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Nothing beats a good defense like speed. Here's how to get it
By Dustin Wolf
It’s all about speed. The fastbreak. Getting back on defense. Moving without the ball. You need speed, quickness and, well, speed. If you want to play, you have to be able to run, sprint, stop, and run again – fast. Following is a look at some drills you can do to help development speed and quickness. Are you up for the challenge?
 Speed Development – Technique Training – Part I
Wall Fires
Proper technique is a key component in the improvement of any movement. The drill’s focus is to improve body positioning and running mechanics. It is designed to strengthen your knee drive for sprinting, as well as increase turnover frequency.
The Breakdown
Face a wall and place both hands on the wall with your shoulders level. Focus on keeping your chest up and driving into the wall. Drive with one knee up in front of your body as quickly as possible, while standing on the ball of the foot of your opposite leg.
The knee drive is required to reach a point where the thigh is parallel to the ground and the active foot passes the opposite knee. The heel must remain under the belly of your hamstring at the peak of the knee drive. Using a cycling motion, your active foot will lightly strike the ground beside the opposite foot.
Performance tips
- • Tall chest / Hips loaded
- • Thigh parallel to ground / Active foot by opposite knee
- • Cycle through quickly / Return to start position
- • Heel under the belly of hamstring at peak of knee drive
- • Stand on ball of foot / Toes up
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