Why imagining a jet plane could make you run faster

Are you looking for a way to increase your speed in PE and sports?

A sport and exercise scientist from the University of Essex might have the answer.

Dr Jason Moran carried out a small study at Tottenham Hotspur's youth academy and said he might have found a surprising way to motivate players.

He took 20 players aged between 14 and 15, and gave them different sets of directions ahead of sprint training.

Dr Moran said he found that using positive analogies to encourage players to focus on the environment around them, had potentially helped them to run up to 3% faster.

But what kind of phrases did he use to motivate the players? Read on to find out.

The players were asked to imagine running like a plane taking off

"Run like a plane taking off" or "jump like the floor is lava" are the kind of phrases Dr Moran might recommend coaches use with their players.

Dr Moran said "it's better to direct an athlete's attention to the environment around them" than for them to focus on their bodies.

The University of Essex study suggests phrases like "extend your hips" or "drive your legs into the ground" were not as effective.

"[When] they start to focus on their body, there's a risk that you turn what should be an automatic process, something that's done without thinking, into a non-automatic process," explained Dr Moran.

What this means is that the athlete might become too focused on how their body is working, distracting them from performing as well as they could.

Researchers said the players performed better after they were encouraged to imagine running towards something

The study also found that a phrase like "sprint like you're being chased up a hill" was not as powerful to players as being told to run towards something.

The study suggests there was a 3% improvement in the speed of the players sprinting over a distance of 20 metres.

While this might sound like a small improvement, Dr Moran says it is "significant" as the improvement is "instantaneous".

He added: "Although these findings focus on the highest level of youth football, it could easily be used in schools or on a Saturday morning.

"By using a simple analogy teachers and parents might be able to get the most out of their kids whatever the sport."

The study was published in the Journal of Sports Scientists, but because of its small size - only 20 players in one team - more studies may need to be carried out to see how effective these phrases can really be.