First-step speed: what to train, and what to leave on the court

Ask a player what limits their movement and the answer is usually "I am not fast enough". Ask what they do about it and the answer is usually running, or a circuit at the end of a session. Neither is a speed session.

Fast movement is three qualities, not one

• Force production. Getting out of the first step is a push into the ground. Weak hips and calves mean a slow first metre no matter how hard you try.
• Deceleration. Most of a change of direction is stopping. Players who cannot brake cannot cut, so they round the turn and lose the step they had.
• Re-acceleration. The second and third step after the cut, which is where the point is usually decided.

A session that trains only the first of those leaves the other two to chance.

Quality first, and stop when it drops

Speed work is trained fresh or not at all. A useful session looks small on paper:

• 6 to 8 minutes of warm-up and movement preparation, ending with two or three progressive accelerations.
• 2 to 4 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions of the actual drill: a lateral push into a 5-metre sprint, a split-step into a first step, a cone cut with a two-step exit.
• 90 to 120 seconds of rest between sets. Full recovery, every time.

The session ends when the reps get slower, not when the timer runs out. If the last two reps look different from the first two, you are now training fatigue, and fatigue is what conditioning sessions are for.

Deceleration before acceleration for most players

If a player has never trained braking, they do not need more sprinting. They need to learn to arrive at a position under control: a short approach into a two-foot stop, a lateral shuffle into a balanced hold, a single-leg landing that does not collapse inward.

Get the stopping right and the cutting gets faster almost immediately, because the player is no longer slowing down early to survive the turn.

Strength is the base under all of it

Speed does not need to be trained every day, but it needs something underneath it. Two lifting sessions a week, built on a squat pattern, a hip hinge, a single-leg movement and a trunk exercise that resists rotation, are enough for most club and tournament players. Repetitions kept two to three away from failure in the main lifts, so the quality of the movement stays high and the next court session is not compromised.

What quietly works against court speed

• Conditioning circuits for speed. Ten minutes of continuous work with no rest trains exactly the opposite of what a first step needs.
• Long slow running to "get quicker". It builds an engine, which is useful for match endurance, and it does nothing for a first step.
• Speed work after a two-hour practice. The nervous system is already tired. The reps get slower and the pattern you rehearse is the slow one.
• Chasing a stopwatch every week. Sprint times move in small amounts and wobble with sleep and court surface. Judge the block on the trend, not on Tuesday's number.

Two numbers worth tracking

A 5-metre sprint from a split step, and a 5-10-5 change of direction, measured in week 1 and again in week 8. Two numbers, four measurements in a block, and a real answer to the question you started with.

If you want the sessions written for you, around the days you are on court and the competitions in your calendar, that is what TenFit does.