Changing Speeds

As we continue to discuss the topic of warmup this week, I think it is important to talk about how the warmup is not an isolated part of practice. This becomes a bit theory, of course, because every coach has the warmup and/or stretching blocked out as a seperate part of practice. In reality, the warmup should have a building effect and can last well into practice or pregame. Yesterday, we showed you 4 dynamic flexibility exercises that each had a higher intensity return (hop). This is an example of building into higher efforts. In order to improve performance and make the practice or game feel "smooth" and "easy," different intensities should be used. An example of this is to run sprints at 60/75/85/100% efforts. Depending on the skill being practiced, in practice you should operate at a variety of speeds or intensity levels. We talk about learning skills and then performing them "as fast as you can, not as fast as you can't." What this means is that you can move at high speeds without performing the movements correctly. Since we are always working on different skills, our practices should operate at speeds according to skill achievement. Challenge your practice organization by preparing for the highest intensity efforts with lower skill building work.
tk