Summer Training Packets - I Hate Them

 When you go to buy a car, there's usually a sticker on the window showing a picture of a gas pump. On one side, it might say "30 MPG highway" and "12 MPG city." This means you’ll burn more gas driving in the city due to all the stopping and starting, slowing down and speeding up. Similarly, it seems that colleges are more concerned with “highway MPG”,  or how an athlete performs in a straight line than with “city MPG,” which reflects how athletes handle deceleration, acceleration, and changes of direction.

Don’t get me wrong , I’m not placing all the blame on strength and conditioning (S&C) coaches. More often than not, the push for more conditioning drills or heavy lifting comes from the sport coaches. But what’s often overlooked is the importance of teaching speed mechanics: acceleration, top-end speed, and proper deceleration, that will help the endurance of the athlete throughout the game and the season. 

Take the Manchester run, for example. In this drill, athletes must sprint 100 or 110 yards in a set time, then jog back to the start line in a set time as their rest. Let’s say an athlete has to sprint down in 18 seconds and jog back in one minute, and complete 15 of these. Now imagine one athlete who has been taught proper sprint mechanics and covers the 100 yards in 52 steps, while another without sprint training takes 56 steps. Which one is using more energy and is more likely to be gassed by the tenth rep? You guessed it, the one without sprint mechanics.

Still not convinced? Let’s look at another example. A popular conditioning test in lacrosse is the 300-yard shuttle: sprinting 50 yards six times under a time cap, usually under 60 seconds. Some colleges have modified this test to 30 yards out and back, which adds more change of direction. Many athletes struggle with this, but those I’ve trained typically don’t because they’ve been taught how to accelerate with proper knee drive and sprint mechanics, like striking the ground under the hips. This allows them to maintain control and change direction more efficiently.

Another issue I often see is athletes “running” on their heels during tests like 300s, Manchesters, or even 400s. I was always taught that anything 400 meters (or 440 yards) or less is a sprint, and sprint rules apply. That means heels up.

When I ask my college athletes about their S&C programs, I unfortunately hear more negative than positive. This really bothers me. Again, I’m not blaming just the S&C coaches, but the focus at many colleges (and high schools) is primarily on strength and conditioning, meaning lifting heavy and doing high-volume endurance work.

But lifting and doing repeat sprints in a fatigued state won’t improve speed. In fact, it can increase the risk of injury. One of my Division I women’s lacrosse athletes told me that since May 2024, her team has had seven ACL tears and four hip labrum tears. That’s insane. When I asked her about their S&C program, she called it “a joke.”

If you're recruiting an athlete to your program because they're fast and explosive, then maintaining and enhancing, that speed and explosiveness must be a top priority.

Conclusion:
It’s time to rethink what effective athletic development looks like. Strength and endurance are important, but they must be balanced with smart, intentional speed training. Teaching proper sprint mechanics, efficient acceleration and deceleration, and footwork fundamentals isn’t just about performance,  it’s about endurance, longevity and injury prevention. If we want to protect our athletes and unlock their full potential, we must move beyond outdated “grind-it-out” conditioning and focus on quality movement. Fast athletes should stay fast, not be broken down by the very systems meant to build them up.