Running faster is a skill you train, not just something you’re born with. It comes from three things you can work on: how you run (technique), how hard you push in the first steps (acceleration), and your top speed. The engine behind all three is power and strength — so morning power and strength & control make you faster too, and this is where you turn that strength into speed.
Warm up first — running drills is the sprint-specific warm-up; movement prep works too. You need a clear stretch of ground, twenty or thirty metres. No equipment; a gentle hill helps for one part, but isn’t needed.
The golden rule: speed is trained fresh. Short reps, full recovery, and you stop while you’re still fast. A tired sprint just teaches your body to run slow. Never do this at the end of a hard session.
Technique — how you run (do these every time).
- wall drives — lean on a wall, arms straight, drive one knee up and hold, then switch. this is the drive angle.
- a-skips — skip with a high knee and a quick punch of the foot back to the ground. rhythm and knee lift.
- ankling — quick, low foot contacts, staying tall. teaches fast feet and good posture.
- straight-leg bounds — legs fairly straight, “paw” the ground under you. teaches you to run over the ground, not behind it.
- b-skips — an a-skip, then snap the leg out and pull the foot back down, like kicking something away in front of you.
- carioca — sideways cross-steps, hips rotating, arms out for balance. both directions.
- butt kicks — let the knee travel forward and tuck the heel under you — don’t lock the thigh and kick your lower leg back.
Cues for all sprinting: run tall, relax your face and hands (tension slows you down), drive the arms hand-to-hip to hand-to-cheek, push the ground back and down.
One rule from how professionals actually train: cues live in the drills, not in the running. When you sprint, sprint — thinking about your legs mid-run measurably slows people down. The drills shape the stride; the running just runs. And there’s no “correct” style to copy: world championships have been won heel-striking, bouncing, and with slow stride rates. Your stride is yours; make it stronger, not different.
Acceleration — the first steps. Over half the sprints in a football match are under ten metres — the first steps are the prize. Four to six sprints of ten to twenty metres from a standstill (or leaning forward until you have to catch yourself, then go). Low body at the start, big powerful steps, rising gradually. Walk all the way back; go again only when you feel recovered.
Max velocity — your top gear (the piece most people skip). Four to six runs: build up smoothly over twenty metres, then hit a twenty-to-thirty-metre zone at about 95% — tall now, knees high, quick contacts. This is the bit that actually raises your top speed. Rest two to three minutes between them — really. Rushing these is the most common way to waste a speed session.
Hills (optional). A gentle uphill sprint builds force for acceleration and is kinder on the legs; flat ground is better for top-speed mechanics. Mix them for variety.
progression. start with the technique drills and short accelerations until the form feels natural — good mechanics come before top speed, always. then add the max-velocity runs. add reps before you add distance, and keep every single rep high quality. if the times or the feeling slow down, you’re done for the day.
background: how much training is too much?