Blog

English | 中国语文

For coaches looking for a drill that impacts a runner’s form, the mini-hurdle run is the best. During my years of coaching, I’ve tried almost every running drill. Most of the time, I haven’t seen much of a change in my athletes. Not until I hit Frans Bosch’s Running DVD. His video was different because he described the purpose of the drills and explained when a drill is appropriate. I love the drills and how they focus on the timing of a sprint.

My interpretation of Bosch’s definition of sprint timing focuses on the position of the swing leg’s knee relative to the plant leg’s knee in the midstance phase. In a perfect position, the knee of the swing leg should be slightly in front of the plant leg.

In this position, the knee has a chance to raise to its highest position and allow a perfect toe off.

The position also gives the center of mass time to travel to a point where the swing leg does not land prematurely and cause deceleration. If the athlete is late in the gait, the knee will be behind, and there won’t be enough time in the cycle for the foot to land in a proper position.

This adds contact time and often forces the runner to push their run, which creates an improper hip position and a long leg in back.

Peter Weyand proved that legs have limited time to reposition. With confined time in the air and a leg that is back too far, the rear leg becomes late, and the cycle repeats. I have never seen a fast athlete, male or female, who runs late. Likewise, I’ve never seen a runner with proper timing run slow.

This is a common problem with runners. In Bosch’s DVD, he offers a drill to solve it. The mini-hurdle run. By placing mini hurdles at a set distance, we can force and drill an athlete into perfect timing.

The video below shows a running athlete I had never worked with before. As he runs, watch his trail leg. I mark the position of his knee relative to his glute. Ideally, the knee should stay underneath his glute when his toe comes off the ground. This athlete’s foot and knee extend too far back which causes his pelvis to rotate forward (look at the shape of his shirt) and his push to extend. He is late in the gait.

Video 1. An example of a runner late in the gait.

I set up a series of 8 hurdles that are 6 inches high and 1.5m apart. Without giving him any cues or coaching, I asked him to run through. In the video below, notice the immediate improvement with his timing. Suddenly, it was much better. His knee drive was improved and, more importantly at midstance, his knee was placed in a much better position. This gave him the opportunity to have proper form. I asked him not to lead with his toes on contact and told him to squish bugs when he runs.

Video 2. The runner improves form with the mini-hurdle drill.

On a side note, his Nike Free shoes were part of his problem because they have a high drop of 14mm. Athletes who wear these shoes tend to hit with their toes first, not with the midfoot. (So much for the barefoot shoe from Nike. Marketing over matter.)

This is a great drill. I can change a runner’s form without any cues. With repetition, it becomes their gait. Without this relationship, an athlete can rarely run fast. The knee will never make it if the pelvis is rotated forward from the extended push. The hamstring will never have time to work if the pelvis is too busy rotating. This drill forces good form. As for other more popular drills, like all the high knee drills, they are worthwhile when the timing is off.

From here, I build variations on the mini-hurdle run. I increase the distance between hurdles and try to keep the same relationship. I have a mark for 1.7m, 1.9m, and 2.1m. If the runners keep the same form when I push them to go further, I’ll force them to increase vertical force into the ground for top end speed development.

It’s important to film from the side, so you’re not training the athlete to overstride. Most athletes drive to make the longer distance and forget the purpose of the drill. Although my faster runner can make the 2.1m without breaking form, I’ve found that the shorter distances (1.5-1.7m) at higher speed are more effective for my athletes. I am more concerned about the rate of force in a vertical scenario.

I usually use 8 to 10 hurdles made of ½-inch PVC. We do these every practice day as part of our warm-up cycle. Athletes will run through it 6 to 8 times. We tell them to go 80-90% effort and to concentrate on squishing bugs and fast repositioning of their knees.

Editors Note: Chris Korfist will be presenting at the Track & Football Consortium III at Montini High School, Lombard, IL June 17-18, 2016.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

When thinking about sponsored athletes, do images of logos on clothing come to mind? While logo placement is definitely a part of sponsorship, it’s a very minor part. There is so much more athletes, in all sports and of any level, can offer to sponsors.

Athletes, by the very nature of what they do, are great content resources for a company’s social media and other marketing activities. Whether you’re approaching a new sponsor, or wanting to improve a current sponsorship, you will stand out from the other athletes and give true value back to your sponsors if you think outside the square.

Here are my three favorite creative ideas.

Athlete: Long distance trail runner
Sponsors: Nutrition and protein products
Creative idea: Athlete was invited to lunch at a MasterChef kitchen and challenged the chefs to create a dessert platter using his sponsored sports nutrition products. He filmed it, and the video went viral.

Athletes: Male gymnastics team
Sponsor: Watch brand
Creative idea: Team suggested the watch company run an international challenge against other elite gymnastics teams. The challenge was to hold a one-handed handstand for the longest time, using the watch to time it. Really nice, natural product placement. And a fun activity encouraging widespread engagement.

Athlete: Race car driver
Sponsor: Premium car manufacturer
Creative idea: The driver collaborated with a DJ and graffiti artist to hold a public event with live music. The artist covered the race car with graffiti using the sponsor’s colors and logo. The driver raced in this car for the year. So cool!

The key is to look at the company’s marketing activities developed to achieve their business goals and see what you can do to add value to those activities. Examine how you can enhance what they are already doing. Then consider how you can make it easier, more effective, faster, or cheaper.

Here are some great ideas from me and some of the amazing athletes and industry professionals who are part of my Athlete Hub group:

1. Collaborate. Get together with other athletes, artists, musicians, and photographers.

2. Create a challenge. Think of a creative and fun challenge that will allow your sponsors to showcase their brand, products, or services while connecting them with their current and potentially wider audience. If your sponsor is a nutrition powder company, create a challenge for people to come up with the best recipe.

3. Bring your expertise to the business. Use another skill or qualification you have. For example, maybe you’re an artist and can offer to paint a commissioned art piece for the company’s foyer.

4. Bring your expertise to the staff: yoga instructor, nutritionist, mindset coach.

5. Get the product used in a creative way. Take your nutrition sponsor’s products to your local cafe and ask them to make some cool and simple recipes using the protein powder.

