Sports-And-Fitness

Speed in sport

Synonyms in a broader sense

Sprint force, sprint speed, speed force, reaction speed, action speed,

English: speed

definition

Speed as a conditional ability in addition to strength, endurance and flexibility is defined as the ability to react as quickly as possible to a stimulus from the environment and to convert it into speed of movement. Forms of movement can be in the form of acyclical forms of movement (serve in tennis), cyclical forms of movement (100 meter sprint) and movement combinations (sports games / handball) occur. Physically, the speed is measured with speed as the result of the distance per time.

What is speed strength?

The word Schnellkraft is made up of the words Kraft and Schnell. It is a physical ability and its goal is to provide a movement with the greatest possible force impulse in the shortest possible time. The muscles must therefore apply the maximum force as quickly as possible. Speed strength actually occurs in every sport and in almost all movements of the human body when doing sports. When training speed strength, it is important to pay attention to certain parameters, otherwise the training could have a different focus.

What is speed training?

Speed as a basic human characteristic is a movement that is carried out with the highest possible speed. Speed can refer to movements of the whole body and affect legs, arms and other parts of the body. There is, for example, the speed of action and the speed of reaction. With the help of speed training, the ability speed can be improved and trained. In sprint disciplines and team sports where speed also plays an important role, speed training is particularly important.

Elementary speed skills

A distinction is made between the elementary speed skills in action speed and frequency speed. The first is the ability to perform acyclic movements (handball, punch) as quickly as possible. The latter refers to the ability to complete cyclical movements (100 meter sprint) as quickly as possible.

Complex speed skills

Responsiveness

The speed of reaction is the time that passes from the setting of a signal to the start of movement. As an example in the 100 meter run, it is the time from the starting shot to the time you put your foot off the starting block. The speed of reaction is also known as the reaction time. Environmental stimuli can occur acoustically, visually or tactilely. The human body reacts fastest to the latter. see responsiveness in coordinative skills.

Speed power

The speed force is defined as the ability to generate the greatest possible impulse in a certain time. The quick force depends on the starting force and the explosive force. Starting force is the force value that was reached after 50 ms. The explosive force is the maximum force increase in the force / time curve. In the case of rapid movements (below 200ms, these start and explosive force determine the performance. If there is more time available for the movement, the maximum force determines the performance. The rapid strength is divided into static rapid strength and concentric rapid strength.

Sprint speed

Sprint speed is the ability to execute complex, cyclical forms of movement at high speed against any resistance. In addition to the genetic constitution, learning-related factors, mastering the right technique, the neuromuscular factors determine performance for a sprint speed. Neural control and regulation processes, stimulus conduction speed, pre-innervation, inter- and intramuscular coordination are among the most important.

Speed endurance

Speed endurance is the ability to maintain a high speed or, generally speaking, a high intensity for as long as possible. That is, the speed endurance in cyclical movements is the resistance to fatigue-related loss of speed at the maximum contraction speed. The central nervous system and muscles tire equally through high stress. The speed endurance determines how long a high load can be sustained. In sports practice, it deals with the phase of constant speed and the phase of negative acceleration. Speed endurance occurs in many different sports and disciplines and is therefore a fundamental sporting variable. It plays the decisive role in movements of 6 to 20 seconds and is dependent on the anaerobic capacity. Alactic processes as well as a high rate of lactate formation and lactate tolerance determine performance for speed endurance.
Sprint endurance is a special form of speed endurance and is used in many team sports such as football, handball or hockey. In the running disciplines of athletics, stamina is an important factor and can make the difference between victory and defeat.

These four manifestations of speed are determinants of the 100 meter sprint. From the starting shot to the movement, the speed of reaction is decisive. For maximum power development, rapid power (sprint power). The sprint speed is used to develop up to maximum speed and the speed endurance (sprint endurance) delays the fatigue-related loss of speed for as long as possible.

Coordination and speed

In order to achieve the desired speed, coordination aspects must be taken into account. Coordination is the interaction of the central nervous system and skeletal muscles in voluntary movements. Since the speed is achieved through high movement speeds with perfect technique and the reaction is an elementary skill, it is not possible to forego coordination in speed training.

For more information, see: coordinative skills

Speed training

Speed plays a decisive role in almost all sports. However, it is specific to the individual disciplines. In football, for example, athletes have to develop different sprinting skills than tennis or badminton players due to the larger playing field. Swimming requires different speed training due to the involvement of other muscle groups.

Acquiring the speed is extremely difficult and requires professional assistance. In pure speed sports (running disciplines), all of the above forms of speed must be taken into account, whereby, for example, speed of reaction cannot be trained to the same extent as speed strength. This, in turn, is more due to genetic factors than speed endurance.

In sports games, the development of speed is always dependent on the distance that is covered in the field. It is important here that external factors such as holding a tennis racket in hand must be included.

The training methods used to train speed are competition, interval and repetition methods. The exercise duration is between 5 and 8 seconds with sufficient regeneration in the breaks.

Training methods can be found under endurance.

How can you do a speed test?

A speed test aims to examine the speed of an athlete and make it measurable. This type of test falls under the group of sports motor tests. There are two variants of the speed tests to find out the speed of an athlete. Both methods require electronic or manual timing. Electronic timekeeping is preferable because it is more accurate and therefore more comparable. In the first variant, a distinction is made between a low start and a high start. The test track should be between 30 and 50 meters long. The time barriers for the measurement are installed directly at the start position and at the finish line. After the start position has been selected, the start takes place in response to an acoustic and / or optical signal, and the athlete tries to cover the distance as quickly as possible. In the second variant, the start takes place on the fly. Here the first time barrier is installed a few meters behind the start position. The timing is only started when the athlete has already picked up the pace. The time now measured reflects the speed performance of the athlete and can now be used for comparisons and possible increases.

How do you train speed?

Speed training is about executing movements with maximum speed, i.e. high intensity. For this purpose, the athlete should be completely rested and not have completed any other training beforehand. In addition to the high physical strain, the nervous system is also strongly challenged. Due to the high training intensity, a break of 48 to 72 hours should be prescribed after a speed training session in order to ensure optimal regeneration. This results in a maximum training frequency of three units per week. The training units are structured in such a way that a large part of the time is important for recovery. The muscles should be given the opportunity to regenerate completely during the breaks. This also results in a short exercise time that only includes a few minutes of “effective” training. Speed training should always take place in a rested state.

How quickly can you improve the speed?

Speed is not as easy to train as endurance. Endurance runners can improve their performance relatively quickly through targeted long-distance runs at a moderate pace. In speed training, however, success is not that easy to achieve. In addition to sprint training, athletes should also do coordination and strength training for speed training. Certain muscle fibers in the body are responsible and most important for speed. They are known as fast-twitch muscle fibers and are largely genetically determined. Increasing these fast fibers is very expensive and requires a well-coordinated training program from the athlete. When training speed, patience is an important component. Since speed training should always take place under complete physical fitness, the long breaks in regeneration only lead to successes gradually. It therefore takes a comparatively long time to improve the speed of an athlete.

How much can you improve the speed?

In speed training, it is not possible to generalize how much one can improve speed. This depends on several different factors. On the one hand, it makes a difference whether a person has never played sport before or has a sporting history. The "unfitter and slower" the exercisers were before the speed training, the greater the rates of increase after speed training. Top athletes who want to work on their speed, on the other hand, have less success with speed training, as their muscles are almost fully trained. In addition, genetic predisposition can make an important contribution to speed. Genetics determine what percentage of the muscle fibers in the human body are fast-twitch fibers. The higher the proportion of these fibers in the muscles, the more potential an athlete has in terms of speed.

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