[gtslabs]

gtslabs on June 8, 2007 at 5:14 am #13118

My son is 8 1/2 and was one of the fastest kids in flag football this year. I wanted to time his 40 yd dash. We went to the highschool field but the lines were gone but the surronding track had back to back triangles at what looked to be 10 yd intervals. In general is this the correct distance?

I marked off 4 of them for what I thought was 40 yards and timed my son with my stopwatch. His lowest 3 times averaged 6.5 seconds.  I know the fastest is around 4.2 seconds.  How does 6.5 rate for an untrained child of his age?

I want to work on developing his speed as he is also interested. What are some safe training techniques for kids of his age?

I also saw a website where they sell shoes with the eleveated toes. I saw a teenageer using these at the local YMCA.
Are these worth it or will it hurt him at this age. I do NOT have him doing any exercises that use weights.

Thanks in advance

[mikeice]

mikeice on June 8, 2007 at 6:06 am #65144

i think weights wont hurt him it just wont help him but he shouldn't weight train till high school or until he starts to gain muscle mass and grow

at this stage i would reccomend doing skips and drills that teach proper running tech and give him a base of speed for the future do body exercises and just general running to keep him active keep in mind that he hasnt dedicated him self to any sprint event just yet so start doing some general sprints varing form short to long keep it fun

6.somthing is about what i did in the 40m in 6th grad so i think his time is good just keep at it

[tcnj28]

tcnj28 on June 15, 2007 at 12:33 am #65145

I work at a well known "speed school" in NJ.  We start training athletes from 7 and up.  You should not acutally lift weights at that age, but practicing good BW squats are not bad and doing things like push-ups, sit-ups, and pullups.  We are very much into doing drills and trying to get them to have a good posture.  I try to focus on their running form during speed work.

[bacon]

bacon on June 19, 2007 at 3:57 am #65146

I read that core posture training is the most effective at a younger age, like Swiss ball training and some little box jumps, though I don't know of any links for the Swiss ball training

[hscoach]

hscoach on June 19, 2007 at 6:40 am #65147

tell us a little more about your "speed school". i have an informal sprints and hurdles camp for 7-12 year olds and i am always looking for new ideas.