Coaches Corner Article: Speed Drilling

How To Utilize Speed Drilling in Your Room

We use speed drilling in order to reinforce technique we have been teaching. Speed Drilling is giving athletes a set amount of time to hit a specific technique we have been teaching.

Generally, I will have the athlete drill anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute, and get as many GOOD reps as he can get. This is done after the first stages of learning the technique: Show it, break it down into steps if necessary, and do the walkaround. After I feel that they have a grasp for the technique, I will go into speed drilling. A lot of the time, I will have one athlete (#1 man) go through all the steps before doing so with #2 man.

Now - when I go through the speed drill, I don't take questions and I don't correct. I do observe the athletes drilling, and take mental notes of how the group is doing as a whole, who has it down, and who is struggling with it. At this point - if the group as a whole just doesn't get it, or isn't doing well with it, I bring them in and re-emphasize some main points again. Sometimes, I will have the group drill a smaller part of the technique, as opposed to all of it, and then go back and drill the whole thing again.

I also keep in mind during this process that they are going to see the technique again. I do not expect the whole group to get it down the first time, nor will I slow down the training until everyone gets it. Most of the technique taught ends up as a speed drill at some point in the camp, which is an essential part of the training, and why my training camps are so effective. What is taught, is learned. You keep coming back to it and drilling it so you learn it.

Another key point about speed drilling - the 'dummy' has to be a good partner and be ready for the next rep when the guy hitting it is ready. Reps should come rapid-fire. I have a 3 second, or 5 second rule (depending on the particular drill) - that's how long it should take from the end of one repetition to the beginning of the next. I will generally make a point to stop the entire group once or twice (or more if needed) to re-emphasize this point, demonstrate the drilling technique again, etc., and then restart them.