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Too often, when I go to high school track meets, I see horizontal jumpers fouling their attempts, jumping off the wrong leg, and having out-of-control flight and landing mechanics. Much of this is due to coaches and athletes not having access to a runway, board, or sandpit. If you coach the horizontal jumps, you know how important it is to be able to train with all three of these.

Unfortunately, many coaches don’t have that ability for an assortment of reasons. The most common of these are:

• The track is under construction.
• It is indoor track season.
• It is too cold outside and/or there is snow on the ground.
• The school doesn’t have a track.

If you coach the long jump and don’t have access to a runway, board, and/or sandpit for whatever reason, you can still train for success. Be creative. This article will provide solutions and actionable ideas to make the most of your situation.

If you coach the long jump and don’t have access to a runway, board, and/or sandpit for whatever reason, you can still train for success. Be creative, says @KCPerformance_. Share on X

It is obvious why athletes need a proper training environment to succeed in the horizontal jumps. I coach in Rhode Island, where we have indoor track season in the winter and outdoor track season in the spring. This means that during the indoor season, I can’t use the track for most of the season because it is cold, and we have plenty of snowfall. I don’t let this get in the way of our expectations to develop proficient jumpers. I have an athlete who jumped 22 feet 4 inches and never practiced on a regulation long jump runway with a board or sand pit. It can be done.

Make Your Own Board

A board is important. Jumpers need to practice their steering abilities and approach to the board. I created a board using white athletic tape, though there are a variety of other tapes you can use. I always have athletic tape on hand, and it’s relatively easy to see. I’ve also used chalk in the past to draw a board.

When you measure out the board, it is essential to use the exact standard measurements. This means the length of the board should be 1.2 meters, and the width of the board should be 20 centimeters. The tape may become worn, especially if you use it frequently, so it is essential to replace the tape as needed throughout the season.

If you have wide-enough space, you can even tape down multiple boards to create multiple runways. I like to have multiple boards since it allows me to dedicate a runway to beginner jumpers and more advanced jumpers. Plus, when you tape a board, it means it’s portable. So, if you tape a board and realize it is not in the most appropriate spot, you can always move it.

Video 1. Example of an athlete using a makeshift runway and taped board on an inside track.

Set Up a Runway

There’s nothing groundbreaking in this paragraph, but I do need to point out a few things. The most important part of the makeshift runway is to give the jumpers an appropriate and safe space to approach and then decelerate in. I am lucky that my school has an indoor 150-meter track, which means I have enough space to dedicate to a long jump runway.

The runway and board should be two very different colors so the jumper can clearly see the board and steer toward it as needed. Make sure your team knows which lane or space is dedicated to jumpers. Depending on where you’re making a runway (e.g., a hallway), you can mark it off with cones, chalk, or other landmarks.

Do not place the board in an area with heavy foot traffic because that will distract the jumper. Give them their space; the last thing anybody wants is the jumpers worried that somebody might run into their area while they are in the middle of their approach.

Create a Safe Pit

Jumping without sand is not ideal since sand helps to reduce impact and cushion landing forces. I have two alternatives that I use during the indoor season. One is a high jump landing pit that is safely connected as it would be during the high jumping event at a track and field meet. The other consists of gymnastics mats stacked on each other, creating about a foot of padding between the floor and the top of the mat. Both options have their pros and cons.

The great thing about connecting a few high jump mats is that we create a large surface area on which we can practice competition-type landings. The downside is that the pit is about 3 feet off the ground, so we have to do our take-offs off a 4–6-inch box. We really only use this type of setup if we want to practice our flight and landing mechanics. We also never make full approaches with this setup. For an 18-step long jumper, the farthest we jump from is a 12-step approach. We do not use this type of setup too often because I feel that doing most of your training off a box can create bad habits.

Safety is the number one priority here. If there is somebody who I feel can’t safely perform this type of jump off a box onto a high jump pit, then I simply don’t have them do it. I haven’t had any issues with this setup so far.

Stacking gymnastics mats on top of one another is a good option for practicing approach mechanics, steering abilities, the penultimate step to takeoff technique, and the beginnings of the in-air technique. Again, with this option, like the last, we never do competition approach lengths. It is simply unsafe, and if we are working on technique, I like to slow things down while we are learning.

Stacking gymnastics mats is a good option for practicing approach mechanics, steering abilities, the penultimate step to takeoff technique, and the beginnings of the in-air technique. Share on X

This type of setup works well for shorter approach lengths, skipping drills, run-run-jumps, etc. This is how we perform most of our long jump practice. It is important to give plenty of space past the “pit” for the jumpers to decelerate safely without harming themselves. The longer the approach, the more room they need to decelerate. Approach lengths usually vary from 6–12 steps.

