Sprinting is a ballistic movement where the body is continuously propelled forward through the use of forceful strides. Length of the stride and frequency of the stride determines running speed. There are two types of sprints: short sprints and maximum speed sprints. Short sprints are commonly used in sports such as tennis and football. Maximum speed sprints are predominant in the 100-meter dash and soccer. The start and acceleration phases of sprinting are most important in short sprints. These two phases are referred to as the runner’s drive. The maximum speed phase of sprinting applies to maximum speed sprinting and emphasizes the runner’s stride and lift.
Short sprints rely on maximum strength in the form of pushing off and exaggerated limb movements to overcome inertia. Short sprints position the runner in a forward posture with the body low. The upper body is very important in generating speed and depends on powerful arm action. Also, knee lift is exaggerated and crucial to accelerating. On the other hand, maximum speed sprinting involves having an upright posture and greater hip extension; whereas short sprints involve greater knee extension. Reactive strength involving minimal ground contact is more important than maximum strength during maximum speed sprinting.
Knee extensors such as the quadriceps are more active during a short sprint since it involves pushing off horizontally with a load placed over the knees due to forward body lean. The hip extensors, gluteus maximus and the hamstrings, are more activated during maximum speed running since knee lift is less exaggerated and trunk position is upright. Maximum speed sprints involve more of a pulling forward motion from hip extensors than a pushing forward motion from the knee extensors.
A speed-training program for a tennis and soccer player would include the primary training method. This method develops proper running technique to develop good mechanics and balance and is suitable for both types of athletes. However, the secondary training method involving assisted and resisted sprinting would be more beneficial to the tennis play. Exercises such and wind sprints and sled runs would develop the maximal strength quotient involved with the forceful acceleration of short sprinting. For the soccer player, the tertiary training method is more suited since it involves components of basic fitness, power, and speed-endurance. The exercise intervals for the tennis player would be up to 50 meters distance and up to 200 meters for the soccer player.
Skating on ice involves the use of the gluteus maximus and hamstrings (hip extensors), quadriceps femoris (knee extensor), gluteus minimus and gluteus medius (leg abductors), adductors brevis, longus, and magnus (leg adductors), and latissimus dorsi, pectoralis major, and teres major (arm adductors).
Figure skating involves the use of two types of strength primarily. Static strength involving isometric muscle contraction is used to propel the skater around the ice and into spins. The main joint movements used in spins are arm and leg adduction, involving the latissimus dorsi, pectoralis major, teres major and adductor brevis, longus, and magnus muscles, respectively. Jumping involves explosive knee extension and is powered mostly by the quadriceps femoris muscles. The hamstring, gluteus maximus, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles are also involved in jumping. Dynamic strength is the type of strength used in jumping.
The energy needed for a figure skating program is provided mainly by anaerobic metabolism. Both long and short figure skating programs involve above maximal effort that has the skater(s) at above maximal heart rate and with very high blood lactic acid levels.
Most injuries in the sport of figure skating are due to lack of flexibility and lack of muscular development. The quadriceps femoris muscle was associated with the most injuries due to inflexibility. Quadriceps inflexibility leads to excess stress of the knee’s tendons and ligaments. The quadriceps is also the most under developed muscle in figure skating and results in lateral stress to the patellar region of the knee. Achilles tendon issues arise from the skater’s feet being constantly in a plantarflexed position inside the skate boot. There are also issues with overuse of the connective tissues involved with the knee and knee extension; such as quadricep tears and patellar tendon inflammation, respectively.
A good strength and conditioning program that involves increasing flexibility and combined with proper nutrition and rest is necessary for maximal performance and injury prevention. Along with a high anaerobic and aerobic threshold, speed, explosiveness, balance, and coordination are essential components to being a good figure skater. Flexibility, strength, and VO2 testing is used to assess a skaters performance ability. Most figure skaters have VO2 max’s in the 40’s and 50’s (ml/kg/min).
Athletes train to increase the ability to sustain the highest power output or speed of movement for a given distance or time. This specific goal of training can be applied to all types of athletes, including the following:
Baseball pitcher- Speed and power over varying bouts of time are required of elite pitchers. High velocity arm speed and powerful leg drive are needed to hurl a baseball at major league speeds. Starting pitchers train for moderate to moderately high speed and power to pace themselves for throwing five or more innings. However, closers train for high velocity and power when pitching since they pitch two innings at most.
Long distance road cyclist- The best speed over the given distance is what wins cycling races. These athletes train to spread their power and speed out through the entire race. Whichever cyclist can keep their overall average speed the highest over time will win the race.