6. Unique photos. Offer to do 365 days of snapshots. Place the products in unique or famous places.

7. Competition. Create a fun competition using the product. For example, Where’s Wally–hide the product in a place that’s hard to find and snap a picture. Hand out photos and have participants search for it.

8. Offer to interview the company’s other athletes or staff for their social media and internal communications.

9. Coach Fraser Cameron at Changing Stride suggests: Try a quiz night. The athlete invites their entire network, including other athletes, coaches, sports admin, friends, and family. Have some guest speakers, such has athletes, the marketing manager, and the CEO. Sell tables for the quiz. The company could provide the prizes. Questions would be topical about athletes and sponsors, fruitful and less successful relationships, and the sponsor’s products or services. Also, provide an opportunity to talk about the future. The goal is to create a community, a joint athlete and company family.

10. Run a team building workshop. Discover something the sponsor’s staff is struggling with and come up with fun activities to help the team work together to solve the problem, face a fear, or learn something new. It would be great to use elements from your sport in this session.

11. Jup Brown, Charity Runner and Brand Ambassador suggests: When planning an event or adventure (or even a training session), offer to start, go through, or finish at the sponsor’s office or shop. Adding this to your event is great for you and the sponsor. I changed the start of my Canada ride to do this. We even had a send-off party at the site the night before. It was great to meet people before I started and show that the company is getting behind many different things. I thought of this while I was sitting face to face with them, explaining my plan. They felt great and became more interested in my crazy idea. It was awesome for me because I had so many more people excited to follow me, share, and be a part of my ride before I even started.

12. Host a motivational lunchtime talk. Think about some of the ups and downs you experience as an athlete and of some of your most inspirational and emotionally charged stories. Share these in a way to motivate your audience to make some positive changes in their lives, face some fears, or even feel a little happier in their day.

13. Arrange a networking event for sponsors (yours and other athletes).

14. Offer a team building workshop or motivational talk that your sponsor can give to a client as a gift.

15. Get temporary tattoos made with your sponsor’s logo. Or a real one if you really love the company!

16. Offer to MC an event held by your sponsor. Ideas include fun runs, competitions, and community events. Be the person who lifts up everyone else. Show your expertise in the sport and throw some fun, cool facts, and statistics into the mix. It’s actually a lot of fun and a great way to be seen (and liked) by a lot of people.

17. Offer a “creative ways to give back to sponsors” workshop for their other sponsored athletes. Facilitate the workshop and get the conversation and creativity flowing.

18. Offer to support their charity of choice and raise awareness by dedicating a race or event and sharing posts on your social media.

19. Event activations. If your sponsor is planning to have an exhibit booth at a trade show or community event, think of ways you can make the day more effective for them. You could organize a social media competition that ensures people connect online and requires them to visit the booth. Or create a challenge at the booth, encouraging people to visit, such as a skills test.

20. Social media reporter. Offer your social media skills for one of your sponsor’s big events, such as a product launch. You could be the “paparazzi for a day” and capture all the fun and excitement including mini-interviews with guests and candid photos of the activities. And you can encourage guests to participate on social media.

Kirsty Starmer, Elite Volleyball Coach offers three final ideas.

21. A day in the life of the product. For example, if it’s a pair of trainers, take pictures of the shoes throughout the day.

22. A lot of people take pictures of mascots when they travel. It would be cool for the mascot to have a hat or t-shirt with the sponsor’s logo. It will take selfies to a whole new level.

23. Offer a content module for the company’s e-learning program. You could deliver your content or the sponsor’s. Or you could offer a motivation session to their staff. The options are endless.

As your creative juices start flowing, always remember to tie your idea to the sponsor’s business objectives. It’s only great value to them if it actually helps them.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Why do we coach? This is a question I ask myself on a yearly, monthly, weekly, and sometimes even daily basis. There are times when I feel confident in my abilities, and there are times that I feel like a complete failure. Failure is ok, not learning or growing from failure is unacceptable. Following a dismal season last year, I committed to learn from my experience.

At our district championship last season, our girls’ 4×1 was DQ’d. Our boys’ 4×1 was also DQ’d. Our male jumpers, who just the week before PR’d with jumps over 20 feet, didn’t get a mark over 17-6. Both our 4×2 relays placed outside the two and therefore did not qualify to the next round. Our best female jumper set a personal best, but still didn’t qualify for the next round.

We qualified the fewest number of individuals to the next round since I began coaching track and field at Captain John L. Chapin High School in 2010. I’m responsible for writing the daily workouts for our short and long sprinters, relays, and horizontal jumpers. I felt incompetent and, at that moment, reacted like one too. After reflecting on the disastrous results, I knew I had to make changes to our training program and overall methods.

The traveling I did this summer was documented in a previous article. After returning, I felt like I still had more to do. I reached out daily to coaches of high school, collegiate, and professional athletes and all of them helped me. Coach Tony Holler from Plainfield North High School, Christopher Glaeser of Freelap USA, Coach Gabe Sanders at Stanford, Coach Ron Grigg from Jacksonville University, Coach Rueben Jones from Columbia University, Coach Anthony Veney of Ventura Community College, Coach Kenta Bell, former Olympic triple jumper, and Cody Bidlow of Athletex, a former intern at ALTIS.

All highly successful coaches with individual philosophies that helped me rethink my coaching abilities in a worthwhile manner. And, out of sheer desperation, I emailed Latif Thomas, owner and founder of Complete Track and Field, to see if he was willing to serve as a mentor.

I have been purchasing Latif’s programs since 2011 when I started writing the workouts for our program, and I’ve transformed how we coach our athletes. The majority of his programs are designed for high school athletes, and I consider him a great asset. It’s one thing to communicate with a mentor by email or direct message, but it’s another to communicate weekly by phone and be able to ask very detailed questions about specific athletes, progressions, and any topic an obsessive coach like myself can think of. Latif receives hundreds of inquiries daily, and I felt as if I won the mentorship lottery when he agreed to mentor me for the entire season.

This article is about more than the gains, marks, and personal bests we set this season. This article is about how mentoring a coach can change someone’s outlook on an entire profession. How we need to start sharing what we know as coaches for the benefit of our athletes and sport. And how we need to stop trying to hide our training secrets because of our oversized egos or any other detrimental reasons.

These are my top 10 “Latifisms” based on what I learned from Coach Thomas.

Coach the Athlete, Not Your Opinion

Our job is to make sure an athlete performs to the best of their ability, and more importantly, maintain a safe environment in which they remain mentally and physically healthy. We take great pride in knowing why we do a specific warm up, drill, workout, and stretch. We encourage kids to ask why about everything we do during practice. If we can’t give them a response that makes sense to them, they aren’t obligated to perform that activity or exercise. We want our athletes to become students of their events and to be curious about everything related to the sport.

This type of relationship builds trust and develops an athlete’s confidence. With so much information readily available in this digital age, it’s easy for an athlete to discover whether what is being asked of them in practice repeatedly is total nonsense or legit. This season, we had several kids ask why we warm up differently on certain days, why we only do voluntary yoga on Wednesday and not a full practice, and why we haven’t practiced blocks two days before the first meet. And many other questions only teenagers ask. And you know how many athletes skipped an exercise, practice, weight room session, etc. because we couldn’t answer their questions? None. Yes, we are encouraging kids to question adults and in doing so, they make us better coaches while they become better student-athletes.

This lesson extends to several outdated coaching methods. We are entitled to coach as we see fit, but don’t coach in a specific manner because that’s the way it’s always been done. I don’t mean that stuff considered old school doesn’t work anymore. I only mean that if you’re too hard headed about your opinion and research is punching you in the face telling you otherwise, do something about it.

Before this season, I believed Wednesdays were recovery days. Recovery included core work, general strength, and hurdle mobility. This year, we changed Wednesday to voluntary yoga day. Or sometimes we gave them an entire day off. Was it weird? Yes. Was it uncomfortable? Absolutely. But who am I to argue with science over the importance of rest, recovery, and time away from the track. This gave our athletes time to socialize, attend tutoring, and live the lives of high school students.

Last year, if someone disagreed with me about the importance of Wednesday practice, I would have said they had no clue what they were talking about. Then I stopped coaching my opinion and started coaching the athletes.

Progress the Athlete Based on Skill, Not Time of Year

At the state qualifying meet, I witnessed a female hurdler from a competing school win the 100 hurdle finals without using blocks. I commend her coach. Our top female jumper set her personal best of 37’7” this year with a 13-step approach. She never performed bounding at practice because she can’t land heel to toe during bounding. This year, she performed skips for height, skips for distance, hurdle gallops, 6-step short approaches, and a lot of speed work on the runway. She had 2 jumps over 37 feet and several 36-feet jumps, by far her most consistent year. Why? Because we only progressed based on skill.

Blocks can give an athlete an advantage if used correctly. But the majority of high school sprinters shouldn’t use blocks. If used properly, a sprinter can hit 50% of their full speed after two steps and 80% after 8 steps. But most kids pop straight up, spin their wheels, take cute tiny baby steps with no violence, bend at the waist, or do other indescribable actions out of blocks.

At the high school level, we have to work bad habits out of dozens of athletes. These include bad posture and foot strike. Yet everyone wants to use blocks, fancy bounding drills, eye-popping hurdle drills, and other elaborate social media finds. Again, these serve no purpose if done incorrectly. Whatever the skill, let athletes feel the position, watch themselves on video, receive feedback, and work toward improving skills before progressing.

Give 2, Take 2

In a recent Freelap article written by Nick Newman, “The Horizontal Jumps: Technical Training for the Long Jump,” he mentioned, “Fouling is a psychological choice,” referring to jumpers who constantly foul, even by an inch, at every level. The same can be said of relay handoffs. The “give 2, take 2 approach” is a way to develop handoffs with your relays, specifically the 4×100 relay. With this method, the incoming runner (1st/3rd leg) will only give 2 handoffs during practice, and the outgoing runner will only receive 2. (We practice 3rd to 4th exchange on a different day.) If both fail, so be it. We only get one chance at a meet.

The psychological training is extremely effective because it forces athletes to focus from the very beginning. They don’t have any reps to waste. Generally, we practice sprint relays handoffs twice a week, and each athlete knows they must get the job done within the allotted reps.
Athletes will beg, plead, and argue for an extra rep. Don’t give it to them. Halfway through the season, we changed our 1st leg to our anchor, and we handed the baton outside the zone 2x this season in competition during the final exchange. We failed. But at practice, we never changed our philosophy. Our anchor was often frustrated that we wouldn’t practice until we achieved the perfect handoff. Now, if they (3rd to 4th leg) get the exchange on the first try, there’s no need for a 2nd rep.

By season’s end, our female team ran their best times of the season, including a state qualifying time of 48.25. Were the handoffs perfect? No. But psychologically, our girls understood they had only one chance at the meet because in practice they got it right or they didn’t. These are the same four girls who dropped the baton at district last year. This year they earned our school’s first regional sprint relay title.

Our boy’s sprint relay squad earned a 2nd place at district, finishing with a season best time of 42.55. They also mishandled several handoffs during the season, but by focusing during practice, they became focused during competition and important meets. They improved their time by an entire second at the championship meet.

One final note about the “give 2, take 2” approach. We don’t perform any reps at 50% or 75% because that never occurs during a meet and because perceived efforts among athletes differ. What one athlete thinks is 50% may be faster or slower to another athlete. I would much rather work on stationary hand placement drills that transfer much more effectively to the race.

Peaking Starts on Day 1

At our first day of practice this year, a mass of kids pushed and drove themselves up a steep hill, placed themselves against a fence to feel specific body positions, and pushed sleds down a football field. We resembled a summer football training program. We were trying to develop acceleration mechanics.

In the middle of the season, some of our kids were using resistance belts to continue to feel acceleration mechanics. During our final meets, coaches filmed our remaining athletes accelerating out of blocks or during handoffs. Our practices have not changed much regarding volume and intensity during our push (acceleration) day.

