Straight Line Sprint

OBJECTIVE

To measure an athlete’s acceleration and maximum running speed.

Equipment

Stopwatch or timing gates
Flat running surface with start and finish lines marked apart (e.g., 10 m, 20 m, 30 m, and 40 m). Keep at least 20 m free after the finish line for deceleration.

PERSONNEL

One timer / recorder

PROCEDURE

Instruct the athlete to warm up and perform dynamic stretches for several minutes.

Allow two practice runs at submaximal speed.

The athlete assumes a starting position depending on their sport. This could be a two, three, or four-point stance.

On an auditory signal, the athlete sprints the stated distance at maximal speed.

Two trials are completed, and the best time is recorded to the nearest 0.1 seconds.

Athletes should be given at least 2 minutes of active recovery or rest between trials.

DATA

Normative Data for 30 m sprint times

Descriptive Data for Speed Testing for Various Populations

The values listed are means ± standard deviation. The data should be regarded as descriptive, not normative.

REFERENCES

Davis, B. et al. (2000). Physical Education and the Study of Sport. UK: London, Harcourt Publishers Ltd. p. 125. Table 4.6.

McGuigan, M. (2016). ‘Administration, Scoring, and Interpretation of Selected Tests’, in Haff, G. G., & Triplett, N. T. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning 4^th Edition. USA: Human Kinetics. p. 312-313. Table 13.23.