Video 2. Stacked gymnastics mats stand in for a sand pit to enable athletes to practice approach mechanics, penultimate step to takeoff technique, and steering indoors.

The Important Stuff

The approach work and what happens on the ground are the most critical aspects of the long jump. If an athlete has poor approach mechanics, penultimate, and takeoff, then we don’t need to practice our flight mechanics or landings just yet. Good landing and flight mechanics are side effects of technically sound approaches. Within this setup, I instruct the jumpers to extend the swing leg after takeoff and land on the opposite foot they took off from. This teaches them the motion of the hang and hitch-kick without them even realizing it.

What happens on the runway and on the board is far more important than what happens in the air and on the landing. This is because everything that happens in the air is set up and created by what happens before it. What comes before the in-air stuff? The takeoff, penultimate step, approach run, and starting position. Without these four things in good shape, everything happening in the air and on the landing will be flawed anyway. An optimal landing does not occur without an optimal takeoff and approach run.

This is a challenging idea for kids to understand. They want to do competition-length approaches, jumps, and competition landings into a sandpit all the time and usually don’t like settling for anything less. The best advice I can give regarding this is to provide athletes with the best logical and sound rationale as to why you train them this way and how they can become very proficient at the long jump event without ever touching a sand pit during training.

Explain rationally to athletes why you train them this way and how they can become very proficient at the long jump event without ever touching a sand pit during training, says @KCPerformance_. Share on X

Get Better Results

This is the setup I have used, and it has worked very nicely. We have seen significant performance improvements and school records being broken while using this setup. Being creative and resourceful as a high school coach is always important, especially if your budget and facilities are less than ideal.

I would begin implementing this setup as soon as possible so your jumpers can safely improve their performance. None of these things guarantee that your jumpers will be better—just like anything else, it comes down to the coaching. Make sure you use these recommendations wisely and safely; as always, make sure they work for your situation and the athletes in front of you.

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

In 2011, I started my first internship at Longwood University under John Hark and Rick Canter. I was a Business Administration major with an interest in lifting weights and the desire to coach, but I didn’t know what exactly. A friend I trained with was interning for Coach Hark and suggested I reach out to him as well.

I understood only the basics of training (I went to the gym and worked out) and knew nothing about sports performance. The terms “kinesiology,” “biomechanics,” “triphasic,” “tier system,” and “energy system development” meant nothing to me, and to say I felt inadequate would be an understatement. I had no idea what I was doing, but within the first week I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do.

I’ve experienced three drastically different internships in my career, all at the college level. Overall, my time at Longwood was my best experience even though it was the “smallest” school. Why? It was the perfect blend of science and practice in a supportive environment. I was able to learn about the field and the science behind training, and most importantly, I coached every day for three years.

As I stepped into a full-time role, I wanted to develop an internship program that gave interns the best experience possible—a program that blended scientific truths, offered practical experience, and prepared interns to pursue any and every sector in the strength and conditioning field.

When developing an internship program from scratch, there were a few things I considered.

1. Start with Why

Determining the why behind a program will help guide us in the future when it comes to the growth or evolution of the program. The heart of any good program is rooted in education and service. We want to educate interns on the foundational principles of training, give them the practical experience to land a full-time job, and have a servant’s heart to guide them through this field. We tell our interns this in our first meeting and even during the interview process because it’s important for them to know what guides our decisions during this program.

We want to educate interns on the foundational principles of training, give them the practical experience to land a full-time job, and have a servant’s heart to guide them through this field. Share on X

If we’re starting an internship program to contribute to the future of the field, we’ll introduce and keep great people. If we’re starting an internship program to have bodies to clean and organize the weight room, then we shouldn’t have one in the first place.

I’m not saying interns shouldn’t do these things, because it’s part of the day-to-day responsibilities of any coach. I clean and organize the weight room every day. However, it can’t be the only thing a person experiences during their time with us. These types of internships push good people away from the field and leave them questioning what they saw in coaching in the first place.

2. Create a Deliberate Interview Process

Interview processes create the results they’re designed to produce. If we’re frustrated with the final product, then we need to change the interview process. This process should filter out any applicant that doesn’t fit our ideal candidate or culture. I’m not saying turn everyone away, but we need to be deliberate. Questions and discussion should require critical thinking, allow applicants to show their personality, and be transparent about what this position and career entails.

