Pryer, Mark ECronin, JohnNeville, JonathonUthoff, Aaron2025-06-302025-06-302025-06-19International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, ISSN: 1747-9541 (Print); 2048-397X (Online), SAGE Publications. doi: 10.1177/174795412513504741747-95412048-397Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10292/19419In team sports, linear acceleration is a fundamental skill defining success at a competitive level. While maximal acceleration capability from a static start has been studied extensively, team sport athletes often accelerate from a submaximal speed. This ability to maximally accelerate from a non-static start, in coaching terms “pickup acceleration,” is largely unexplored. In this narrative review, pickup acceleration is defined, and a framework for step analysis is presented. The kinematics, kinetics, and technical demands of pickup acceleration are discussed, and normative data around the pickup steps are highlighted. The practical applications of the findings are then discussed, and future research directions are outlined.© The Author(s) 2025. Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 4.0). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/42 Health Sciences4207 Sports Science and Exercise11 Medical and Health Sciences17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences32 Biomedical and clinical sciences42 Health sciences52 PsychologyJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1177/17479541251350474