Speed is vital for success in rugby however, speed development is often one of the most poorly executed aspects of training. In this lecture we unpack what we need to be thinking about to develop speed in rugby

1. STRENGTH & CONDITIONING
IN RUGBY
WPRA LECTURE SERIES

2. WRITTEN AND PRESENTED BY
Gregory Hunt BSc (Hons) Sports Rehabilitation
Founder of Sanari Fitness

3. SPEED

4. Building the Athlete
Model of physical athletic development (Hunt G.J., 2019)
Human
Athlete
Specify
Genetic, epigenetic & anthropometric constraints
Strength Speed
Balance Stability Mobility
Power
Proprioception & integration of HQ
Skill Acquisition
5 base movement patterns
Physical
performance
C.V.
Speed = limb speed in this model. Not a person moving A-B
Sprint speed is the expression of power.

5. SPEED
NATURE VS NURTURE
▸ Fibre types I, IIa -
nurture
▸ Super fast twitch IIX -
nature and very rare

7. SPEED
MECHANICS
▸ Proprioception
▸ 5 base movements -
especially cross
lateral
▸ Stability

8. SPEED
MECHANICS

9. SPEED
STRENGTH
▸ Acceleration - 5m (10
max)
▸ Creating force to over
come gravity
Props in pro rugby not uncommon to be quickest over 5m due to often being the strongest

10. SPEED
SPEED OF CONTRACTION
▸ Ankle stiffness
▸ Rate of force
development
▸ Stretch Shorten Cycle
▸ Velocity training
Ankle stiffness - primarily a neuromuscular mechanism. By stiffening the ankle it allows force from the larger muscles of the hip and thigh to exact more force into the
ground and make better use of the natural elastic properties of the achilles /triceps surae
RFD - this has been shown time and again to be a deciding factor between higher and lower level sprint performances. The ability to apply large amounts of force, rapidly
is vital to creating speed
SSC - understanding the SSC and how we can take advantage of it in our training will lead to more effective training for speed development
Velocity training - we should be measuring ourselves by the power we can produce in training not total weight lifted. Athletes should be competing through wattage not
kilos

11. finding out where we naturally fall on the force-velocity curve is important for individuals to know whether they need more velocity or more strength.
For example limb speed was never a problem for me so I actually benefitted most from big slow lifts to build my maximal strength up. This goes against the classic idea
of power training as it has traditional been deemed that you need to lift with speed all the time. this is not always the case. It is “what will benefit the individual most”.
That is where you will get the biggest gains quickest for that individual.

12. exercises are classified as either slow- (≥250 milliseconds) or fast-SSC (≤250 milliseconds) movements
Slow SSC - larger peak forces, lower RFD
Fast SSC - larger RFD, lower peak forces
Generally speaking large joint ROMs are slow SSC and short ROMs are fast SSC.

13. Rate of force development RFD.
Measured in Newtons per seconds squared.
So peak force and RFD are different.

14. SUMMARY
THE CROSS FIT QUESTION

15. ‣ LARGE FORCE
‣ AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE
‣ THROUGH STABLE LEVERS
‣ IN THE DIRECTION YOU WANT IT
‣ WITH AS LITTLE “LEAKAGE” OF ENERGY AS
POSSIBLE

16. REFERENCES
▸ Slide 5 - https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170214070418-seabelo-senatla-
break.jpg
▸ Slide 6 - https://youtu.be/qOUOdz3U2gM
▸ Slide 7 - https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?
q=tbn:ANd9GcQQXBYa9dtSk28P7mYX_S2jDZSPzeH6GMxnv00_gRhU2Yaj5bHx&s
▸ Slide 8 - https://youtu.be/4fjC1Oim0UQ
▸ Slide 9 - https://img2.thejournal.ie/inline/2357975/original/?
width=630&version=2357975
▸ Slide 10 - http://www.espnscrum.com/PICTURES/CMS/21600/21628.jpg
▸ Slide 11 - https://www.scienceforsport.com/force-velocity-curve/
▸ Slide 12 - https://www.scienceforsport.com/stretch-shortening-cycle/
▸ Slide 13 - https://www.scienceforsport.com/rate-of-force-development-rfd-2/

17. STRENGTH & CONDITIONING
IN RUGBY
WPRA LECTURE SERIES