I don’t know the magic workouts for peaking. We don’t have a fail-proof formula for peaking our athletes toward the end of the season. I don’t think either exists, and I’ve asked everyone including Latif. If someone knew the secret formula or workout programs for peaking, they’d be super rich by now, even in track and field.

Yet 95% of our athletes ran their fastest times this season when it mattered most, during championship season. We followed the basic principles of championship phase workouts: kept the intensity high, lowered the density, and continued with recovery as needed. For us, however, championship season starts on the first day of practice. What does this mean?

We don’t wait until the end of the season to address speed, posture, form, health, and everything related to performing. Whatever training philosophy you believe in–short to long, long to short, a mixture of both, plyos or no plyos, lifting only during the off-season or lifting all the way through the end of the season–I learned that peaking is a process. If we believe and trust the process, the end result will take care of itself.

Plan backward from your last meet toward your first meet, write down which energy systems and skills your athletes should work on during specific times of the season, and remain flexible. Latif helped me write workouts one week at a time, sometimes on the first practice day of the week. Does that make me lazy or unprepared? Of course not.

We must remain flexible, taking into account two-day meets, how athletes feel, travel, high school social lives, and unexpected circumstances. We all want the golden ticket, the perfect set of circumstances for peaking, but that doesn’t exist in track and field. The coach and the athlete must develop a process, follow it, and trust it.

Sprinting Resembles a Gymnastics Routine

Just like a gymnastics routine, sprinting has a certain tempo, rhythm, cadence, and timing. When a sprinter has a great race in the 100, 200, or 400, it’s truly a thing of beauty. Athletes need to feel the positions of sprinting and then express those movements during sprint performances. Acceleration should be violent and aggressive, but it also requires patience, timing, and synchronization. Coach Sanders describes it as a blend of aggression and extension. The beginning of every sprint event requires an effective and explosive acceleration pattern. Gymnasts wouldn’t dare skip the beginning of a rehearsed routine, and track sprinters should know how the beginning of each sprinting event should feel.

At the high school level, our coaching staff doesn’t talk about a transition phase, max velocity phase, holding speed endurance, or a decelerating at the end of a race. Each aspect of the race is addressed in training. Max velocity is addressed through fly runs, wickets, and sprint-float-sprint sessions. We focus on speed endurance by sprinting at high intensities between 15 to 30-second efforts. And we race model at practice, from the first week to the end of the season. Like gymnasts, we prepare for each aspect of a specific sprinting event. Sprinters need to become aware and feel each aspect of their event, train it, feel it, and perform it, just like a gymnast.

Don’t Chase Speed, Let Speed Come to You

This was the first season we used the Freelap timing system to help develop our sprinters. We timed accelerations and fly runs and ensured our sprinters maintained effective mechanics. High school boys, especially, love using Freelap because of the competition and the instant feedback. However, we kept having to repeat phrases like “You don’t get any medals for winning the first 10-30 meters” and “Try easy.”

The irony of using a timing system is that times are generally slower at the beginning because athletes strain so hard to run fast times that they unintentionally and haphazardly develop terrible mechanics.

Speed, like many aspects of life, is something we don’t want to chase. Let it come. At the high school level, we often use the relationship analogy. The harder you chase someone you like, the faster they will date someone else. Specifically not you; someone drastically different than you. That is the PG-13 version, of course.

Another analogy we use is the harder you chase popularity and other peoples’ approval, the faster your real self will slip away. Granted these aren’t Thoreau style quotes that will blow you away. But for high school athletes, the quotes put into perspective the concepts of patience with acceleration, floating, and relaxing at the finish. We must be able to speak our athletes’ language and help them understand how speed comes together during a race.

Don’t Marry Your Workouts to Volume

A recent conversation with a collaborating coach began with the question, “How much volume did ‘x athlete’ perform this week?” My response, as respectfully as possible: “We don’t care about volume.” This coach went into a three-minute explanation of why volume was so important, specifically in the 400-meter sprint. I honestly remember zero about his defense, not because I wasn’t listening, but because it was the same philosophy I’ve heard during clinics and presentations. His words, not mine: “If you want to be great, you have to be willing to run what the great ones run as professionals and in college. And they run a lot.” I just don’t see it.

Our long sprinters know the hardest workout they’ll face will be 5×200 with a 5-minute recovery at race pace or 4×300 with a 4-minute recovery also at race pace. We never deviated from this plan. Once we started running in track meets, we let the races take care of specific performance in all sprinting events. Our long sprinters did between 1,000 to 1,200 meters of specific work on a given day. That’s it. They didn’t have to hit x amount of meters before they were declared fit enough to continue to the next phase of training. They didn’t run x amount of meters just because “the great ones” do it.

Follow the math. Our male 4×4 had three sprinters consistently record sub 50 splits. We broke the previous school record and ran a season best of 3:20.28. Unfortunately in Texas, qualifying can be unpleasant. We placed 3rd in our own district after running 3:23.1 and were unable to advance. We live in a cruel world. The irony is, we were beaten by two teams that wholeheartedly believe in voluminous training. It was a bittersweet conclusion for our 4×4. Would I change anything about the small amount of volume our long sprinters ran? Absolutely not. Our opponents were the better teams on that day. And I know we achieved a lot without an enormous concern paid to volume.

Divorce yourself from volume requisites. Free yourself from unnecessary worry. Liberate yourself with the knowledge that sprinters can run fast times based, not on volume, but on specific event work during a season.

Speed Creates Endurance, Endurance Does Not Create Speed

We go fast on day one and, as our season concludes, we’re still training fast. We do want our athletes to have a base, but it’s a base of power and speed. All our sprinters, from 100 to 400 meters, trained fast the entire season. The only long endurance day was actually a recovery day and, even then, we used many general strength circuits to get away from endurance runs.

What kind of endurance does a 100-meter sprinter need when they sprint from 10 to 14 seconds? What kind of endurance does a 200-meter sprinter need when they are on the track from 22 to 30 seconds? They need short speed endurance and speed endurance.

