Speed – illustrates the ability to perform a given movement or motor act in the shortest possible time. Speed is the ability to perform movements in the shortest possible time. It is to a large extent determined by morphological structure of the muscles working during the movement, the level of neuromuscular coordination as well as the level of endurance (it refers mostly to cyclically repeated movement). Speed is determined by three components:

• Speed of reaction – the speed of stimulus reception and then transforming information to Central Nervous System, analysis and sending the stimulus to the effector – muscle. This component depends on the built type of innervating nerves which is determined genetically and has week susceptibility to training.
• Speed of simple movement – this component of speed mostly depends on muscle built and particularly on the composition of muscle fibres which form muscles. There are two types of muscle fibres: ST (slow twitch) and FT (fast twitch) type. Additionally, FT type is divided into Fta (quickly contractible oxidant-glycolitical) and FTb (quickly contractible gylcotitical). The muscles are more susceptible to speed training if they have more FT type fibres. It should also be stressed that under the influence of speed training and speed and strength training the amount of glycolitic enzymes is increased and transformation of the part of muscle fibres from TFa into FTb is possible.
• Frequency of movement – it is neuro-motor coordination that is the speed of stimulation and inhibition of agonistic and antagonistic groups of muscles. The technique of movement has a strong influence on its frequency, which in case of being acquired at the level of habit has the greatest impact on movement economy and because of that on its frequency.

The methodology of speed development in outline

In the methodology of speed development one should aim at improvement of all components influencing speed. This is achieved by appropriately selected training exercises which aim at:

• Improvement of perception time – through increase of sensitivity and selectivity of receptors to stimuli characteristic to a given discipline or for a movement whose speed is developed.
• Improvement of reaction time – through aiming at automatisation of perception and reaction with the least CNS analysis as possible. This is the process of forming a motor habit in response to a stimulus perception.
• Improvement of simple movement speed – through application of various types of additional forces facilitating the movement – resistance bands, sloped tracks.
• Using extra load which induces so called acceleration effect as a result of the same exercise but without load. However, during these exercises you should carefully choose load as the motor pattern is constant for movement at specified conditions of load and in case of a load which is too excessive the change of motor pattern (understood as a pattern of activation of certain motor units specific to an exercises movement) can occur.
• Use of momentum effect – combining into different parts of exercise different types of phases facilitating performance of the whole exercise with greater speed as in case of its complex performance.
• Use of the leadership effect – applying different forms of leadership improving the increase of speed as a result of a greater sensory-motor excitability in an exercise behind the leader (keeping up the pace of the leader)