The 4 Types of Speed Every Athlete Must Train

By the Lightspeed Performance Team

When most people hear the word "speed," they think of sprinting — linear acceleration measured in seconds. But to elite coaches, speed is a multifaceted quality involving biomechanics, neurology, and cognitive precision.

True athletic speed is not just how fast you move, but how quickly you perceive, decide, and recover. As sport becomes more reactive, chaotic, and high-stakes, training speed must expand beyond the stopwatch.

Here are the 4 essential types of speed that every serious athlete — from sprinters to field sport players — needs to understand and develop.

1. Physical Speed: Explosiveness and Movement Efficiency

This is the most visible form of speed: how quickly you accelerate from point A to point B.

What it is:

Linear sprinting

Multi-directional acceleration

Quickness (first-step explosiveness)

How to train it:

Sprint drills (10–40m)

Resisted sled pushes/pulls

Plyometric progressions

Movement mechanics (arm swing, hip drive, foot strike)

Research says: High-intensity sprint training has been shown to improve not just speed, but also aerobic capacity and neuromuscular coordination (Ross et al., 2001, Sports Med).

2. Mental Speed: Cognitive Control Under Fatigue

Mental speed is about staying calm, focused, and efficient when intensity peaks.

What it is:

Processing under pressure

Staying composed in chaos

Reacting without hesitation

How to train it:

Banded drills with external cues

Small-sided games (for field sports)

Visualization and focus resets

Heart rate-controlled breathing during effort

Expert insight: Research from the Journal of Sports Sciences (2017) shows that mental fatigue directly impairs sprint performance — not due to muscle fatigue, but reduced neural drive. Mental training matters.

3. Decision Speed: Split-Second Action Under Uncertainty

This is the speed that separates good athletes from great ones. It’s the cognitive agility to make the right move instantly.

What it is:

Reading play patterns (in sport)

Anticipation and rapid adjustment

Muscle memory under stress

How to train it:

Reaction light drills

Chaos cone drills

Tactical film study → physical drills

Playing under randomized conditions

Why it matters: In high-performance sport, milliseconds determine outcomes. The faster you decide, the less predictable you are.

4. Recovery Speed: Bounce-Back Ability Between Efforts

Recovery speed is one of the most overlooked yet crucial forms of speed.

What it is:

How quickly your body resets between intervals

Resilience between training sessions or matches

Nervous system re-regulation post-effort

How to train it:

Sleep optimization

Mobility + soft tissue work

Intra-session breath control

Cold exposure and parasympathetic triggers

Data-backed fact: According to NSCA Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, elite athletes who focus on recovery modalities can train at higher volumes with reduced risk of overtraining (Kellmann, 2002).

Final Word: Train Speed Like a System, Not a Sprint

The best athletes don’t just run fast — they think fast, recover fast, and adapt fast. If you're only training physical velocity, you’re leaving performance on the table.

At Lightspeed, our philosophy is simple:

Speed isn’t just velocity. It’s everything.