1. Mobility:

It is essential to have mobility in your muscles and joints to allow your legs to produce power through the whole motion while sprinting, cutting and turning.

This is best done through foam rolling, dynamic stretches and last but not least static stretches of areas that are particularly tight or limited.

2. Single leg control:

Is key component of speed, while sprinting and changing direction quickly only one foot is in contact with the ground at a time. The better your single leg control, especially around hip the greater the transfer of power through your body to the ground. Poor single leg control lead to lead to inefficient use of the power your muscles are producing.

3. Running Mechanics:

Your running technique also plays an important part, ideally you should be generating power and driving through the strong glutes muscles and not through your knees and calfs. Keeping light on your feet and preventing your heels from touching the ground on cuts and turns always you spring back in the opposite directing as quickly as possible.

4. Explosive Power:

Developing your explosive power is one the key components to increasing your speed on the pitch. Simply put explosive power refers to an athletes ability to exert a maximal amount of force in the shortest possible time interval. Enhancing your explosive power can be done through a variety of different training systems and exercises such as plyometric work and using a prowler.

5. Repeat sprint ability:

In sports such as gaelic football and hurling an athletes Repeat Sprint Ability (RSA) is an important component of their fitness. RSA describes the ability of an athlete to recover and maintain maximal effort during subsequent sprints. This type of fitness is commonly trained using interval sprints and Maximal Aerobic speed (MAS) runs.

6. Body Fat Percentage:

Decreasing your % Body fat is another factor in increasing your speed on the pitch. Imagine what it would be like to run around a pitch with a weighted vest or carrying dumbbells and how that would affect your athletic performance. Keeping an optimal % body fat decreases the workload on your joints and muscles while also allowing you to to maximise your speed.