Derek M. Hansen - September 2024

As more and more coaches and organizations are placing an emphasis on movement speed as part of physical preparation, strategic planning and athlete recruitment, we are seeing a greater commitment to protocols and programs directed at profoundly improving acceleration and sprint abilities.  Speed development has become an industry in itself in the last decade with new ‘experts’ arriving on the scene every year.  However, in the pursuit of enhanced performances and an expanded industry, we often see the pendulum swing too far to one side, with prior conventional wisdom potentially left behind as new ‘innovations’ are introduced.  The hype around an approach or new exercise protocol often precedes and overwhelms the true path to high performance and sustainable results.

In the case of improving sprint acceleration and top speed, it appears the last 15 years has seen an overwhelming shift to resisted acceleration...