The effects of 8-week speed training program on the acceleration ability and maximum speed running at 11 years...

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of an 8-week speed training program on the acceleration ability and maximum speed at 11 years athletes. A total of 30 healthy female athletes volunteered to participate in this study. They were divided randomly into 1 of 2 groups: Experimental group (EG; N = 15) and control group (CG; N = 15). The mean (SD) age was 11.20 +/- 0.32 years, height was 1.44 +/- 0.08 m, and weight was 35.20 +/- 2.02 kg for the experimental group; the mean (SD) age was 11.40 +/- 0.39 years, height was 1.45 +/- 0.05 m, and weight was 36.06 +/- 1.15 kg for the control group. A speed training program was applied to the subjects 3 days a week for 8 weeks. Testing was conducted before and after 8 weeks of training. Acceleration and maximum speed was evaluated for 15-m and 30-m, respectively, involving sprinting 15 m and 30 m as fast as possible from a stationary start position that was ascertained during a 50-m. Electronic timekeeping was conducted by the facility--Brower Timing System--made in Utah, USA., consisting of 4 components. Paired t-tests detected significant differences in pre- and posttests for clearance time of 5 m during 50 m in the experimental and control groups (p < 0.05). Therefore, acceleration phase was significantly reduce at 15 m distance interval for the experimental group and control groups posttraining than pretraining (0-15 m, p < 0.05). Acceleration improvement was 12.6% for the experimental group posttraining, on the other hand, acceleration improvement was 5% for the control groups posttraining. we did not find significant difference between pretest and posttest in 10-15 m, 15-20 m, and 20-25 m for the experimental group (p > 0.05). On the other hand, we did find significant difference between pretest and posttest values of other clearance times of consecutively each 5m during 50 m for the experimental and control groups (p < 0.05). Also, this study observed that athletes reached maximum speed in 30 m. In conclusion, in speed training, it is important to improve as many fast motor units as possible, which are more suitable for fast movements. The gains in sprint performance occurred in the initial acceleration and speed-maintenance phases. The ability to accelerate quickly from a stationary position will provide a competitive advantage for athletes.