Can you .......

[Bryton]

If your not the fastest player, or the quickest player, can you make yourself either of those? Is if possible to actually do things to make yourself quicker or faster? Are there drills? Is there a training regement?

The reason I'm asking is my son is not the fastest of quickest kid out there. He is a stocky kid. Not over weight or anything like that, just broad, but unlike me where I was stocky at his age, I was still way above average for speed and quickness. He for whatever reason just isn't. So again, the question begs, can you actually do something to change it, or do you just resign to the fact that you just weren't gifted with speed and quickness.

I appreciate any responses.

[kylebee]

Explosive speed is largely determined by genetic predisposition to fast twitch muscle fiber. The same can be said for arm speed, and thus, fastball velocity.

However, it can be trained to some degree via plyometrics - but you have to be careful. I'd contact Jon Doyle for more information.

[TG Coach]

You can't make someone fast or quick who's not genetically predisposed to be so. What you can do is improve his speed and quickness. I wouldn't go overboard on this kind of training until he's a teen.

[korp]

You can't make someone fast or quick who's not genetically predisposed to be so. What you can do is improve his speed and quickness. I wouldn't go overboard on this kind of training until he's a teen.
Agreed .... you can't create it aka turn a 7.5 60 dash into a 6.5 but you can improve quickness and speed with training. Plyo's, agility ladders and stuff like that is great for improving though. Remember on your son though .. he has his mother's and your genes so that can affect it. Its really too bad with hard work you can't be fast as light. Strength training can help too but usually high school is a good age to start stuff like that (prevents alot of burnout too because they are more interested).

[Bryton]

What is PLYO'S agility ladder?

[cubsphill]

What is PLYO'S agility ladder?

that's plyometrics and agility ladders

[Bryton]

OH ok, where can I find info on that stuff?

[cubsphill]

what kind of info?

google.com

[Bryton]

Ok thanks.

[Encinitas]

Real Plyo's is a lot more than just agility ladder and most experts recommend a base level of strength that is far beyond a typical youngster before embarking on them. I am referring the depth jumps, and various jumping activities. I recall reading but am too lazy to look up the study that up to a point base strength improvement will give you your largest performance improvement. And for those guys who are very strong (can squat 1.5 to 2.0 times body weight), employing plyo's adds a great deal to their explosive strength.

That said ladder can be considered plyo's but it's not really the type that will create explosiveness.

I have a book by a Donald Chu that is a good read, check it out at Amazon or find it in a library.

[chesspirate]

Deadlifts and Squatts. Echoing Encinitas on the needing of a strength base first.

Also look into Eric Cressy, trainer that works with ball players, has an article on improving speed somewhere, good read.

his web is http://www.ericcressey.com/home.html