The quickness formula at a glance

The biomechanics (skills) of quick movement:

·       Spring – the no1 factor.  Fast bodies get very high off the ground (slow bodies don’t).  Vertical motion permits a long, powerful stride and the longer we are in the air, the less time we’re on the ground – the definition of speed.  Learn to run on your toes.  Conditioning for quickness/ speed involves primarily conditioning the toe action

·       Chain stiffness – imagine the poor soul out jogging who crashes into the ground each time the foot strikes.  That body has no stiffness.  There must be minimal knee and hip drop when sprinting

·       Very short ground contact time – gravity is stored when the calf muscles are stretched.  To recycle the energy and produce spring the feet must bounce quickly back off the surface 

·       Rhythm & linkage – movement must have rhythm before we can ‘pour’ energy in to produce high power/ explosiveness.  Rhythm is achieved by linking arm drive to knee motion on the opposite side of the body.  Knee drive, in turn, drives the body off the toes on the same side as the driving arm.  Arm drive is critical for quickness; powerful arm drive equals powerful leg drive

·       Sport-specific quickness:

o   Weight/ deep angles – acceleration is more important than top speed in most sports.  Acceleration mechanics are a little different.  The bodies centre of mass (behind the belly button) must be forward of the support base (area between the feet).  The brain does not trust an unstable body, and it resists the deep angles needed to accelerate quickly – they must be practiced a lot!

o   The athletic position – the AP is the readiness position in most sports.  It involves a wide, low base with weight forward - feet far apart with hips set behind the body/ shoulders forward.  The AP is demanding and, because brain also resists high demand, lots of conditioning and practice is needed to override the tendency to stand up

Physical strength:

·       Big muscles and stabilisers – the body must be strong in very specific places: ankles, hips, torso, and shoulders

·       Body weight – high power requires high physical strength, but more muscle equals more weight and a heavier body won’t be faster (one thing defeats the other) – strength without additional weight

Energy:

·       High work capacity – all athletic functions depend on aerobic capacity so build a big engine and a large capacity for work.  Work capacity is a measure of all the demand factors so conditioning needs to be comprehensive

·       Biomechanical efficiency – having a big engine is one thing but not wasting energy is even more important.  An efficient body is strong in critical muscles and joint actions but also in the basic motor skills that underpin sport-specific patterns of demand: build a strong ‘toolbox’ of basic resources – ATHLETE above all else!

the quickness formula at a glance - downloadable PDF