Speed Training For Sports Such As Rugby Or Football

For a Winger in Rugby or in Football your speed and your agility are two of your most valuable assets. The best wingers in the world be it at club or international level work on keeping their pace and speed up for as long as they can.

As a winger myself I have a number of drills I do with on my own to help keep my speed going. You are going to need a few things first which you can easily get by doing a search on the internet or even find on eBay.

Foot Ball Drills

These include a weighted vest, ankle weights and a speed parachute pack.

Remember A good warm up before and warm down after each drill is essential.

My First Drill: Ankle Weights Drill

I do full length of the Pitch Sprints with ankle weights on my ankle. As a starter I would say you should try 5sprints a day with this method to get used to it. Perhaps you can start off at 60% pace for your first 2 sprints then gradually increase to 75 then to 85 then full pace sprinting by your 5th Sprint. Your rest periods should be the walk or preferably the jog back to the starting line where you began you will notice you get fitter and lighter when you run without the ankle weights on. For the weights I would suggest 2.5lbs should be fine to start off with and you can gradually increase them as you advance.

The Sessions for the Ankle Weights Drill

3sprints sessions a week will be ideal, sprinting with this drill every other day is the recommended method to enable you and your body to recuperate.

My Second Speed Drill: Weighted Vest Drill

This involves doing full length sprints with a weighted vest on, this might be a bit strenuous on some people so if you do go with this drill I would suggest you ask your doctor first that you are in the right structural shape to utilise this drill. Whatever the case it is not a rush to get as heavy as possible on. Rather it is a slow and steady progression, start of gradually with 5kg in the weights for say every other day of sprints. Then in the next week increase the weights to 7kg and the week after 10kg.

The Sessions for the Weighted Vest Drill

3sprints sessions a week will be ideal. For instance every other day so if you start on Monday then next session should be on Wednesday and the Third should be on Friday. This allows you 24hours in between sessions to allow your body to rest. Just as with the ankle weights drill you should allow yourself the rest in between sprints to be the walk back or preferably jog back to the starting line this will improve your fitness and speed as you progress through the drills and the weights.

My Third Drill: The Parachute Drill

This is a lighter version of the Weighted Vest Drill; it involves you wearing a parachute backpack on your back and doing sprints with it. I tend to use this drill as a warm down after the weighted vest drill. However this drill can also be used on its own especially if you do not have a weighted vest at first. The Sessions for the Weighted Vest Drill

As this Drill is lighter I would say ideally ten sprints every other day should be ideal however rather than doing them 10 at ago what you can do is break them into 5sprints now then have a rest by jogging round the pitch at a slow pace and then do the next 5 straight away.

Final Thoughts

Mental ability, speed, confidence and fitness are all attributes that will be enhanced and developed as you do these drills and I hope these drills help you to leave the competition staring at the back of your boots as you zoom passed them.

Speed Training For Sports Such As Rugby Or Football

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