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Lacrosse Speed Training Pitfalls

Following a well-written speed training program is paramount to your success on the field.  Following a poorly-written speed training program will waste hours of your time and may predispose you to unnecessary injuries.

Three Signs of a Bad Speed Training Program:

1) Distance running for conditioning
2) All linear (straight-ahead) drills and no transitional speed work
3) Machine-based lifting

The Death of Distance Running

As I mentioned in “Lacrosse Conditioning”, distance running will make you slow and weak. If you do it, stop. There is very little carryover to the highly explosive and dynamic movements in lacrosse, and it could be permanently hampering your ability to produce high levels of force.

Force production is the key to running fast.  By definition, sprinting speed is the product of stride length and stride frequency, meaning you need to increase one or both of these things in order to get faster. In reality, stride frequency isn’t likely to change substantially, which leaves stride length as the primary area for improvement.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t increase stride length by “reaching” further with your feet; you increase stride length by driving harder off your down leg. In other words, you increase your stride length by increasing the amount of force your stance leg produces.

Transitional Speed Training

How frequently do you see a player run extensively in a straight line without turning, changing speeds, or cutting? Rarely.  Speed in a straight line is important. Being able to stop on a dime, rapidly change directions, and quickly create separation between you and an opponent is more important. 

One of the biggest pitfalls in traditional speed training programs is an overemphasis on speed training techniques to improve a 40-yard dash time. The 40-yard dash is an over-used test, but it’s ONLY a test. It shouldn’t be the main goal of a training program. Focus your training on improving the QUALITY of your movement in forward, backward, and transitional movements patterns at slow speeds. Once you get that down, add speed.  You’ll be surprised how much faster you are on the field after using speed drills that can all be done within a 15-yard distance!

Get OFF of Machines!

At Endeavor Fitness, our athletes don’t use a single machine. Not one. Pre-determined ranges of motion are not only dangerous, but they take away from the body’s ability to control movement in proper patterns.

A few quick examples:

Leg Press: Aside from the fact that you don’t use ANY of the muscles that stabilize your hips/core throughout this movement (this is true of all machine based exercises) and that you’re on your back (not a great position for a conscious lacrosse player), the leg press frequently causes people to over-flex their hips causing rounding at the lumbar spine (lower back). This leads to poor core control and eventual back pain.

Leg Extension: Sitting in a seat and extending your legs out in front of you may strengthen your quads. However, your quads are typically used in athletic settings in conjunction with your glutes, which are completely dormant during this exercise. Your rectus femoris (one of the 4 quad muscles), also acts as a hip flexor and is in a shortened position because you’re sitting. This muscle never fully elongates during this exercise, which reinforces the bad posture we’re in all day and leads to eventual shortening of the muscle. It’s no mystery why the rectus femoris is ALWAYS the injured muscle when people strain their quad.

Leg Flexion: The “hamstring” machine has many of the same pitfalls as the leg extension machine. Your hamstrings do contribute to knee flexion, the movement you perform while seated, but they are an incredibly powerful hip extensor. This is the movement that your hamstrings produce the most force in while sprinting.

Speed training comes down to learning proper transitional movement technique, getting stronger using functional exercises, and moving explosively. Maximize your speed training time by avoiding the three speed training pitfalls outlined in this article.   

Kevin Neeld, BSc, MS, CSCS is the Director of Athletic Development at Endeavor Fitness in Sewell, NJ.  Through the application of functional anatomy, biomechanics, and neural control, Kevin specializes in guiding athletes to optimal health and performance.  For more information on how Endeavor Fitness can help you drastically improve your speed, strength, and conditioning, visit EndeavorFit.com or contact Kevin Neeld directly via email by clicking here.