Main description:

During field and court-based sports, players are continually required to perceive their environment within a match and select and perform the most appropriate action to achieve their immediate goal within that match instance. This ability is commonly known as agility, considered a vital quality in such sports and may incorporate a variety of locomotion and instantaneous actions.

Multidirectional speed is a global term to describe the competency and capacity to perform such actions, to accelerate, decelerate, change direction and ultimately maintain speed in multiple directions and movements within the context of sports specific scenarios, encompassing many of these agility, speed, and related qualities. Multidirectional speed in sport depends on a multitude of factors including perceptual-cognitive abilities, physical qualities, and the technical ability to perform the abovementioned actions.

Multidirectional Speed in Sport: Research to Application reviews the science of multidirectional speed and translates this information into real-world application in order to provide a resource for practitioners to develop multidirectional speed with athletes, bringing together knowledge from a wealth of world-leading researchers and applied practitioners in the area of 'speed and agility' to provide a complete resource to assist practitioners in designing effective multidirectional speed development programmes.

This text is critical reading for undergraduate and graduate sports science students, all individuals involved in training athletes (e.g., coaches, physiotherapists, athletic trainers) along with researchers in the field of sports science and sports medicine.

Contents:

Part: 1 Theoretical Basis for Developing Multidirectional Speed

1. Introduction to Multidirectional Speed

2. Contextual Importance of Multidirectional Speed in Field- and Court-Based Sports

3. Biomechanical Basis of Linear and Curvilinear Sprint Performance

4. Biomechanical and Physical Basis of Change of Direction for Performance and Injury Risk

5. Deceleration in Sport: Incidence, Demands and Implications for Training

Part 2: Assessment and Development of Multidirectional Speed

6. Assessment of Multidirectional Speed Qualities

7. Assessment of Physical Qualities Associated with Multidirectional Speed

8. Development of Physical Qualities Related to Multidirectional Speed

9. Strategies to Develop Linear and Curvilinear Sprint Technique

10. Developing Change of Direction and Agility Technique and Movement Solutions

11. Coaching for Multidirectional Speed: Motor Learning Principles for Developing Sprint and Change of Direction Techniques for Performance and Injury Risk Mitigation,

12. Metabolic Conditioning for Multi-Directional Speed

13. Developing Perceptual-Cognitive Factors in Relation to Agility Performance Enhancement

Part 3: Programming for Multidirectional Speed

14. Programming for Multidirectional Speed in Sports

15. Monitoring Multidirectional Speed Training

16. Rehabilitation and Return to Play from Deceleration and Change of Direction Specific Injuries

17. Long-Term Athlete Development for Multidirectional Speed