CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: Safer Sprint Training with Derek Hansen
We’re excited to welcome sprint training expert Derek Hansen to this week’s podcast for a great chat on fundamental of sprinting training, his unique approach to managing hamstrings injuries, and much more. Derek shares some general principles as well as specific applications to baseball preparation. CSP-MA Director of Performance John O’Neil takes the lead as a guest host as well.
A special thanks to this show’s sponsor, Athletic Greens. Head to https://www.athleticgreens.com/cressey and you’ll receive a free 10-pack of Athletic Greens travel packets with your first order.
Show Outline
- How Derek has become the speed-focused coach he is today and how he has become involved coaching national and professional sports teams across multiple sports
- How Derek designs return to play programs for hamstrings strains and what success he has found transforming recovery times from 3-4 week to 7-10 days
- How his atypical, acceleration-based program works to not only recuperate the injured hamstrings but build resiliency from future setbacks
- What warnings Derek has for athletes overzealous to speed through a hamstrings recovery program
- How Derek recommends to specifically integrate and progress sprinting into hamstrings strain rehab and why he prioritizes stride frequency over stride length early in the rehab process
- Why Derek emphasizes stride frequency when training his athletes for speed and what tactics coaches should avoid and implement to encourage quality stride frequency
- What the “10×10” is and why Derek utilizes this return-to-play program as the foundation for all his rehabilitation work
- How coaches can best manage the volume of their athletes’ speed work
- How baseball players can preserve their speed qualities in season
- How the perspective of running has been tarnished in the recent history of sports performance and how Derek is working to transform the perspective on running
- Why sprinting and lifting are not competing entities and how coaches can manipulate running dosage to elicit training effects regardless of an athlete’s current circumstance
- What Derek’s advice is for athletes just beginning to utilize sprint work as their primary training approach
- How mastering the initial acceleration of sprinting and training short bursts of 5-7 strides can go a long way in the development of an athlete
- Where long distance sprinting (30+ yards) fits into the training of baseball players
- Why 100% effort does not necessary mean 100% performance and how relaxation plays a role in moving at high speeds
- What drills or cues coaches can use to teach being loose and relaxed as opposed to tensed and rigid when performing high-speed movements
- How sprinting distance influences the specific demands of placed on an athlete
- How sprinting can be programmed to address the different demands placed on baseball players by position
- Why running technique and communicating effort of exertion are crucial for maximizing speed work in any population
- What Derek’s coaching philosophy is and how he has learned to adopt a process-oriented approach for simplifying movement for his athletes
- How coaches and educators can maximize the retention of their training interventions and encourage self-awareness and learning that will stick beyond a single training session
- What common flaws Derek sees in baseball players’ running technique
- What technical landmarks Derek is looking for when evaluating an athlete’s running mechanics
- How posture directly influences an individual’s ability to put force into the ground
- What role the arms play in efficient running mechanics and how focusing on the upper extremities can create positive change throughout the entire gate cycle
- How coaching the hands can be used specifically to improve tempo and rhythm in the running motion without overcomplicating an individual’s thought process
- Why a lack of strength is a poor excuse for avoiding speed work with young athletes and how Derek integrates speed-focused, power drills into youth population’s training
You can follow Derek on Twitter at @DerekMHansen and Instagram at @DerekMHansen.
Sponsor Reminder
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