Speed Ladders, Useless for Speed, or just Useless?
Mostly.
Ok. We are good here than right? See you next week.
No? Ok, I’ll bite. Overall, the speed ladder is a tool that is widely overused, and the bulk of the drills that you see people using it for are relatively useless for improving sports speed and/or agility. So why is it so popular?
In our world of social media snippets, the impressive looking cool drill has become even more prevalent. It catches attention, and for many of the coaches and influencers who promote silly ladder drills, attention and profit is the driving force for what they do, not real-world results for athletes. It gets easy to buy into the hype though.
So WHY don’t they work? And more importantly, WHAT DOES?
Speed, in its simplest sense, is determined by two major factors.
the frequency with which we stride
The force we put into the ground on each stride
Makes sense, right? If we can put a ton of force into the ground while taking very fast steps, we will move over a given distance in a very short amount of time. Speed=distance divided by time taking long fast strides is the recipe for going fast.
Think of every ladder drill you’ve ever seen. Feet in a blur, looking quick as hell, but going nowhere. Ladder drills, almost by necessity, encourage an athlete not to put force into the ground, because the constraints of the ladder dictate small steps with little push into the ground.
On top of that, ladders and most drills, while coaching “fast feet” encourage incredibly short and choppy steps to look fast. Remember in that above equation, long fast strides is the key to speed, not short and choppy.
As an example, the (general) amount of steps it takes a good sprinter to run through 10 meters is about 7. If you line a novice sprinter up, the number of steps they take will be far greater, despite running a much slower time. So, in this case, more steps equals slowerrrrrrr.
So, what does increase speed?
A good basic sprinting program, with an emphasis on good mechanics using drills like skipping, bounding, and other running mechanic drills
A strength program. Strength training improves general force production, a huge part of the speed continuum
Depending on the sport, well designed agility drills that teach the athlete how to perform motions needed for their sport in a way that encourages strong mechanics and great force production