Developing speed for the average health & fitness enthusiast is not usually a major requirement.
However, speed for an athlete or any competitive sports person is usually the difference between being an average player and a great player. Unfortunately it is very much a natural attribute that you are born with. Some people have more fast twitch muscle fibres in their bodies than slow twitch, they will therefore naturally be better at explosive activity events and are usually faster. Those people born with a higher percentage of slow twitch fibres are usually better at endurance events.
Speed in Rugby for example will enable you to arrive quickly to the breakdowns; catch and tackle players; and more importantly to beat men and score tries.
Everyone can improve basic speed; therefore, all competitive players should incorporate speed drills into their training programmes.
In order to run at your optimum speed you obviously must speed train, you must also have low fat levels, good flexibility and good leg speed.
Do not confuse speed training with speed endurance training. The latter is very demanding and can result in high levels of fatigue.
Correct speed training must allow sufficient rest time between runs to allow the legs to recover fully. If the legs feel heavy or are still dispersing lactic acid you must wait until they have recovered before starting the next run.
To encourage fast legs try to: