Science for Sport Podcast

329: The Five Qualities of Speed Development

July 20th, 2026  |  33 mins 20 secs

1080 sprint, acceleration, agility training, american football, athlete monitoring, athlete recovery, athletic performance, catapult gps, change of direction, coaching psychology, college football, conditioning, curved sprinting, deceleration, elite sport, external load, force velocity profiling, high performance sport, horizontal force, individualised training, injury risk reduction, internal load, matt gebert, max velocity, maximum velocity, multidirectional speed, ncaa football, ole miss football, ole miss rebels, performance coaching, player availability, sleep and performance, speed development, sports performance, sports science, sports technology, sprint training, strength and conditioning, training load, velocity-based training, wellness monitoring, work capacity

Richard Graves is joined by Ole Miss Strength and Conditioning Coach Matt Gebert to explore how speed is developed, assessed and managed within an elite college football programme.

Matt explains how acceleration, maximum velocity, deceleration, change of direction and conditioning are trained across different position groups. He also discusses how Ole Miss uses sports science technology to profile athletes, manage training load and support player availability.

The episode provides a practical look at the relationship between speed, data, recovery and coaching judgement, while highlighting why effective performance programmes must be individualised to the physical and psychological needs of each athlete.

319: Acceleration, Plyometrics and the Transfer to Performance

May 11th, 2026  |  34 mins

acceleration, athlete communication, athlete development, bobsled, bobsleigh, coaching philosophy, elite sport, eric franke, fatigue management, german bobsleigh, high performance coaching, jump training, latvian bobsleigh, latvian skeleton, olympic bobsleigh, olympic performance, olympic silver medallist, performance coaching, plyometrics, pyeongchang 2018, rate of force development, richard graves, science for sport, skeleton, sliding sports, speed training, sports performance, sports science, sprint training, strength and conditioning, testing and monitoring

Richard Graves is joined by Olympic silver medallist and high performance coach Eric Franke to discuss the demands of elite bobsleigh, the pressure of competing at the Olympic Games, and the key principles behind speed development. Eric explains why speed must be prioritised properly, how plyometrics and sprinting can support performance, and why his coaching philosophy focuses on communication, individualisation and helping athletes become better decision-makers.