From an interview with Stewart Briggs, Founder and CEO of
Acceleration Australia…………
How do you measure whether you “Get Better Today”?
Acceleration Australia was established in the year 2000 with the mission to help Australian athletes reach their sporting goals. Myself and my performance coaches have worked under the mantra, ‘Get Better Today.’ With an obsession to obtain results, speed testing became an integral part of the company’s practice.
Accurate Testing
We wanted to help athletes achieve their sporting goals. There are literally millions of different exercises and combinations possible to improve speed, agility, power and strength. And, there are a lot of theories and opinions from industry leaders to add to the mix as well. But who’s right and which methods actually work? The best way to measure the effectiveness of our programming is through testing. So, we started to pre and post test our athletes from the day dot. We want the best results, so using a stop watch would never be good enough. Timing gates were the only way to go.
“Literally 1000’s of athletes have become more athletic because of our feedback based on the test results produced by Swift Performance”
Equipment
We knew the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) and AFL (Australian Football League) used the timing gates from Swift Performance. Using the same testing equipment as these institutions meant our clients would trust our testing and any recruiters would also accept the test results as valid.
Visual and Numeral Feedback
We’ve found that athletes will not run at 100% without the gates. For the coaches to give the best possible feedback, we need the athlete to mirror exactly how they would run during competition. The gates elicit the same type of competitive response in our clients. We also collect videos of them running through the gates. Their running form can be analysed this way from multiple angles. Watching themselves run at 100%, will allow an athlete to see what they need to change, listen to our cues to modify their form and take away their times to set goals for the next testing session.
In 2019, Acceleration Australia started to use the timing gates EVERY SINGLE day to help athletes learn how to run faster. It’s used mostly to evaluate the 10m sprint to see if the athlete is progressing. When you see someone run 100%, you can see any tightness or weakness (qualitative assessment) while also seeing whether they are running faster or slower (quantitative assessment). Plus, it’s more practice. Sprinting through the gates weekly gives the athlete’s nervous system the repetition necessary to really hone the skill of moving faster and faster.
It’s Simple
To be successful in sport, work and life you have to do the basic things really, really well. To do this, you need the right people, processes, practices and equipment in place. This might seem obvious but it is actually hard to do. Acceleration Australia has endured some hardships but its strong foundation of these 4 things has meant they have survived and thrived and more importantly helped 1,000’s of athletes achieve their goals.
Fun Facts:
Acceleration does 300+ sessions per year which involve the Speed Light Testing Equipment
Acceleration does 400+ sessions per year which involve the yard stick or jump mat
Acceleration still has equipment from Swift which is 20 years old and still working every day
Literally 1000’s of athletes have become more athletic because of our feedback based on the test results produced by Swift Performance.