In this session, we will look at short term and long term plyometric programming strategies to improve speed and operate in a compatible way with other key speed training agents. The presentation will include exercise choices, technical considerations, individualization, and injury prevention.

The session will focus on a variety of sprint-based assessment and rehabilitation protocols used in the return-to-play process for athletes from a variety of sporting backgrounds. While the main emphasis for this process is based on a sprint-focused approach, we will also identify other opportunities and methods for optimizing the return-to-play process and sustain improvement. We will review various applications for sprint drills on both the assessment and exercise prescription side, using a variety of technologies to document athlete status and progress. The basis of the approach was developed initially for hamstring focused RTP cases, but has shown to be very effective in other soft-tissue and joint related injury management cases. We will provide a number of case studies throughout the session to support the efficacy of the approach.

The presentation will look at ways to maximize athletic development and the areas that Joey focuses on with younger athletes. He will use his experience working with collegiate/professional athletes to show the good and bad things that can potentially arise when starting the training process at a young age.

The presentation will delve into coaching youth athletes in a large group setting, which presents many unique challenges, and strategies to maximize success from a coaching standpoint.

What do we really know about speed in team sports? Is it all about getting from point “A” to point “B” as fast as possible? Is it about how quickly one can execute sport skills? Is it about underlying kinetic capabilities, such as the interplay between various forces? Does technique matter at all? How might we be able to improve speed-based performance in the context of game play? These are the questions for discussion in this presentation, reviewing where the research currently stands with a hope that great dialogue may subsequently follow the presentation.

In this session, Tom will explain how he has adapted his approach in recent years to apply speed training principles into his athletic development programme. He will look at how his work doesn’t aim to make soccer players move like sprinters, but instead how the fundamentals of speed training can be implemented into weekly routines for both healthy and injured players whilst keeping the sport and game model at the centre of all decisions.

In this practical, on-court session, Les will take a number of volunteers from the audience onto the court to take them through a series of essential sprint drills that he uses with his athletes. Les will then take the audience through his process of understand where each of them needs to alter their technique to maximise efficiency and reduce the risk of injury. These drills will be developed, increasing in speed and complexity so the audience can get a real insight into what technical details Les looks for in his drilling.

This session will dive into the theory and specifics of making the gym more transferable to on field performance. Specific exercises will be laid out and how they transfer from a vector, contraction time, and force standpoint.

This will be a deep dive into the accomplishments of Xavier Worthy who ran a record breaking time of 4.21s at the 2024 NFL Combine, previously held by John Ross (4.22s in 2017).

We will look at a number of variables that contributed to his performance. Things like; evaluation numbers, jump profiling, load management, training splits, coaching strategies and physiological factors.

This is a unique instance where an extremely gifted athlete was guided through a historically successful training program and in the biggest moment showed the world what he was capable of. Through a combination of effective coaching strategies, data evaluation and most importantly athlete buy in, Xavier Worthy set a record that may stand for the next 10 years.

In this lecture, Les will detail exactly what he has done over the last 2 years working with University of Arizona Football. He will explain what the objectives were, what has led to a dramatic reduction in injuries and what has been the most impactful changes to the programme which have led to improved performances on the field.

Les will showcase he testing and moniotoring framework, some of the data that he has collected and explain how that has informed his programming across the last 24 months.

In this practical session we’ll dive into RSIST assessments of the hip, knee and ankle. We’ll cover the exact set up and the assessment protocols of both rapid force and maximal force assessments while discovering normative values.
We’ll also look at training the meat and potato’s, the pure isometric, part of the RSIST continuum. We’ll quantify loading and manipulate different training variables while we execute different training configurations.

An analysis of why we should consider isometric strength training (IST) in the physical preparation of running based athletes. We’ll cover some of the different IST options before we look at IST through the lens of the runner. We’ll then dive into the continuum of RSIST, looking at implementing training from both an adaptation and load led perspective.

There is so much information out there on speed training. Magic drills, new thinking (which is often old thinking) and outlandish claims litter social media. But what’s really important when we are developing speed?

Based on 25+ years of working with the fastest people in the world, Stu will explain the fundamental principles of speed and how these can be manipulated to fit various different environments. He will take what he has learnt from the world of track and field and bring it into the team sport setting. Examples, case studies and insights from the athletes themselves will form the cornerstone of this presentation.

This will be a deep dive into the accomplishments of Xavier Worthy who ran a record breaking time of 4.21s at the 2024 NFL Combine, previously held by John Ross(4.22s in 2017).

We will look at a number of variables that contributed to his performance. Things like; evaluation numbers, jump profiling, load management, training splits, coaching strategies and physiological factors.

This is a unique instance where an extremely gifted athlete was guided through a historically successful training program and in the biggest moment showed the world what he was capable of. Through a combination of effective coaching strategies, data evaluation and most importantly athlete buy in, Xavier Worthy set a record that may stand for the next 10 years.

While the scientific literature concerning the fundamental mechanics of sprinting is comprehensive, many training programs are still largely based on the subjective, experience-based judgement of coaches. Therefore, developing a pragmatic approach to integrating performance diagnostics in this human-driven decision-making process may contribute to the effectiveness of training.

Spatiotemporal variables, shin-roll kinematic behaviour, and sprint performance (quantified as velocity at 20 m) were assessed from one male elite sprinter (100 m-PR: 10.12 s). These metrics, along with countermovement and drop jump performance and passive maximum ankle dorsiflexion, were used to characterize and understand the athletes movement preference. Based on these parameters individualised drills were implemented in the warm-up routine of the athlete over 4-weeks.

Acceleration performance of the athlete improved significantly by 0.56 m/s from pre to post intervention. The increase in performance of the athlete was accompanied by changes in spatiotemporal parameters, while no change in biomotor capacity was observed.

In summary, this case study provides an early conceptualisation for coaches to implement a data-driven approach into their decision-making process, helping to select the best or at least for a better-than-random choice of drills.

A case study on how we aimed to accelerate the decision making process in attacking agility/evasion, by identifying and teaching of defensive cues (speed/space/shape) and how we used them to build specific evasion drills to maximise transfer in elite rugby.

In this talk, Dan will discuss and outline how he aims to maximise the transfer of movement skills to key game moments. Enhancing an efficient and effective “hunt” for scenario specific defensive cues to develop the decision making process with elite rugby players.

Weight lifting and speed progressions and numerous, yet proven agility progressions are hard to discover. Simply training deceleration is not enough. This session will focus on progressions for turning track speed into Game Speed, what speeds are optimal to change direction, great deceleration drills, foot placement progressions and agility prescription.

In basketball, an athlete’s speed is in direct proportion to their ability to slam on the brakes, change body position, and re-accelerate in a different direction. This presentation will dive into strategies to enhance overall motor learning and skill development, as well as developing components of deceleration and change of direction in the weight room. Within that framework, there will be discussion about assessments, performance testing, and exercise selection.