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Reply to "Working on speed"

In addition to all the plyo, various squats, lunges, jump/ scissor cuts, and ensuring proper form... echo thoughts on running hills. Find one where he can run for at least 6-8 seconds in it's steepest portion. If the hill levels off or gets less steep, that's even better, as it sort of mimics the transition/ top speed phase of a sprint. Using principles of over and underload help (the hill essentially is doing this), feel free to add a weighted vest to taste (Mr Bezos has many he'd like to sell you and deliver to your door the same afternoon) or even (16oz) weighted hitting balls to each hand. Also, perhaps run the hill in spikes. Son finds that whenever he's timed on a grass field (and wears metals) he "sinks" in to the ground (duh) but feels less strong/ stable. Running the hill (assuming it's grass) in spikes will have added benefit of strengthening all those high ankle muscles to ensure stable power transfer whether running on grass, turf, or a rubberized track. Be sure to finish with UNweighted UNDERload/ flat ground sprints too. Running hills will increase power/ torque, but ultimately want RPMs and to move fast. Finding a parking lot that gently slopes down for runoff/ drainage purposes is ideal. Like anything, proper volume and intensity coupled with adequate recovery helps. What's the guideline? 2x/ week to stay the same and 3x to get better? These principles have worked well for us. We add the plyo in as warmup and at the top of the hill between sprints. If you REALLY want to go down the rabbit hole, Josh Heenan has great content in the blog portion of his website (on ALL things baseball performance related). I discovered his site lurking here. Figure I'd regurgitate and pass it on as it hasn't been mentioned yet. Hope this helps.

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