My Top 6 Speed Training Gadgets
Matt Talarico, StealBases.com
If you have followed the “12-week plan” in our website then you know we have days outlined to develop quickness and agility… not just speed necessarily. I thought it would be a good idea to give my take on the running tools you can buy for a reasonable price to help speed up this process.
I wanted to keep these suggestions in a price range that is reasonable, so equipment like treadmills and push sleds are not included. These are all basic suggestions that can help coaches and families without giant budgets to buy anything and everything.
Here is my breakdown!
*I did not receive anything to promote these items or stores. Just put where I think you can get the tools for the best price.
These will be in order of importance…
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1. Agility Cones
Price range – 50¢-$10.00
- My recommendation – find them as cheap as possible.
- Here they are for 50¢ per cone –
This is a simple investment that can be very important to your speed training. You can use these for multiple drills like box drills, zigzag drills, etc. We also use these to measure all of our leads during our training programs (https://www.stealbases.com/12-week-plan/). So this is a great multi-function tool for your base stealing development process. Get these first… they are cheap and the most important.
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2. Stopwatch
Price range – $5.00-$50.00
- My recommendation – I would get a good stopwatch. It doesn’t have to be great on but should be a good one. Every recruiting college coach can tell you we have all tried to get a cheap one… it won’t work for more than a week. You have to invest in a watch that can take a bit of a beating and last you awhile. It should NOT be a wrist watch or a cell phone timer. You want accurate times! This requires a button you can push in.
- Here is a decent watch for $20.00 –http://www.dragonsports.net/Accusplit-Pro-Survivor-Stopwatch.html
- The more you spend the better watch you are going to get for the most part.
You MUST know how fast you are going and be able to record it. If it gets measured it is going to get improved. This is how you measure your speed and it is nice to have something you can keep in your hand while running alone and still get accurate times. Go get a decent stopwatch!
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3. Jump Rope or Speed Rope
Price range – $5.00-$65.00
- My recommendation – You can get really flashy, name brand jump ropes and pay a lot of money or you can get cheap ropes without a name and get the same result. In my opinion you can get a speed rope from FiveBelow for $5.00. It has adjustable handles that screw in just like the fancy ropes made by Rogue. This is the best deal in the world.
- Here is a link to the store
- The jump rope can be found just as cheap so I would recommend getting one of each. Mix up what you like to do and you will see benefits for around $10.00 total.
- Jump rope vs. Speed rope
- Jump rope is typically what you remember from grade school. They are a little thicker and are great for jumping rope for longer durations of time. They can be made of rope, beads or plastic cables – it is really up to you and your preference.
- Speed rope has been made popular by CrossFit. It is a thin cable wire rope that is extremely light. This puts much less emphasis on your arms and shoulders and is made for moving the rope very quick for movements like double unders.
The jump rope/speed rope is probably my favorite tool to create quicker/lighter feet and coordination. A lot of our base stealing technique requires runners to be light on their feet. Jumping rope quickly creates rhythm and can get you results in a short time. When you start to improve from basics you can change patterns, perform double unders, etc. Try consistent jump rope for just 1 month and you will know what I mean.
Here are some examples:
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4.Hudl Technique (formerly Ubersense)
Price – Free – $6.99 (flat rate)
- My recommendation – $7.00 is an absolute steal for software like this. When I first started coaching this would have been a minimum of $500.00 on your desktop computer and took forever to use. This software allows you to slide your index finger across the screen to control the slow motion.
- Visit the app store and at least download it for the trial and see what you think – Hudl Technique
Software like Hudl Technique is critical for correcting your running form. I just did a comparison the other day so one of my players could see his breakdown vs. a big league runner. The players we coach have had access to this stuff forever. They are all visual learners and we can increase the learning time by weeks if we get them to see what we want from their technique. This software is typically used for side by side swing analysis… just switch it to runners.
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5. Resistance Bands
Price – $20-$30.00
- My recommendation – These can be costly. But the bright side is that we only need one and it is not the thickest one. I recommend the green band from the picture above. You have to be careful when buying because every brand has a different color but it should be about the same thickness. The price should be around $20-$30.
- Here is a link to Rogue where you can buy 1 for $20.00.
These Monster Bands are a great investment in general. They can serve as a complete weight room when you get comfortable using them. They also assist in stretching and mobility too – visit Kelly Starrett’s youtube page to see what I mean (I’ll attach a sample below… great information). We like to use these bands for speed training to provide resistance during acceleration.
Kelly Starrett’s Mobility Wod
Resistance running… We do these but also from a base stealing position (working lateral acceleration)
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6. Speed Parachute
Price range – $18-$22.00
- My recommendation – take a look at Walmart for this one. I am sure you can find very fancy versions that cost $100, which are probably better parachutes with more resistance but the cheap versions should work just fine for what we need.
- Here is a link to WalMart’s version – HERE. It cost $21.36.
- You just need to be sure you take care of it if it is a cheaper model – probably cannot drag it on the concrete.
These are great devices for training by yourself. This works on leg strength during our “top end” portion of running. It does not work as much on acceleration because it takes your acceleration to get the parachute off of the ground. These also velcro on so they have a quick release to pull during the sprint, which is a nice addition.
So there it is… for around $75.00 you can get some great equipment to improve your speed including cones, a stopwatch, video analysis software, resistance bands, and a running parachute.
If this is still out of your budget then go down the list in order of importance and buy what you don’t already own. I do feel like $75 is reasonable, just eliminate things that aren’t as important for a few weeks. Most young players spend this on one video game! Combining these tools during our 12-Week program and you will get great results – Development Plans.
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