3-Day Speed Camp
Age: 12-16
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Dates: Saturday, Dec. 20, Sunday, Dec. 21, Monday, Dec. 22
Location: Old Chapel Hill Road Park Turf (Sat and Mon), Empower Fitness (Sun)
Roster Limit: 20 athletes
Cost: $199
Why Speed Training Matters — And How It Changes the Game for Youth Athletes
When most people think of “speed,” they picture running fast — a natural talent that some have and some don’t. But what if speed isn’t just talent? What if speed is a skill that can be taught, trained, and improved?
That’s the mindset we take at Empower Performance. We believe speed is a foundational athletic quality — and, when trained properly, it becomes a sustainable advantage for youth athletes across sports.
Speed = More Than Just Running Fast
Speed training doesn’t just improve straight-line sprint times. When built smartly, it improves:
- Acceleration — the ability to explode off the line or react quickly at the start of a play or drive.
- Maximum Velocity (top-end speed) — how fast you can run when you’re at full stride and technique.
- Agility, change-of-direction, and deceleration control — critical for sports where cutting, dodging, or shifting direction quickly matters.
- Explosiveness, power, and overall athleticism — by combining sprint mechanics with strength training, athletes develop a strong, coordinated, and reactive body.
- Neuromuscular coordination and body mechanics — especially for young athletes, training speed helps build efficient movement patterns early, which supports long-term athletic development.
In short: speed training builds the raw physical tools — power, mechanics, coordination — that athletes then apply in sport-specific situations.
Why General “Sport Practice” Isn’t Enough
Many youth athletes only train during their regular sport practices (games, drills, scrimmages). While that builds sport-specific skills and usually conditioning, it very rarely pushes them to their physical limits in controlled, repeatable ways.
- Pure sport environments often don’t include optimal mechanics work, repeated maximal effort sprinting, or focused strength-to-speed transitions.
- Without dedicated speed and strength training, many athletes may never truly realize their speed potential — even if they’re naturally athletic.
That’s why a dedicated speed training program — separate from regular sport practice — is often the missing piece.
What Makes Our Approach Different: Testing, Data & Precision
At Empower Performance, we won’t do “speed day once in a while.” We will be approaching speed development with testing, tracking, and progress-based training.
That’s where Universal Speed Rating (USR) comes in.
- USR is a trusted speed-analytics platform used by hundreds of coaches and thousands of athletes to validate training, track performance, and prove progress over time. universalspeedrating.com
- By using USR, we’re able to measure acceleration, top-end speed, change-of-direction ability, and more — not based on guesswork, but on objective data.
- That data lets us make smart decisions: identify where an athlete needs improvement, prescribe targeted drills or strength work, and monitor gains over time so nothing is left to chance.
In other words: we won’t just tell athletes “go faster.” We will show them where they are — and where they can go — in numbers. For a quick overview of how USR works and why we chose it, check out this video:
How Speed Training Supports Long Term Development
For youth athletes, early exposure to speed training does more than boost performance — it builds a foundation. According to recent research:
- Young athletes who develop proper sprint mechanics, neuromuscular coordination, and lower-body power early are more likely to see long-term gains.
- Because speed training can target both explosive power and agility, it helps athletes be more versatile — able to excel in multiple sports, positions, or roles.
- And when combined with proper strength work and recovery, it reduces injury risk and builds athletic resiliency over time.
Why We’re Launching Our 3-Day Speed Camp
We designed our upcoming 3-Day Speed Camp as a gateway into a long-term, data-driven, performance-focused speed program.
Over three focused sessions, participants will:
- Learn fundamentals of acceleration, max velocity, deceleration, and change-of-direction.
- Receive proper strength work to build the power necessary for speed.
- Be tested using USR protocols — giving accurate baseline data and a starting point for growth.
Our camp is not just an introduction — it’s a commitment to real results, long-term development, and giving youth athletes a competitive edge they can build on.
Final Word: Speed Is a Skill — But It’s Also a Strategy
If you want your athlete to move faster, react quicker, and perform at a higher level — it’s not enough to hope for natural speed. You need to develop it, track it, and refine it.
With Empower Performance + Universal Speed Rating, we’re offering a systematic, science-informed, and athlete-focused path to real speed.
If you’re ready to give your athlete more than drills — ready to give them an edge — this program is built to deliver.
The Program:
Day 1: Saturday, Dec. 20 — Acceleration & Max Velocity
- Dynamic Warm-Up
- Acceleration Testing: 10-yard flies
- Max Velocity Test: 30-yard build into a 10-yard fly
- Acceleration Mechanics & Technique Drills
- Cool Down
Day 2: Sunday, Dec. 21 — Strength for Speed
- Dynamic Warm-Up
- Vertical Jump Test
- Mid-Thigh Pull Strength Test
- Strength Blocks: Squat • Hinge • Single Leg • Upper Push/Pull
- Mobility & Cool Down
Day 3: Monday, Dec. 22 — Deceleration & Change of Direction
- Dynamic Warm-Up
- 5-10-5 Agility Test
- Deceleration & COD Technique Drills
- Re-test: 5-10-5
- Cool Down

We’re capping this at 20 athletes.
If speed matters to your athlete, and it does, don’t sit on this.


