In most sports, athletes perform short (5- to 20-yd) or long (20- to 40-yd) sprints, change direction rapidly, or jump for height and/or distance. Therefore, linear acceleration and multidirectional speed; agility; and vertical, horizontal, and lateral jumping movements are essential elements of successful athletic performance. These locomotor skills are learned at young ages as children participate in unstructured playful activities. Maturation and experience will help refine the movement patterns associated with these skills; however, instruction on the mechanical aspects of locomotion is typically required to improve efficiency and performance and to limit the likelihood of injury. Once the global and segmental mechanical aspects of a skill have been mastered, training can focus on improving and ultimately maximizing performance. The types of exercises or drills prescribed to an athlete will be based on identified mechanical flaws or muscular weaknesses. To date, the manipulation of acute training variables for speed, agility, and plyometric training is unclear but will certainly depend on the athletic goals (short and long term), developmental stage, as well as chronological and training age. To design a training regimen for an athlete, sports performance professionals need to consider aspects from several domains. First, a clear understanding of the sequence of motor development from childhood to adulthood for running, jumping, and changing direction is important. This will help guide the selection of appropriate drills or exercises for inexperienced, mature, and advanced athletes. Second, sports performance professionals should clearly recognize mature movement patterns associated with global and segmental mechanics and understand the specific muscular actions involved. This will help them to identify movement flaws, instruct athletes on appropriate changes, and assist skill improvement during childhood and through adolescence. Finally, understanding how to manipulate acute training program variables (e.g., sets, reps, frequency, volume) will prove to be the most challenging aspect of improving and maximizing performance, since research is scarce regarding sprint, agility, and plyometric training. Nevertheless, appropriate training principles are applied to ensure sufficient stimulation to improve performance while minimizing excessive overload. This chapter begins with an overview of the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) and briefly describes factors that impact SSC efficiency. Next, the developmental sequence of sprinting, jumping, and changing direction is illustrated, which includes characteristics for mature motor skill performance. Then a brief list of exercises and drills is provided to help develop and improve sprinting, jumping, and agility skills. Finally, general guidelines for program design are recommended.
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