Soccer goalie- Explosive leg power and hand speed are needed to be a goalie. Goalies have to jump explosively and fully extended their bodies in mid-air towards one of a multitude of directions on a split seconds notice. This action lasts only a couple seconds and is usually not often required of the course of a professional soccer game.
Basketball forward- Speed and agility are the two main points of focus in a forwards training regime. The forward has to be the fastest dribbler and mover on the team and is expected to move the ball around the court quickly and also steal the ball from the opposing team. Constantly running up and down the court only getting a chance to rest during foul calls and foul shots requires training for high speed over a long amount of time.
Gymnast (vault routine)- High running speed and an explosive push-off are required for the vault. The event lasts about several seconds. Gymnasts train for this event by running as fast as they can for very short amounts of time and producing one explosive power movement at the end of the sprint.
Fencer- Fast footwork and hand/arm speed is required of a fencer. Power does not score points and actually too much application of power can lead to a disadvantage. The fencer needs to periodically jab out his/her foil at high speeds during opportune times to score points. A fencer can train by quickly shuffling his/her feet forward and backwards while jabbing out the foil.
Rock climber- Competitive rock climbing involves speed in powerfully pulling and pushing off on climb holes. This event is fairly short and rock climbers train for speed and power over a short period of time.
Differences in performance among runners who have trained at the same level for the same amount of time comes down to the quality of training itself and the respective runners recovery, genetics, and diet. Runners can have similar VO2maxes but different race times since “improvements in performance can occur in trained athletes without any increase in VO2max.” (Smith, 1111). This improvement can be due to the type of training a runner engages in. For instance a method of training runners use called “tapering” can produce dramatic results in a short amount of time.
One important factor in attaining a high level of performance is trainability. Trainability is “the potential for improvement and is influenced by genetics, age, prior training history, and current fitness/skill status” (Smith, 1108). All these factors have an effect on performance variables in an athlete; in this case a soccer player’s aerobic endurance and agility. Genetics can affect aerobic endurance for example when it involves ratio of slow twitch to fast twitch muscle fibers in the body.
Also, natural coordination or gifted neuromuscular component can make a soccer player more agile. Aerobic endurance and agility can increase with age as long as the athlete is training. However, potential to be a great soccer player does go down after a certain age. Having previously trained in the past really can’t help achieve the desired aerobic performance any faster, in part due to immediate decrease in mitochondrial density upon the cessation of aerobic training. However, the neuromuscular adaptations involved in agility can be developed faster due to memory/recall than a player with no previous history of training. A soccer player in-training will have a good base of aerobic endurance and agility that has a potential to increase due to the fact he/she is training.
There are a multitude of psychological factors involved with an athlete’s psyche: aggression, motivation, focus, tolerance of pain, attitude towards winning and losing, anxiety/stress coping skills, coach-ability, ability to manage distractions, and being able to relax under pressure.
The bolter athlete is gifted with natural speed and does not believe he needs to work as hard as his teammates. This type of athlete needs to be motivated to train as hard as his fellow players since he will eventually fall behind those with higher work ethic. Ways to motivate a bolter could include down-talking his/her natural ability and stating that it could be a lot better with hard training.
The wooden horse-model athlete usually has plenty of motivation due to the enthusiasm involved with starting a sport or coming back from an injury/illness. At this point I would give the athlete a lot of positive feedback, but at the same time pushing him/her that extra step. The workhorse-model athlete has very high motivation, but has trouble stepping it up to the next level during competition. Possible reasons for this are overtraining and quality of training. I would focus on making the training sessions as efficient and sport specific as possible and emphasize proper post-workout recovery.
The thoroughbred-model athlete is the naturally gifted performer. They have what it takes physically to excel, but sometimes need to work on skills of focus and awareness. I would have this type of athlete participating in meditation or yoga classes to help develop these skills.
For example, a wrestler who focuses on developing maximum strength and neglects his/her aerobic endurance will suffer from fatigue during the 2nd or 3rd period of a match. Strength is crucial is wrestling, however, aerobic endurance is key in outlasting your opponent. Strength means nothing if you do not have the gas to make it work.
The 100 and 200-meter sprinter needs a fine balance of speed and power to be successful. Strength generates speed; therefore the sprinter will hit a sticking point with his/her speed unless they put more emphasis on developing more strength for faster speed.
References
Smith, D.J. (2003). A Framework for Understanding the Training Process Leading to Elite Performance. Sports Medicine Journal, 33 (15):1103-1126.
