Based on the latest Coaches Corner on the podcast, I figured this would be some good material to share to the site.
This is from a post that I put out on our Sport Performance Centre's Instagram account (@uabsportperformance) last week and it ties in well with the discussion Mike and Anthony had around hockey players' sprinting. I am on the same page as Coach Boyle with respect to sprints and in the sense that I don't think we need worry a great deal about making them look like perfect sprinters.
The numbers coming up on the Brower timer are the most important aspect. With that being said, there are few simple things that I have been trying to get my hockey athletes to focus on when running timed sprints. It is also very interesting to use slow motion video in order to see some of the finer details in their mechanics and how some of it may be explained by the demands of their sport.
In the videos below I am breaking down five of my men's hockey players in their stationary start, 10 meter sprints. Being a proud Canadian, I am using meters instead of yards, but I have done the conversion, so you can see best and average 10 yard and 10 meter times for each athlete.
Best: 1.65 (meters), 1.51 (yards)
Average: 1.75 (meters), 1.60 (yards)
Best: 1.72 (meters), 1.57 (yards)
Average: 1.87 (meters), 1.71 (yards)
Best: 1.55 (meters), 1.42 (yards)
Average: 1.65 (meters), 1.51 (yards)
Best: 1.61 (meters), 1.47 (yards)
Average: 1.71 (meters), 1.56 (yards)
Best: 1.53 (meters), 1.4 (yards)
Average: 1.6 (meters), 1.46 (yards)
A few of the things that you look for during these short sprints are:
- Triple extension. The athlete should get close to full extension in the hip, knee, and ankle during the first 1-2 steps.
- A mid foot strike during acceleration that transitions into more of a fore foot strike as the athlete nears max speed.
- A low heel recovery that is more piston like during acceleration and progressively transitions into more of a cyclical action as they reach top speed.
- Aggressive arm action that is dominantly in the sagittal plane. At the end range of the action, the front arm should be between 60-90 degrees and the back arm between 90-120 degrees.
In each video I pick out a couple things that could be improved, but it is important to remember that these short sprints are used as a training tool.
As mentioned above it is not a situation where I am trying to turn them into elite sprinters. Albeit certain cues can make a significant difference in their times (see 3rd video).
Below are a few cues that I use consistently with all of the athletes that sprint under my supervision.
*Be consistent with your start. Back toe in line or slightly behind your front heel, arm on lead leg side is back, coil yourself up like a spring.
*Coil the ground up behind you. (Sometimes it helps to refer to a cartoon character starting a sprint)
*Take long and powerful strides.
*Drive the arms in straight lines not across the body.
My goal is to get these athletes good enough that they reap the intended training benefits of the sprints and not spend too much time on minor details. The last video is a good example of a detail that might not be worth spending a great deal of time on. But... I am always open to discussions!