Description
During field- and court-based sports, players are continually required to perceive their environment within a match and select and perform the most appropriate action to achieve their immediate goal within that match instance. This ability is commonly known as agility, considered a vital quality in such sports and may incorporate a variety of locomotion and instantaneous actions.
Multidirectional speed is a global term to describe the competency and capacity to perform such actions: accelerate, decelerate, change direction, and ultimately maintain speed in multiple directions and movements within the context of sports-specific scenarios, encompassing agility, speed, and many other related qualities. Multidirectional speed in sport depends on a multitude of factors, including perceptual-cognitive abilities, physical qualities, and the technical ability to perform the previously mentioned actions.
Multidirectional Speed in Sport: Research to Application reviews the science of multidirectional speed and translates this information into real-world application in order to provide a resource for practitioners to develop multidirectional speed with athletes, bringing together knowledge from a wealth of world-leading researchers and applied practitioners in the area of speed and agility to provide a complete resource to assist practitioners in designing effective multidirectional speed development programmes.
This text is critical reading for undergraduate and graduate sports science students, all individuals involved in training athletes (e.g. coaches, physiotherapists, athletic trainers), and researchers in the field of sports science and sports medicine.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Theoretical Basis for Developing Multidirectional Speed
1. Introduction to Multidirectional Speed
Paul A. Jones and Thomas Dos’Santos
2. Contextual Importance of Multidirectional Speed in Field- and Court-Based Sports
Paul Caldbeck
3. Biomechanical Basis of Linear and Curvilinear Sprint Performance
Laura J. Elstub and Sarah M. Churchill
4. Biomechanical and Physical Basis of Change of Direction for Performance and Injury Risk
Thomas Dos’Santos and Paul A. Jones
5. Deceleration in Sport: Incidence, Demands, and Implications for Training
Damian Harper
Part 2: Assessment and Development of Multidirectional Speed
6. Assessment of Multidirectional Speed Qualities
Paul A. Jones and Thomas Dos’Santos
7. Assessment of Physical Qualities Associated with Multidirectional Speed
Christopher Thomas
8. Development of Physical Qualities Related to Multidirectional Speed
Paul Comfort
9. Strategies to Develop Linear and Curvilinear Sprinting Technique
James Wild and Jon Goodwin
10. Developing Change of Direction and Agility Technique and Movement Solutions
Thomas Dos’Santos and Paul A. Jones
11. Coaching for Multidirectional Speed: Motor Learning Principles for Developing Sprint and Change-of-Direction Techniques for Performance and Injury Risk Mitigation
Anne Benjaminse
12. Metabolic Conditioning for Multidirectional Speed
Liam Anderson and Barry Drust
13. Developing Perceptual-Cognitive Factors in Relation to Agility Performance Enhancement
Tania Spiteri
Part 3: Programming for Multidirectional Speed
14. Programming for Multidirectional Speed in Sport
Paul A. Jones and Thomas Dos’Santos; Featuring Sports-Specific Case Studies by Molly Binetti, Cameron Josse, and Chris McLeod
15. Monitoring Multidirectional Speed Training
Mark Quinn and Steve Atkins
16. Rehabilitation and Return to Play from Deceleration and Change-of-Direction Specific Injuries
Lee Herrington and Paul A. Jones
17. Long-Term Athlete Development for Multidirectional Speed
Robert W. Meyers, John M. Radnor, and Micheál Cahill
