Through my work in individual, team, Olympic and extreme sports, I have seen as many similarities as differences in developing acceleration. I am a big believer in training for capacity, training athletes to enhance their physical abilities to do what they need to become as fast as possible. In terms of acceleration, I look to develop high vertical and horizontal forces, especially in the first couple steps. Exercises and drills that increase stiffness within the system, develop powerful hip motion and minimise energy leaks in the trunk are critical. This is consistent whether training track sprinters or multidirectional field-sport athletes. In sports in which acceleration is essential, I prioritise the training of force generation and attenuation capacities in such a way that energy is not leaked through poor technique or faulty biomechanics. The process for developing these qualities depends on the sport and the technical and musculoskeletal competencies of the athlete. Where possible, I prioritise drills such as cleans, jerks, weighted step-ups, squats, hack squats and single-leg squats. For injury resilience, it’s also critical to include drills such as Nordic hamstring curls and stifflegged deadlifts. Also I like to include heavy sled work in the programme to develop starting strength and force application. This can be coupled with short (5 metre) hill work. My work with triple jumpers over the years has heavily influenced me in programming for all sports. Particularly I look to bouncing drills to effectively condition the tendons of the lower limbs, which are vital for both performance and protection against injury. Of course, training track athletes is different than training field-sport athletes. My philosophy with footballers, for example, is that building capacity is key. If able to apply more force, they will accelerate quicker. This is paramount. We also look to increase the stiffness within their feet, ankles and lower legs to ensure the players take full advantage of the elastic nature of their muscles and tendons. Then we look at basic technique drills aimed at foot placement, getting the feet to point in the direction where we want them to run. This is carried over into agility drills as well. We want our athletes to be powerful through their hips as though they were going to knee something. Often in field sports, players do not accelerate from a standing start, so in training I have them accelerate from a rolling start. This allows them to build up momentum and is similar to what is seen in football and rugby. From an injury prevention standpoint, we don’t want players exposed to violent accelerations and high-velocity running for the first time in a game. This is when injuries occur, because athletes haven’t built up their durability or capacity to withstand the forces. As such, all players are exposed to high speeds during the preseason. We continue this training in-season as well, but only one very fast session per week, usually on Tuesday if we are running a Saturday-to-Saturday schedule. Usually this training is done in a small group setting of five or six players at a time, focusing on distances up to 40 metres. In the past, I have programmed in a fast but short session on Friday or even Saturday morning to achieve a potentiation effect, preparing players for the match. This is something we will work up to with Newcastle, but at the moment, the players need to be gradually exposed.