What kind of endurance does a 400-meter sprinter need? The smartest coaches describe the 400 meters as a race where speed is extremely important. Kebba Tolbert, Associate Head Coach at Harvard, surmised the event like this: “The 400 is a race of controlled deceleration, where speed and strategy are of vital, yet often neglected, importance.” Vince Anderson of Texas A&M said, “The 400 is a sprint…the longest submaximal sprint contested in global track and field.” Is endurance needed in the 400-meter sprint? Absolutely. It’s a very specific endurance that can be developed with speed and not slow, agonizing, painful, pointless runs.

Our program is not short to long. Nor is it long to short. Our program is based on developing skills and improving athletes’ strengths. Unfortunately, endurance and volume-based programs often work because the program has phenomenal athletes. A phenom athlete at the high school level can hide many glaring weaknesses during an entire program. I have witnessed this year after year. I’ve been a part of it.

Asking your athletes to go out for aimless timed runs, repeating 500s, 600s, 700s, and 800s is abuse. Using the phrase recovery day to describe a speed session is absurd. And it’s too easy to coach this way. The goal of every sprinter, including long sprinters, should be to develop speed, proper sprinting mechanics, specific endurance, and an overall understanding of the race.

Little Things Add up to Big Things

This takes patience. This aspect of coaching is hard. This is where communication is key. This is where feedback and expectations matter. The ability to identify an area where an athlete will benefit the most is difficult. For example, working on feeling and expressing explosive positions during acceleration can take an entire season. It’s easy to put kids in blocks and let them do an endless amount of starts. Identifying the little things during acceleration, specifically during the first two steps, takes analysis, appropriate feedback, strength training, individualization, and patience.

Our best 100-meter male sprinter finally broke through the 11-second barrier in his final meet by going 10.95. A member our girl’s 4×1 meter relay broke through the 13-second barrier by sprinting 12.8 in her final open race. This resulted from filming and breaking down their sessions, cueing and communicating in a way that made sense to them, and performing appropriate strength and supplemental exercises that contributed directly to their success. Together, these little things added up to big things and eventually brought season and personal bests.

From the way athletes warm up to the way they cool down and everything in between, it’s vital they understand that the little things play a significant role in their overall success.

Kids Love Fair and Authentic

As a coach, my biggest struggle is to work athletes hard and still allow them to have fun. I’ve strived to develop meaningful and deep relationships with many of my athletes. I firmly believe in out-working other coaches by reading more, attending more clinics, questioning mentors, and reviewing what has worked and what hasn’t. We expect athletes in our program to attend practice, work hard, recover, eat right, and be positive. These expectations are realistic. As coaches, we should talk to an athlete about life, smile, laugh, tell stories, and be genuine.

In my second year coaching, I essentially forced by best 100-meter hurdle female athlete to run the 300 hurdles. I promised her that, if she didn’t try her best during the race at an unimportant meet, I was going to take away the 100-meter hurdles or kick her off the team. She essentially sprinted for 150 meters and then jogged her way into the finish. I was an unrealistic and terrible coach.

Throughout the years, I’ve argued with athletes in front of their teammates. I’ve suspended and kicked athletes off the team because I didn’t consider them coachable or they didn’t listen to my explicit coaching instructions. It happened this season, more than once, but then I changed.

We must communicate with athletes. We must let them know our expectations. We must constantly remind ourselves we are coaching 14- to 18-year-olds. And we must treat them how we want to be treated. Recently, Coach Sanders stated, “Walking to practice should never feel like walking to death row.” It sounds severe, but I used to make athletes feel this way.

Latif reminded me, “You must find what is important to people and use that to motivate them.” Every athlete has a trigger point, a story, a background, a circumstance. These are not excuses, they are real situations. I can’t yell at everyone. Not every athlete cares about school records, qualifying for state, winning district, and earning a bunch of medals.

Teenagers have a great BS detector, and they can smell a fraud. Being fair and authentic requires a coach to be a good listener, patient, nurturing, understanding, honest, and most importantly, genuine.

This is, by far, the most important aspect of coaching I learned this year.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

English | 中国语文

教练们希望寻找到一个能影响到运动员跑步姿势的训练方法，我认为迷你跨栏跑是最佳选择。在我多年的执教过程中，我尝试过几乎所有的跑步训练方法。然而，大多数时候，我并没有看到运动员们有太多改变。直到我看到了Frans Bosch的名为“跑步”的DVD，我才看到了改变。他的视频确实是与众不同的，因为他描述了那些训练方法的目的，并且解释了一个训练方法在什么时候是最合适的。我喜欢那些训练项目，尤其是这些训练是如何把重点放在短跑动作的节奏上。

我对Bosch的短跑节奏的定义的理解是，重点是在一个跑步动作的中间阶段摆动腿膝盖与支撑腿膝盖的相对位置。如果是它们在一个完美的位置上，则应该是摆动腿的膝盖稍微比支撑腿的膝盖偏前一点。

在这个位置上，膝盖有机会上升到它的最高位置，并且可以让运动员完成一个完美的脚尖离地姿势。

这个位置也赋予运动员足够时间，使其身体质心行进到一个摆动腿不会过早着地而并造成减速的位置。如果运动员的步法延迟，膝盖就会落在后面，那么在这个步法周期中没有足够时间使脚着落在恰当的位置。

延迟的步法增加了脚接触地面的时间，使得运动员常常要蹬着向前跑，从而造成臀部位置不当和后蹬腿过度滞后。

Peter Weyand证实，运动员的双腿复位是需要一定时间的。腾空时间是有限的，如果后蹬腿滞后太远，后腿就会延迟收回，而且循环往复。我从没有见过一个速度快的男运动员或女运动员，奔跑动作会延迟。同样地，我也从没见过一个节奏把握得当的短跑运动员会跑得慢。

步法延迟是运动员们跑步动作的常见问题。在Bosch的DVD中，他提供了一个训练方法去解决这个问题，它就是迷你跨栏跑。通过将迷你栏架放置在合适栏间距的位置，进行迷你跨栏跑练习，我们就能推动和训练运动员掌握完美的跑步节奏。

