Not necessarily.  In this video, we compare errors made from a front view compare to running errors made from a side view.  This is the reason why a coach must look at least 2 angles to properly analyze an athletes running.

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Coach@BetterRunningSpeed.com

I often get asked about training athletes for developing speed in a particular sport. For example, the dad of an athlete will ask me about baseball speed, running the bases, chasing down a fly ball etc.

While that is all fine, an athlete that runs fast in general, will also run fast doing something specific. For example, the fastest 100 meter dash champion, will also be the fastest on the baseball or football field. However, that does not mean he will steal the most bases or make the most put-outs on the baseball field.

I am going to use baseball, base stealing as an example, with a runner on first base. When an athlete leads off the bag and reads the pitcher, and attempts to advance to the next base at the right time is the ”sport specific” part of speed.

In other words, the athlete needs to know what to look for the pitcher to do so he knows whether to go back to first base to try to run to second. Making the decision to go to first or second based on what the pitcher does is baseball specific.

Once he makes up his mind, the principles of acceleration and speed are the same as any sport. It is the same as track and field (without the starting blocks), or a wide receiver running a deep passing route.

The secret at this point is to run as fast as possible and, at this point, the principles of running fast do not change from sport to sport.

I hear people asking “shouldn’t I keep my head down?”

Well, when an athlete accelerates, his whole body should be at an angle to the ground (see photo of athletes above). The head should be at the same angle as the body. Otherwise, if the ball is coming toward your head, you might want to put your head down.

This is just one example of specificity of speed. However, when it gets right down to it, the fastest athlete in one sport is generally the fastest in any sport. Fast is fast, and athletes can train to get faster than they are.

But for an athlete to be their best, they will need to learn proper application for their sport from their sport coaches to apply their speed properly.

This shows how a speed oriented athlete can train the biceps to do just this — be fast and strong.