Here is a link to an article by a track sprinting coach about "Speed is a Skill":
http://myathleticlife.com/2011/10/the-3-laws-of-speed-development/
His approach is that speed is a skill. First, you have to teach the appropriate skills and movements in sprinting in a systematic way- hand and arm movements, forward lean, foot positions, etc. In a sport that seems more simple than it is, his idea is that the sport is first and foremost a skill sports.
He starts people out with 20 meter runs. He says you can't move to 30 meter runs until you have mastered the skills at 20 meters. After 20 meters, you can get coaching feedback and improve your next run. If you do longer runs, you are practicing wrong technique and have fewer opportunities to improve your technique because there are fewer runs.
Once, you have good technique at 20 meters, you can move to 30 meters. Then, once technique is good at 30 meters, go to 40 meters and so on. It's a short to long approach, but one that is based on technique.
Every sprint is an opportunity to improve your technique, so it's better to do more but shorter runs, rather than fewer, but longer runs. And longer runs can lead to worse technique, since you are practicing while tired, rather than practicing while fresh off the start.
Also, the starts are crucial, both in sprints and in canoe slalom. With shorter runs, you practice the start more, whereas with longer runs, you do fewer starts. Starts are practicing acceleration, which is an important aspect of our sport, because unlike track running, we frequently slow down on a turn and then have to reaccelerate. This requires good acceleration.
In running, 20 meter sprints are less than 4 seconds long. Paddlers rarely practice this short of a distance. We think that 30 second courses are short courses. But perhaps we should do more very short courses. We could improve our technique and our acceleration by doing super-short courses. With every run, you improve your speed and you get feedback on your technique.
Here is the article about track sprinting:
http://myathleticlife.com/2011/10/the-3-laws-of-speed-development/
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