下面的这个视频展示的是一个我从来没有训练过的运动员的跑步动作。当他跑动时，我们可以观察他的后腿动作。我标记了他的膝盖与臀部相对的位置。理想的方式是，当他的脚尖离开地面时，膝盖应该恰好保持在臀部以下。但这个运动员的脚和膝盖向后延伸的太远，这造成他的骨盆旋转向前(从他的衬衫的形状可以看出)，腿要蹬伸去推动跑步。因此，他的步法是延迟的。

视频1. 一个运动员步法延迟的例子。

我建立一组由8个栏架组成的练习系列，它们的高为6英寸，栏间距为1.5米。在没有给他任何提示或指导的情况下，我让他跑过这些栏架。下面的视频中，你可以注意到，他跑步的节奏有了立即的改善。他的动作质量突然提高了很多。他的膝盖的驱动能力同时得到了改善，更重要的是，在步伐的中间点，他的膝盖被放置到一个更好的位置。这个动作质量的提高为他形成正确的跑步姿势提供了机会。我还要求他，当脚掌着地时，不去用脚尖引导全脚掌，而是像压扁臭虫一样的脚中部直接向下压。

视频2. 运动员用迷你跨栏跑训练改善跑步姿势。

我在一边注意到，他的耐克跑步鞋是他的部分问题所在，因为它有14毫米高的落差。穿着这种鞋的运动员往往先用脚尖触地，而不是用脚中部着地。（耐克的赤足跑鞋也不过如此，营销胜过了实用。）

这是一个极好的训练方法。我可以在没有任何提示下改变一个运动员的跑步姿势。运用重复训练法，迷你跨栏跑姿势最终成为跑步者的步法动作。如果不经过这种关联的练习，运动员很少能跑得快。如果由腿的蹬伸推动运动员的骨盆旋转向前，他们的膝盖就绝不会达到正确的位置。如果运动员的骨盆正忙于转动，腿部的腘绳肌腱就绝不会有时间去工作。而迷你跨栏跑训练可以改进这些常见的跑步弊端，因此它可以塑造良好的跑步姿势。至于其他更加流行的训练方式，像所有抬高膝盖训练方法，如果不考虑跑动节奏的话，它们也是值得练习的。

根据这个研究基础，我给迷你跨栏跑又增添了一些变化的训练方法。例如，我增加栏间距，并尽力保持它们之间有相同的关联。我分别为1.7米、1.9米和2.1米做了一个标记。当我推动他们跨越更远的栏间距时，而跑步者依然保持相同的动作姿势，我就要求他们增加着地的垂直下压力，这样就能提高他们的最快速度。

从侧面拍摄是很重要的，这样你就不会训练运动员去跨步过大。大多数运动员会强迫自己选择一个更长的栏间距，而忘记这项训练的目的。虽然我的那些跑得更快的运动员，能在没有破坏动作姿势的情况下跑过2.1米的栏间距，但是我发现，跑的速度越快，那些短距离的栏间距（1.5-1.7米）对我的运动员们更有效。总结起来，就是我更关心垂直于地面的那部分下压力量。

我通常使用8到10个栏架，他们由½英寸的聚氯乙烯（PVC）组成。在每个训练日我们都做迷你跨栏跑训练，这是我们热身运动的一部分。运动员会练习6到8次。我们告诉他们要付出80-90%的努力，并专注于像压扁臭虫一样的着地下压动作，同时让他们的膝盖快速复位。

编辑注意：2016年6月17-18日，在伊利诺伊州朗巴德市（Lombard）的蒙蒂尼（Montini）高中，Chris Korfist会将此文章展示在第三届田径和足球大会中。

请分享本文，以便其他人也可以受益。

I very much agree with Carl Valle’s insights on assessment, as wells as my Illinois colleague Tony Holler’s insistence on recording, ranking, and posting sprint times.

Since 2004, what has helped me in applying their approaches has been using the Bundle/Weyand speed regression algorithm in designing speed workouts for my sprinters.

The algorithm is related to research investigating what limits sprint exercise performance. The classic explanation has been that speed decreases as the event duration increases because of an energy supply limit. Researchers assumed that, if energy limits all out performance and we increase energy supply, performance will improve. Likewise, if we decrease demand, performance will improve. That explains why many speed coaches still target supply and demand, which I now describe as the “kind of training Tony Holler hates” because it results in, as Tony notes, “stupid coaches having the hardest practices.”

Even as far back as 1925, the legendary A.V. Hill questioned whether this energy supply conclusion applied to sprinting. “It is obvious that we cannot pursue our (energy supply) argument to times below about 50 seconds,” said Hill. “These performances are limited by factors mechanical and nervous.”

Despite Hill’s suggestion that high-speed performances need to be looked at differently, even to this day, there are many who continue to accept the classic notion of why speed declines over time. After all, it did apply to distance running, and why consider alternatives to an approach that prior to 2003 nobody was considering, perhaps because there was no energy data available for sprinting?

Bundle and Weyand put forth their view in the 2012 article, “Sprint Exercise Performance, Does Metabolic Power Matter?” Their conclusion was that speed declines as a result of musculoskeletal force output. They continue to use a simple analogy to explain what they mean. Is the (horse)power source (a car engine) limited by the fuel supply (ATP) or the transmission (muscle, tendon, and bone)?

For sprinters, reducing fuel supply has no effect on speed. Changing mechanics does. In their words, “energy release in sprinting is demand driven and not supply limited. It is at this point that speed coaches like Tony Holler would be saying, “I told you so.”

If performance in sprinting does depend on force application, how can we apply good science to improve performance? Certainly, fast, short repetitions make perfect sense, in combination with strength work, and the mechanics that recent research from Dr. Ken Clark indicates what it is that elite sprinters are doing at high speed.

What I do, by way of the original Bundle/Weyand research, is to use the force approach—or speed reserve by way of the algorithm presented in their 2003 paper, “High-speed running performance: a new approach to assessment and prediction.” What appears below is the table version of that algorithm I use with my sprinters. The table will generate speed projections at my distance of choice for each sprinter on my team, after inputting two measurements: each athlete’s top sprint speed (by way of a fly-in 10 or 20-meter sprint, and top aerobic speed ( by way of a 300-meter sprint).

