There are hundreds and hundreds of different acceleration drills you could choose from to improve starting and acceleration quickness, but I have one that creates great results…
Acceleration Drill – Band Resisted 3 Cone Read & React:
- 1. Each athlete has a band around their waist; a band with the appropriate resistance for each one.
- 2. Place 3 three cones 4-5 yards in front of the athletes and place the cones 2-3 yards apart from each other.
- 3. The cones are numbered 1 through 3 or different in color.
- 4. The instructor yells out a number and the athletes must explode to that cone and tap it.
- 5. The athlete then shuffles back always facing the middle (in other words they never turn their back to the cones).
- 6. Each time the athletes start or when they return, they are to do a split step (squared up athletic stance). Coming out of the split step is a very common movement pattern in sports.
Here is how it looks…
This drill teaches the athletes to accelerate on angles as well as forward. The band enforces a forward lean. Plus, the band increases the force production during the down and back push off.
This drill, along with many others sports performance drills, increases the skill of acceleration and all the components that make up good acceleration for multi-directional sports.
A typical workout for more advanced athletes would consist of 4-5 sets of 10-12 seconds and 45-90 second recovery. I don’t have the time in a typical training session to allow for longer more appropriate rest periods but it is enough so they can still put forth full effort.
Give it a try and let me know!
Train Smart
Lee Taft