Train Fast!

There is an excellent feature article in today’s New York Times magazine section on University of Oregon Football called Speed Freak Football by Michael Sokolove www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/magazine/05Football-t.html?ref=sports It got me thinking of training for and at “game speed” in a myriad of sports. In many ways it is quite simple – to play fast you have to train fast. Train for the game you play with an understanding that in most cases the games are barely controlled competitive fury. To train fast demands a focus on meaningful movement in training, no fluff, and no extraneous work. You must train at a high threshold intensity, close to the edge, in essence pushing the envelope. My colleague Dr Jack Blatherwick, conditioning coach of the 1980 “Miracle” US Hockey team calls it “over speed”, constantly trying to play faster. Their play epitomized this approach. There is no question that in this approach you will make errors, but practice is working to eliminate errors while learning to play at higher speeds. Coaches always will verbalize that speed wins and then train the opposite. Train the way you want to play. It will challenge your creativity as you constantly seek new ways to push the envelope.