What ASR does for me is to provide individualized, specific goal times for my high speed/short repetition workouts. My tables also list a termination time for each athlete. That “fall-off” time reflects a drop in speed that changes the focus of the workout. Athletes could continue to run reps, but when the speed drops below a prescribed percentage (like 4%) athletes are could keep doing reps at slower and slower speeds, and that can quickly become the kind of workout that, as Holler might say, “takes the “cat” out of sprinters.”

Do coaches need this kind of specificity to achieve what Dr. Weyand describes as “attainable intensity”? Probably not. Fast running is fast running, and “100% intensity” perhaps needs no additional qualifiers.

I have found that my athletes concentrate better when they have a specific target for the workout and are certain of what is expected from these kinds of formative assessments. It’s the way I try to ensure that, in Coach Holler’s words, “low effort never happens in speed training.”

ASR helps me to accomplish what Holler believes is essential to a successful sprint program: demanding quality and making times meaningful.

Editors note: To perform your own ASR Calculations, see the online Sprint Calculator and User Guide.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

Bundle, Matthew W., Reed W. Hoyt, and Peter G. Weyand. “High-speed Running Performance: A New Approach to Assessment and Prediction.” Journal of Applied Physiology 95.5 (2003): 1955-962. Web.

Bundle, Matthew W., and Peter G. Weyand. “Sprint Exercise Performance.” Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews (2012): 1. Web

Clark, K. P., and P. G. Weyand. “Are Running Speeds Maximized with Simple-spring Stance Mechanics?” Journal of Applied Physiology 117.6 (2014): 604-15. Web.

Imagine your first day of practice. More than a foot of snow on your track and temperatures below 30. You have 3 weeks to prepare for your first meet, and likely won’t even see the track for the first week. You pray for warm weather and it finally arrives. The snow melts and now you have less than 10 practice days to get your team ready. Who do you put in the relays? What order? What takeoff marks will they use? This is the situation nearly every high school coach in the northern US faces, including me here in Metro Detroit.

In 2012, I had a great group of boys, all juniors, who had shown the potential to do big things. In previous years, when it came time for relay handoffs, I backed a kid up a distance that “looked” right, told the outgoing runner where to start and made a takeoff mark, and used trial and error to determine what worked. Sometimes it quickly came together, other times we needed dozens of exchanges. Being particular about training and taking into consideration how many fast runs kids can do in a given practice, this lack of consistency irritated me. I’d often stop a session if the marks were not correct because the runners had already done half a dozen attempts.

I tweeted a US 4×100 member about how he figured out steps on short notice (I believe right after a relay in Monaco). He replied something to the effect of just knowing where to stand and when to go. I felt there had to be a better way, but what? And what happens if someone gets hurt and I need to either change the order or substitute another guy? This would require additional practice and additional fast runs that might—or might not—be helpful. Also, when our team attends weekend relay meets with odd distance combinations, we have to practice all those different exchanges too.

That 2012 season ended with my juniors missing state finals qualifying by a few tenths of a second in both the 4×100 and 4×200. I was ready to figure something out to get them there the next season.

Help from the GDR

In the off-season, I always read new books and re-read old ones. One of my all-time favorites is Track and Field: Athletics Training in the G.D.R. (East Germany) by chief editor Gerhardt Schmolinsky. Schmolinsky was the best hurdler of the newborn GDR during the 50s. He later became one of the leaders in sport education. The chapter on relays included a table to determine relay takeoff marks. Maybe the scarcity of training information from the DDR made it exciting, I’m not sure, but it was the best I had my hands on. So I decided to give the table a try.

The book credits the table to Tom Ecker in Der Leichtathletik, no 13, 1969. (I consulted Pierre-Jean Vazel for assistance, given his incredible knowledge of the history of track and field.) Der Leichtathletik was the official GDR track and field magazine. It included two pages of one or two articles about training, usually German translations of foreign papers. Ecker was the coach at Western Kentucky University and also a successful writer.

In the 60s, he was a part of the American Specialist Program, doing clinics in Finland, Sweden, and Iceland. He impressed the Swedes, who later named him national team coach. He went on to write Basic Track and Field Biomechanics. In a conversation with Coach Ecker regarding relays, he felt the fastest runners should go first and the slower ones last to take advantage of the free distance in the first leg and the shorter anchor distance in the anchor leg. In the book, he adds that consideration should also be given to those who are great starters and curve runners.

The table in the GDR book was part of Ecker’s formula for calculating the “go distance.” His formula showed takeoff distances based on the incoming runner’s last 25m speed (A) and the outgoing runner’s 26m acceleration time (B). From those times, a go distance (G) could be marked and used for 4x100m relay exchanges.

The Ecker equation for aggressive exchanges is

G = 75(B – A) / A

For safe exchanges, 75 becomes 60, B is 21m, and A is 20m.

G = 60(B – A) / A

How did I use these tables?

I teach math and anything number-related excites me. Early in the season every year, I do time trials of 30m, 60m, and 80m (I don’t like timing actual race distances, as some kids freak out when times aren’t near their race performances). I decided to use the data from these runs, find the table values, and see what happened in our first relay practice. I know studying elite athlete training theory and applying it to high school kids can be tricky. I knew there had to be some factor to account for in these numbers. So I timed the first 26m of their 30m and the last 25m of their 80m.

Originally I used hand times. Here is how things worked out. Runner “E” ran a 3.25 26m and a 2.63 25m fly time. Runner “A” ran 3.22 and 2.53. “A” handed to “E,” so I took A’s 2.53 seconds and E’s 3.25 seconds, added .24 for the hand-time factor, and that gave me 2.77 and 3.49 (rounded to 2.8 and 3.5 on the table). That gives a go distance of 6.3m (20.66 feet, or 22 shoe counts). I now use a Freelap timing system, so data is very easy to collect during these trials.

