Developing Explosive Power: The Journey to Understanding Force and Velocity

Are you struggling to unleash the full potential of your athleticism, only to find yourself falling short of the desired power and speed? The journey towards becoming a more powerful athlete often begins with understanding the underlying factors that contribute to your performance. Let's delve into the intricacies of force and velocity and explore how you can optimize these qualities to elevate your game.

Identifying the Root Cause

Many athletes find themselves grappling with the dichotomy of force and velocity deficiencies. But fear not; with a tailored approach, you can bridge these gaps. Think of identifying these deficiencies as being provided a road map of how to get to your desired destination of being an explosive athlete. These road maps will guide you down the path based on the two types of deficiencies:

Velocity Deficiency: Velocity-deficient athletes often possess decent, or sometimes even remarkable, strength but struggle to translate it into explosive movements. At slower speeds, these athletes may be strong, but they will not be able to replicate these outputs as speed increases. So, that is precisely the quality that we need to train.

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Force Deficiency: Conversely, force-deficient athletes are quick but lacking in strength. These athletes will usually be referred to as fast or twitchy, but they don't pack much of a punch. To raise force output for this athlete, we must engage in training to thicken the tissues with heavy-loaded movements using deep joint angles. This will yield improvements in force production and plasticity.

The Athlete Archetypes

Once you have a starting point for understanding your primary deficiency, break things down to another level. For the most detailed approach, I place my athletes into four subcategories, or archetypes, to further understand their training needs. I'm going to lay out one of my biggest keys to coaching success. This is important because everything in sports performance occurs on a spectrum. Nothing is black-and-white. These archetypes help me navigate through those gray areas:

1. High Force, Low Velocity (HFLV):  These strong, slow athletes struggle to produce force quickly. The overarching theme of their training is to move light loads quickly and improve the stiffness of the tendons. Improvements in their rate of force production (RFD), which will usually be accomplished by speed-strength or high-velocity movements. From an eye test, you may see them run with limited hip flexion. Given that they often lack tendon stiffness, they will exhibit poor ground contact times (GCT) as a result of not being very elastic. Reductions in GCT can be achieved by increasing the stiffness of the foot and ankle complex. Sprinting happens too quickly to rely just on muscles alone. These strong, force-based athletes love to use their muscles, hence their high level of strength. However, this is their downfall when it comes to sprinting. It is impossible to muscle your way into being faster. During a sprint, the tendons stretch and store energy when the foot hits the ground. The stored energy is then released, allowing for forceful and effective propulsion. Elastic rebounding is enhanced by tendon stiffness, maximizing energy return and increasing sprinting speed.

2. High Force, High Velocity (HFHV): These athletes are what you imagine when you think of a stereotypically explosive athlete. They are the closest things to a metahuman that you'd probably ever encounter. This sounds like a coach's dream, but for inexperienced coaches, it can be a nightmare. Why? Because you can't turn Clark Kent into Superman; he's already him. So, how can you make them better? You can provide these athletes with the most value by helping them stay healthy, presenting them with new challenges, and improving their technique and efficiency. Utilize complex plyometrics, contrast training, train movement quality, and emphasize sprint mechanics.

3. Low Force, Low Velocity (LFLV): This category will usually apply to youth or untrained athletes. These athletes can't run fast, jump high, or put up impressive numbers in the weight room. This can also be troubling for inexperienced coaches because these athletes are deficient in both areas and will more than likely display poor movement quality. Don't overcomplicate things with this group, and take a simple approach to training. Grab all of the low-hanging fruit. Prioritize foundational strength movements and low-level plyometrics. Again, nothing in their training should be complicated. My plyometric and speed training with this group is extremely simple. Speed training is mostly loaded sprints followed by max-effort sprints (preferably chasing or racing someone). Plyometric training will include pogos, bilateral landing technique drills, and the three Bs (bounds, box jumps, and broad jumps). When in doubt, get in some volume with sprinting, do a few sets of box and broad jumps, and do 3 x 5–10 strength movements. That is your whole program.

4. Low Force, High Velocity (LFHV): This group is interesting because they have the speed to be explosive but lack the strength component. The analogy that I use to compare the LFHV athletes and the HFLV athletes is that one is like getting hit with a feather that's been thrown at full speed, while the other is like being hit by a rock moving at half a mile per hour. Neither one will hurt very much. To get these athletes stronger, allow them to lift heavy loads through full ranges of motion. Stay on the strength-speed side of the force velocity curve. These athletes may also see some benefit from training localized muscle strength. You would train speed and plyometrics similar to the athletes in the LFLV group, but you would just add more load. Training this group may be tricky at times because there is such a thing as being too strong. If you overshoot your mark by programming heavy, slow movements, these athletes just transition into being HFLV athletes. This may translate into good to great 0–5 yd or 0–10 yd splints, but it will ultimately hinder performance outside of the acceleration phase.

Athlete analysis to understand the appropriate training interventions based on force/velocity deficiencies.

Effective programming hinges on identifying and addressing an athlete's specific deficiencies. Whether you prioritize force development, technical proficiency, or acceleration, tailor your training regimen to target areas of improvement. Allocate time to each phase of training based on individual deficiencies. Emphasize strength-building for athletes lacking force, while dedicating resources to power and velocity enhancement for others. Spend a significant portion of training on areas of weakness, ensuring a balanced approach to skill development. Adjust the duration of each phase to suit the athlete's unique needs and accelerate progress towards their goals. By understanding the nuanced interplay between force and velocity, you can embark on a transformative journey toward becoming a more powerful athlete.