Repeat Sprint drill
22m Shuttle Grinder
Build tolerance to a single sustained maximal effort with heavy braking and turning.
- Time
- 20 minutes
- Players
- 1 to 20 players
- Intensity
- High
- Equipment
- None
- Space
- 22m shuttle, 264m total
- Positions
- All positions
Setup
Try line to the 22m line and back, six times, using no cones. That is 264m in total.
How to run it
- Start on the try line and time yourself.
- Sprint to the 22m line, put a foot on or over it, turn and sprint back - that is one out-and-back, and you do six without stopping.
- Rest exactly 5 minutes, run a second trial, and average the two for your score.
- Unlike repeat sprint work this one is paced: the best times come from a slightly conservative first half and a held second half.
- Use it in a 3 to 4 week block near the start of the season rather than all year round.
Coaching cues
- Foot must touch or cross the line every turn
- Even split - conservative first half, hold the second
- Two trials, and the second one is the honest one
Common mistakes
- Programming it as repeat sprint work when it is a completely different, heavily lactic effort
- Running more than two or three trials, when quality collapses and injury risk climbs
Related drills
- Repeat Sprint SetTrain the ability to sprint hard again and again on short recovery, which is what fades in the last twenty minutes.
- Repeated Sprint SetsBuild repeat sprint ability across a training block using sets that protect sprint quality.
- Alactic Power RunsDevelop the pure power end of repeat sprint ability with full recovery between efforts.
- Alactic Capacity RunsExtend how long you can hold near-maximal speed before the anaerobic systems take over.
- Speed Endurance Maintenance ShuttlesTrain holding speed while badly fatigued, on deliberately short recovery.
- Speed Endurance Production ShuttlesProduce maximum output on every single rep, with long rest to keep quality intact.