In practice for baton passes, I start the incoming runner approximately 30-40 meters away, as I feel this resembles the speed toward the end of the leg based on some hypothetical velocity curves. On our first attempt, timing was pretty much dead on in the exchange at full sprint and full reach. This worked for the other runners as well. Our kids started at the back of the acceleration zone, used the full 10 meters to accelerate into the exchange zone, and the exchange took place in the middle of the zone (after about a 20-meter sprint by the outgoing runner.)

Sometimes in the season, we run in relay-type meets that combine odd distances are run together. Often there are 100-100 exchanges and interchanging guys is relatively easy using these marks. Once the meets get going, I still use these original time trial times because I don’t have to re-run a guy or continue to update marks.It gets me within 1-2 shoes using the full zone, and that is what I’m after in exchanges—get the kids running as fast as they can with a nice reach to exchange the baton.

Since utilizing this formula, my kids have broken three school records (both boys’ relays, and girls’ 4×200). Our boys recorded the fastest 400 meter relay time in county history, the first team under 43 seconds. In preparation for big-meet environments, we practice exchanges while other kids run next to each other in other lanes at various speeds to combat the chaos of the race and pressure of all the fast teams. For example, we practice situations with other runners in front of us to simulate being behind and not wanting to take off too soon in a panic.

What about the tables for 4×200?

I have used the equations for the 4×200 as well. In races, I record each runner’s last 20 meters using video software. I find a place near one exchange zone and have another coach/athlete stand at the other side and we get video of the exchanges. Using the 20-meter mark is often easy because of the existing relay marks on the track. Since it’s easier to get the outgoing times, we time those in practice. With both numbers now calculated, I determine precise go distances and rehearse them in practice.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Like many of you, I surf the internet, looking for the magic bullet to solve all my problems. I like toys. If there is anything that may get me one step closer to my Holy Grail quest of making someone run really fast, I am all over it.

Unfortunately, I have wasted a ton of money on stuff that doesn’t work and now takes up storage space. Some of it I modify, so it is useful to me at least in a small way. One piece became an expensive podium/table. Another now serves simply as just flooring so we can get good traction when we start, and as a spacer to make the cable on the Run Rocket the right length.

But I never give up. When something piques my interest, I’ll call or email. In some cases I strike gold. I love my kBox and GymAware.

The 1080 Sprint looked cool when I came across it online about six weeks ago. A speed assessor and adjuster is the best way to describe it. A box contains a very thin but strong cord wrapped around a carbon-fiber drum. The computer connected to the box monitors and controls the resistance or towing strength of the cord through an electric motor. The computer also records the force and speed applied to the cord as the athlete runs and records it on the screen.

At its lowest setting, the athlete tows 1kg of resistance, with 15kg the highest. It will also tow up to 15kg (for overspeed training we worked at 3kg). You can move in multiple directions as well. Future software updates will measure contact and flight time, resulting in a stiffness measurement.

When I called, the quoted price was too high (I am getting ready to pay for my daughter’s braces). But they said they were in the area and wanted my opinion on the machine, adding that the demo would only take 30 minutes. So Peter showed up at my door early on a Sunday several weeks later. I was in a bad mood because my 4×200 relay had been disqualified in the state meet the day before. We were sitting in a distant second place. My 4th runner got excited and left early. And it was 48 degrees and raining this morning.

Along with one of my veteran athletes who is currently with an NFL team, we went to a fieldhouse and easily unloaded a suitcase-shaped box. The top popped open, we plugged it in, and it was ready to go. My guy put on the belt Peter gave him and ran a 40. So far, nothing major.

Then I looked at Peter’s laptop. I saw a power graph measured in watts for every step my guy took. Peter hit a tab, and it changed to m/s. Peter mentioned that the graph showed that one of my athlete’s legs had a lower peak than the other. I thought, well, that is easy to fix. I activated him. He ran again. Not only did the activation bring the leg back to even, it raised his power output by 10%! I had just quantified all the activation stuff I have been using for the last 4 years in three minutes. No more bad mood!

It got even more interesting. We looked at my athlete’s profile and started to manipulate where we would add more resistance to different parts of his 40. I thought, crank it at the beginning and decrease over time. My guy said it felt great and made him feel really explosive after the run.

Then we manipulated other parts of his 40. He commented on how smooth the whole thing felt. Except for the belt, he never felt pulled/jerked. And the whole time, we could change the resistance with a keystroke. I thought, how great is this for acceleration work. I could figure exactly where to apply resistance.

A sled, especially a light sled, bounces from side to side. And there’s always the cringe moment when you think the sled is going to hit the athlete in the back of the legs. Then there’s the friction between the sled and the ground. Every sled feels different on different surfaces or at various temperatures. Those days are gone. Now I know exactly how hard my athlete is pulling, and can change it at any time.

Peter said it had an over-speed function as well. I have never been a fan. It may due to the fact that it is incredibly difficult to quantify the 3%. Or perhaps from my high school experience of stretching my over-speed bungee too far from the goal post. The strap broke, with me facing the wrath of 30m of rubber cord hurtling at the poor sap it was strapped to.

Despite my reservations, I had to try it. My athlete pulled out the cord to the length of the fieldhouse. His top speed was 9.51 m/s. We adjusted the cylinder to pull him at 9.8 m/s and gave him a 20m fly-in before the 1080 started its towing function. Sure enough, that was the exact speed he ran without one heel strike/braking mechanism kicking in. Now I could train acceleration and top-end speed with pinpoint accuracy.

I started visiting force/velocity curves and power equations in my head (realizing I should have paid more attention in school). I must not have paid attention when Peter said, “Now we will work on agility.” Next thing I knew, my athlete was running out routes. Based on the graph, we could measure and assist or resist different parts of his route. We did a pro agility test that put added pressure on his cuts, so he had to absorb more force than he normally does (a plyometric in agility?!?!). And he could do it in both directions! Using the software, an athlete’s eccentric to concentric rate of force can be determined.

The 30 minutes turned into three hours. I was late for my first training session. Peter tagged along and gave workouts to my next two groups. It blew them away. A pro basketball player couldn’t stop thinking of all of its applications for training with agility and shooting. My brain was swimming with all the potential applications. That is how Peter left me.

And my daughter? She’ll just have to deal with crooked teeth.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF