⚡Speed Starts With Relaxation
Watch a group of young athletes run a sprint, steal a base, chase down a ball, or attack the open floor, and you will usually see two very different kinds of effort.
One athlete looks as though she is fighting for every inch. Her shoulders rise toward her ears, her face tightens, her hands clench, and every stride appears to require enormous force. Nobody could question how hard she is trying.
Another athlete seems almost casual by comparison. Her face remains calm, her arms move freely, and her stride looks smooth. She is clearly competing, but she does not look like she is wrestling with her own body.
Then you look at who reached the ball first.
Very often, it was the athlete who looked relaxed.
That can be confusing for young athletes because they have spent years hearing that success comes from trying harder. Effort matters, of course, but effort and tension are not the same thing. One helps athletes apply their ability. The other can interfere with it.
Real speed is not created by tightening every muscle at once. It comes from producing force at the right moment, releasing it at the right moment, and allowing the body to move without unnecessary resistance.
🏃 Fast Does Not Always Look Fast
We tend to associate effort with visible strain.
If an athlete is gritting her teeth, pumping her arms violently, and wearing an intense expression, we assume she must be giving everything she has. If another athlete looks smooth and composed, we may wonder whether she is taking the drill seriously enough.
The stopwatch does not care how hard someone looks like she is working.
Many great athletes make difficult movements look surprisingly easy. Their speed does not appear frantic because their bodies are organized. Their muscles are not all competing for control at the same time, and their movements flow into one another without obvious interruption.
A fast runner accelerates through the ground instead of reaching desperately with each stride. A quick infielder moves her feet without locking her upper body. A powerful hitter creates speed through sequencing, allowing the lower body, torso, and hands to contribute in the proper order. A pitcher who moves freely can transfer energy through her motion instead of trying to manufacture all of it by muscling the ball with her arm.
In each case, the athlete is working hard. She simply is not wasting effort.
That distinction matters.
⚙️ The Body Has an Accelerator and a Brake
Every athletic movement requires some muscles to contract while others release or stabilize. The body has to produce force, but it also has to allow movement to happen.
When athletes become overly tense, opposing muscles can work against one another. It is a little like pressing the accelerator while keeping one foot lightly on the brake. The athlete may be trying harder, but part of that effort is being used to overcome tension she created herself.
Research comparing faster and slower athletes has found an important nuance: sprinting requires stiffness and stability at particular moments, especially when force is transferred into the ground, but excessive muscular co-contraction can interfere with the rapid switching required for fast movement. Speed is not about being limp. It is about being firm when the movement requires firmness and free when it requires freedom.
Young athletes rarely need a detailed anatomy lesson to understand this. Ask them to make a fist as tightly as possible and then shake that hand quickly. Next, have them loosen the hand and shake it again. They can immediately feel which version moves more freely.
The same principle shows up in shoulders, arms, jaws, and running mechanics. Tension that does not contribute to the movement becomes baggage the athlete must carry.
🧬 What The Sports Gene Teaches Us About Speed
In The Sports Gene, David Epstein explores why athletic performance cannot be reduced to one simple explanation. Speed is not produced by a single “speed gene,” one perfect body type, or a universal training formula. It emerges from the interaction of an athlete’s physical structure, elastic tissues, nervous system, perception, training history, and environment.
One of the book’s memorable examples is Olympic high jumper Stefan Holm. Holm developed an exceptionally fast approach and used his Achilles tendon like a powerful spring, storing and releasing energy as he attacked the bar. His success was not simply a matter of contracting his muscles harder than everyone else. It came from turning his individual physical qualities, years of specific training, and precise timing into an efficient movement.
That is an important lesson for youth sports.
Young athletes are often encouraged to chase speed by adding more effort. Run harder. Swing harder. Throw harder. Move your feet faster. Sometimes those cues help, but they can also convince an athlete that the answer is to tighten her entire body and force the movement.
Epstein’s broader message points us in a better direction. Performance is personal, and athletic development is partly the process of learning how to use your own body well. The goal is not merely to produce more energy. It is to transfer more of that energy into the task.
Speed is not just force.
Speed is coordinated force.
😬 Why Young Athletes Tighten Up
Most young athletes do not consciously decide to become tense. It usually happens as a response to pressure.
A player takes a lead off first base and begins thinking about getting thrown out. Her shoulders tighten before the pitcher has even started the motion.
An outfielder sees a ball hit into the gap and becomes so desperate to reach it that her hands clench and her running form begins to break down.
A basketball player gets a steal but sees a defender closing from behind. Instead of continuing to run freely, she shortens her stride and begins fighting to move faster.
Sometimes the pressure comes from the athlete. Sometimes it comes from the environment. When every rep feels like an evaluation, kids begin trying to prove their effort with their bodies. They want coaches and parents to see that they care, so they make effort visible.
That is how athletes can become trapped in a frustrating cycle. They feel pressure, which creates tension. The tension slows or disrupts the movement. The poor result creates more pressure, so they try even harder and become even tighter.
A young athlete may interpret this as a lack of ability when the immediate problem is actually a lack of freedom.
🥎 Where Tension Hides
Athletes often notice tension only after someone helps them identify it. It tends to appear in a few predictable places:
The jaw is clenched.
The face looks strained.
The shoulders rise toward the ears.
The hands form tight fists while running.
The arms swing rigidly across the body.
The athlete holds her breath.
The stride becomes short and forced.
The athlete rushes the beginning of the movement instead of allowing it to build.
Coaches should be careful here. Shouting “Relax!” at a nervous athlete rarely makes her feel relaxed. It can become one more demand she believes she is failing to meet.
A better approach is to give her one observable cue.
“Let your shoulders drop.”
“Keep your hands soft.”
“Exhale before you go.”
“Run with a quiet face.”
“Build your speed instead of forcing the first step.”
One cue gives the athlete somewhere to direct her attention. Five cues give her five more reasons to tighten up.
🛠️ Try the Shake, Float, Fly Drill
This week, try a simple relaxed-running exercise called Shake, Float, Fly.
Mark off approximately 20 yards. Before each repetition, have the athlete shake out her hands and arms, take one steady breath, and allow her shoulders to drop.
For the first five yards, she begins under control and focuses on staying loose. During the next five yards, she builds speed smoothly. Over the final ten yards, she runs fast while trying to keep the same relaxed face, shoulders, and hands.
Have her walk back for recovery. Complete four to six quality repetitions.
Do not time the first few attempts. If athletes know every repetition is being measured, some will immediately return to straining. Let them first learn the feeling of building speed without forcing it.
After each run, ask only one question:
“Where did you feel tension?”
The answer might be her hands, shoulders, face, or even her breathing. That awareness is the beginning of improvement. Once an athlete can recognize tension, she has a chance to release it.
You can eventually add a softball reaction, such as starting from a lead-off position, or have the athlete finish by tracking down a rolled or tossed ball. The lesson remains the same: respond aggressively, accelerate with purpose, and let the unnecessary tension go.
🧠 Relaxation Is a Skill, Not a Personality Trait
Some athletes naturally appear calm, while others seem to carry intensity in every movement. That does not mean relaxed speed is available only to certain personalities.
Relaxation can be practiced.
Athletes can learn to recognize a clenched jaw. They can learn to exhale before a pitch, lower their shoulders before a sprint, and loosen their hands when they feel pressure rising. Over time, these small physical resets can become part of their competitive routine.
This is also why relaxation should not be confused with low effort. A relaxed athlete can still be fierce, urgent, and fully engaged. She is not backing away from competition. She is removing what prevents her body from responding freely.
The best cue might be: Compete hard. Move free.
That gives young athletes permission to bring intensity without turning their bodies into rigid machinery.
👪 What Parents Can Reinforce
Parents can help by paying attention to more than the outcome.
Instead of praising only the stolen base, the chased-down fly ball, or the fast time, notice the quality of the movement.
“You looked really smooth on that run.”
“I noticed how you dropped your shoulders before the pitch.”
“You stayed loose even when the play got close.”
Those comments teach athletes what productive effort feels like. They also reduce the need to perform strain for the adults watching them.
After a difficult game, resist the urge to diagnose every mechanical problem from the drive home. Ask a simpler question:
“When you felt rushed today, where did you feel the tension in your body?”
You may be surprised by how clearly an athlete can answer once she knows what to notice.
🔥 The Takeaway
Young athletes hear plenty about working harder. They also need to learn how to stop fighting themselves.
Speed requires strength, coordination, timing, and intent. It also requires the ability to release tension that does not serve the movement. The fastest athlete is not always the one who appears to be trying the hardest. Often, it is the athlete who has learned where to apply force, where to remain free, and how to let her training work without getting in its way.
This week, do not ask your athlete to look faster.
Help her feel what fast is supposed to feel like.
Shake out the hands. Drop the shoulders. Take a breath.
Then fly.
This Week’s Challenge
Try one relaxed running drill with your athlete. Afterward, ask:
“What changed when you stopped trying to look fast and focused on moving freely?”
📚 Inspired by The Sports Gene by David Epstein.