing the drums. Even in lateral drills, the arms should not move across the body. Again, I tell my athletes to imagine them having a zipper that runs down the middle of their body from head to toe. Everything on the right side stays on the right side and never crosses over to the left and vice versa.

When warming up for lateral movement, emphasis should be placed not only on linear movement but also on movement that is in the sagittal plane preparing the athlete for all lateral movement work. During the dynamic stretches to prep the athlete for lateral movement, the muscles that should be highly concentrated on are the abductor and adductor groups. And as always with any dynamic warm-up the emphasis should be specific to the demands of the activity.


LATERAL MOVEMENT TRAINING (LMT) PROGRESSION

Lateral movement training has the same myths facing it as that of linear speed. Coaches and parents think that both are natural born traits that can’t be taught, however this is not true at all. Lateral movement training is a combination of agility and coordination that can be taught and should be taught at an early age starting at ages 6 or 7. Mike Boyle in his book Functional Training for Sports states that there are three things that every parent, coach, and athlete should take into consideration when it comes to change of direction and the essence of lateral movement.

1. Do you have the single leg strength necessary to not only stop movement, but to restart movement after a stop? Single leg strength is the major key to developing agility. Without single leg strength no amount of agility will allow athletes to make cuts at top speed.
2. Can you decelerate? Eccentric strength is the real key. Think of eccentric strength not as the ability to lower a weight, but instead as the ability to bring the body to a rapid stop. Eccentric strength is the ability to put on the brakes.
3. Can you land with stability? Is the proprioceptive system prepared to create a stable landing?

When teaching my athletes I like to use a technique called the plant, push, and reach in which it teaches athletes that in order to move from one direction to the next laterally, they must push off with the opposite foot to go in the new direction. In order for the athlete to be able to successfully and efficiently perform the plant, push and reach, they must have strong gluteus maximus and minimus muscles so that they are able to generate enough power to decelerate and push into the new direction. In addition, athletes need strength in the glut group as well so that they are able to stabilize their whole body on that one limb before moving into the new direction. When training the athletes the main focus is on technique as stated earlier. We concentrate on the footwork and proper body mechanics and movement in order to become faster, more agile, and quicker on the court and field. The plant and push leg’s insole should have majority of the pressure. In addition, their new directional leg’s knee and shin must be pointing in the new direction that they want to go. We start each athlete off with a step drill in which we emphasize how the foot should be placed and how it should feel when the athlete executes the plant push and reach successfully. Then we progress to adding another step in the new direction making sure that the trial leg’s shin and knee is pointing in the direction that the athlete wants to go. Finally we then progress to the full movement with drills such as the clock drill. During all drills, emphasis is placed on keeping the hips low so that the athlete can change direction as well as wanting them to move their feet quickly, accurately, and low to the ground.


Charlotte Speed Coach