Repeat Sprint drill
Alactic Power Runs
Develop the pure power end of repeat sprint ability with full recovery between efforts.
- Time
- 30 minutes
- Players
- 1 to 20 players
- Intensity
- High
- Equipment
- None
- Space
- 60m, try line to far 10m line
- Positions
- All positions
Setup
Try line to the far 10m line is 60m. No cones needed.
How to run it
- Sprint the 60m flat out, which is roughly 7 to 9 seconds of maximal running.
- Walk back very slowly and recover fully - until your heart rate is back around 120 beats per minute, usually 2 to 4 minutes.
- Do 5 to 6 reps, then a second set only if you are still fresh.
- This will feel like an insultingly small session and that is correct; the moment your times start dropping, the session is over.
Coaching cues
- Every rep within a few percent of your best
- Recovery is a heart rate, not a stopwatch number
- Stop the session the moment you slow down
Common mistakes
- Cutting the rest short to make it feel like a proper workout, which turns it into a lactic session instead
- Grinding out extra reps once the sprints have visibly slowed
Related drills
- 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.
- 22m Shuttle GrinderBuild tolerance to a single sustained maximal effort with heavy braking and turning.
- 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.