While marketing the internship, be upfront about the expectations and day-to-day experience interns will have. This includes the number of hours required, what the daily work looks like, and how they’ll be contributing to the department and training. This will help limit the number of applications and find the people we’re looking for.

To be honest, I’ve never turned away a person for an internship. However, we have open and honest dialogue during the interview. We describe what the field is like, what our jobs are day-to-day, and the long-term effort needed to be successful. This has led to applicants either realizing they want to go elsewhere or deciding this is exactly where they want to be. If a person is hesitant to get into this field based on this conversation, then this field probably isn’t for them.

3. Prepare Interns for the Next Step

Our goal at the end of our program is for interns to be able to coach from day one of their next stop. This doesn’t matter if it’s high school, college, private, or tactical: we want our interns to be confident in their ability to lead a room and program effectively.

Our goal at the end of our internship program is for interns to be able to coach from day one of their next stop, says @coachrgarner. Share on X

As a side note, I believe the most important skill of being a coach is public speaking. If we can’t speak confidently in front of large groups, then we’re going to struggle to lead a room. A coach may lack knowledge but still land a job because they can speak to and direct a crowd of people.

To fill our internship positions, we focus on recruiting freshman or sophomore students to our program. Why? This gives them an early start on their career to see if this field is something they’re interested in. Conversely, some may step in and realize it isn’t for them. That’s progress: now they know and can pursue other sectors instead of finding out they hate their “dream job” the last semester before graduation.

For those who decide this field is for them, we can pour into these students and guide them in the right direction. If they show potential, we can mold them into “assistant coaches,” and they’ll become another coach on the floor for the next 3–4 years.

By getting students in year one or two versus their last semester of college, we give them a massive advantage in the job market. If they intern from their sophomore year on, they could have three different internships under three different staffs by the time they graduate. With that much experience and networking, they’ll be able to land a GA or full-time position upon graduating. At the very least, they’ll land an excellent internship under a high-level coach. (I’d advise pursuing a big-time internship the summer before their senior year.)

4. Develop a Curriculum

Educating interns should be a significant portion of our program. As coaches in the field, it is our job to lead and educate the next generation. Developing a curriculum ensures we are teaching the foundational topics and skills needed to be successful without going off-track or missing topics.

If we don’t have a written-out curriculum, then it can be hard to stay on task or have a progression of topics. There are times when we want to sit down and answer any questions interns have, which can lead to great discussions, but we still need to have a curriculum in place.

Table 1 shows a sample of the curriculum we’ve previously used. We focus on the practical side because most students lack this experience. Since they’re getting the detailed science in class, we want to fill in the back-end with practical information to help present the whole picture. Do we discuss scientific topics? Absolutely, but the practical side is what separates average from great coaches. Topics covered include lifting technique, assessment, warm-up, injury modification, Excel, programming, and professional development.

The two biggest takeaways for our interns were always the Excel workshop and video calls with coaches. It’s vital to show interns how to use Excel, as most have never used it, and Excel is a strength coach’s best friend. This is a unique skill set for coaches. It also helps applicants stand out and may land them a job, as not every place will have resources yet to manage and distribute their workouts. 

5. Let Interns Coach

The purpose of internships is to connect the classroom to the real world and letting interns coach is as real world as it gets. If we only instruct our interns to clean, then we’re wasting their time. What’s the best way to serve and educate interns? Letting them coach under our supervision.

In my first internship, I was able to coach and lead different parts of workouts regularly. Although I lacked the scientific knowledge compared to my peers, I could lead and coach a room better than most, setting me apart. Starting out, I preferred learning how to coach from the floor versus from a place of deep scientific knowledge, believing I could learn biomechanics, energy system development, and programming on my own. However, learning the soft skills of communication, emotional awareness, critical thinking, and time management takes time and often requires positive and negative experiences to form. In the end, soft skills typically make or break a hire, which is why internship programs should focus these skills.

Soft skills—communication, emotional awareness, critical thinking, time management—typically make or break a hire, which is why internship programs should focus these skills, says @coachrgarner. Share on X

To get interns started, I have found it useful to organize a coaching progression (shown in table 2) and have them lead the warm-up, explain the workout, handle time intervals, lead post-stretch, or coach a rack. Start small and work up.

Some interns can step in on the first day and lead, while others may take more time. Overall, what matters is that we’re letting our interns coach more with time. I’ve had internships where I led teams for a whole year, and others where I wasn’t allowed to coach until the last day of the internship. I know exactly which one had the greater impact on my development as a coach.

6. Integrate Technology into the Experience

The use of laser timers, jump mats, heart rate monitors, and other technology is prevalent in our field today. If the department owns and uses technology, take the time to teach interns how to use it, how to collect and organize data, and how to interpret the data to make training decisions.

For the future of our profession, it’s crucial we teach interns how to use this technology and also to not be controlled by it. Technology is a tremendous tool, but at the end of the day, coaches must make the training decisions. Screens can’t replace the coaching eye.

There may be a time where a department has no technology available. Considering this, it’s important to educate interns on ways to train and evaluate programs without technological assistance. They might be hired somewhere without a budget, and it’s important we don’t set them up to be unable to show the administration that they can do their job effectively.

7. Teach Interns How to Train

We hear this all the time, but it’s the truth. An intern doesn’t have to be the strongest person in the room, but they need to know how to train. We learn by doing, and this is especially true when it comes to lifting. Getting under the bar is the best teacher we have. The only way we’ll know what a heavy squat feels like is to get under the bar and do it. The same can be said for speed and jump development. As a coach, if we’re going to prescribe something, we need to know what it feels like and what the recovery process looks like after the fact.

As a coach, if we’re going to prescribe something, we need to know what it feels like and what the recovery process looks like after the fact, says @coachrgarner. Share on X

If schedules align, we have interns train with the S&C staff. This is often when we get to know each other and build a stronger relationship. Personally, I have interns follow the program I’m doing unless they have a dedicated training plan or goal, such as Olympic weightlifting. My caveat is if I see they aren’t training consistently and diligently, then they’ll start training with the staff.

The other option is to follow the training plan the athletes are doing. I’ve seen this be a tremendous bonding tool for the interns and athletes. If the team knows the intern is following the program, they’ll ask them about the workout, how it felt, and the difficulty. On the flip side, the interns know how the athletes will feel during training and can coach them through it.

An underrated experience that we also need to teach is what constitutes hard training. To me, this means training when we don’t want to, pushing ourselves beyond our limits, and experiencing productive discomfort. This doesn’t mean reckless, excessive, and dangerous training, but there is a place for experiencing tough training cycles with amplified intensity and volume.

Build a Program for the Future

A well-rounded internship program can be a tremendous asset to any school or department. It provides a place for interns to learn and gives coaches a network of potential assistant coaches to hire in the future. Although we may be hesitant to let interns coach or lead specific parts of training, it’s critical to their development.

Although we may be hesitant to let interns coach or lead specific parts of training, it’s critical to their development, says @coachrgarner. Share on X

Interns don’t need to write programs or take over entire teams. We can easily let them explain workouts, lead warm-ups, or coach athletes walking around the room. The practical experience is what internships exist to provide. Our internship programs should provide opportunities for interns to learn and experience what coaching is like with the support of a professional to help them progress. Remember, interns will determine the future of our profession, and their experiences will positively or negatively impact the next generation.

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

This summer, I am fortunate enough to work with some local high school football teams to coach their speed and agility training. After meeting with these coaches and discussing how to plan for the summer goals they set, I realized that many struggle with designing a field workout. Or maybe they don’t think they struggle with it, but I just disagree with how they go about it.

In these cases, it’s the strength coach I meet with—the one who can properly plan a weight room workout with an overarching long-term goal that is built with daily weight room objectives (upper body strength focus, lower body power focus, etc.). These workouts individually make sense and seem to build toward their longer-term goals, but when it comes to speed and agility, the programs aren’t as well designed. These coaches understand they want their football players to get stronger at squats—so they program squats. Then afterward, they program other exercises that help build a stronger squat—lunges, RDLs, and hip bridges.

Perfect. Programming for a field workout is the same process.

Start with a Focus for the Day

As a coach, what are you looking to improve that day? What is the desired adaptation? Charles Poliquin was the first person I heard say: “You only have one ass; you can’t sit on two horses.”

You can’t improve every athletic quality and movement in one training session—pick a focus, says @steve20haggerty. Share on X

You can’t improve every athletic quality and movement in one training session—pick a focus.

Whether you are looking to improve linear acceleration, max velocity, backpedaling, changing direction, curvilinear running, lateral shuffling, or whatever movement you choose, just pick one for the day. All of these movements are utilized in football and are important to work on, but for simplicity, I will focus on max velocity sprinting here.

Planning the Field Session

1. Choose the focus for the day (again, there are a number of different movement options here, but for this article, I will stick to top end speed/max velocity sprinting).
2. Pick a way to train that focus. I refer to this as the application—the drill that will carry over most to the desired adaptation for the day. Max velocity is pretty straightforward (I feel like there is a pun here); you can do full-speed sprints, flys, or sprint-float-sprint variations. In the early off-season, I like spending more time working on flying sprints, really looking to improve top end speed and keeping the total volume at max effort lower. As we get into the pre-season, it is good to transition more into full-speed sprints—putting everything together, getting more volume at max effort, and more specific to their sport.

Sprint-float-sprints are a good bridge between the other two: more distance at full effort but not yet a full-speed sprint. Of course, all these methods can be done with different distances and resistance or assistance to keep the stimulus new and engaging. With those three variables alone, you can create quite a few workouts.

3. Select a drill or two that will improve your application from a strength, elastic, or mechanical standpoint. I refer to these as the technical drills. For max velocity, you can work on the strength aspect with resisted sprints or marches—applying more force into the ground, you can program plyometrics for the elastic component, or you can use different A- and B-skip drills to improve the technical model.

Pick a drill or two for the day and bounce back and forth between your application and your technical exercises. This does not have to look like a conditioning circuit—not only is recovery necessary for the demands of max velocity sprinting, but fatigue is the enemy of motor learning for all of your different movement focuses. Although I am a fan of the Feed the Cats idea, I have also witnessed speed improvements in a training session with technical drills used between sprint reps. Using drills to improve the components of a sprint will improve the sprint.

Now, with that being said, doing 100 yards of heavy sled pushes or even 10 yards of heavy sled pushes will most likely result in a decrease in sprint performance. I think that’s okay. I think we are allowed to take a day to improve a specific quality in the hopes of a big improvement in the future. Especially in the early off-season, performing a higher volume of A-skips, B-skips, moving claw, ankling butt kick, or any type of sprint drill to build up the tissues involved can be more beneficial for the long term. These are more extensive plyometrics and help strengthen the hip flexors, hamstrings, and ankle for the more intense sprints to come in the future.

Pick a drill or two you think will improve the movement focus for the day and utilize both the technical drill and application as a superset, says @steve20haggerty. Share on X

In the late off-season/pre-season, I would use fewer drills and focus on more volume of sprints, which is what football players need to be prepared for in their sport. So, pick a drill or two you think will improve the movement focus for the day and utilize both the technical drill and application as a superset.

Field Session Examples

1. Full-Speed Sprints Paired with an Ankling Drill

Depending on the time of year and position, the sprint work could work up to 60 yards or could stay as low as 20-30 yards. Most of the time, I stay around 30 yards for high school football players—they hit top speed sooner than an Olympic sprinter and therefore do not need 80 yards to work on top speed. I typically keep the ankling drill at 10 yards in length. Sometimes, it is just as simple as 10 yards of ankling, and sometimes with a 10-yard jog into the 10-yard ankling—this leads to an even faster ground contact time.

I use this drill as more of a neurological prep or stimulus, focusing on quickly recovering the foot off the ground. If the players perform the ankling drill well, as a coach, you should see less backside swing with their leg dangling behind them. This drill should teach them to quickly flex the hip and bring their leg back in front of them as soon as their foot leaves the ground. I like this drill for football players because they tend to have a more forward lean with excessive backside swing.

I don’t think many high school coaches think of pairing a drill with a sprint to improve the sprint, but rather just sprint and cue athletes how to run better. The drill can allow for less cueing from the coach, an actual physiological adaptation, and enabling the player to think less while sprinting—it’s difficult to swing your limbs as fast as you can while thinking about head position, arm swing, high knees, heel to butt, toe up, and getting off the ground quickly.

I don’t think many high school coaches think of pairing a drill with a sprint to improve the sprint, but rather just sprint and cue athletes how to run better, says @steve20haggerty. Share on X

This workout would look like:

• 2×20 yards sprints
• 2×10 yards ankling
• 1×30 yards sprint
• 2×10 yards ankling
• 1×30 yards sprint

Video 1. During the ankling drill, I look for quick hip flexion. The purpose of the drill is to recover the foot immediately after leaving the ground.

2. Flying Sprints

Build up 20 yards gaining speed and run full speed for 10 yards—with butt-kick skips. Most of the time I keep the sprint zone at 10 yards with a 20-yard run-in for football players. Butt-kick skips get progressed from 10 yards up to 60 yards. I think the butt-kick skip drill is good for building up the tissues involved in the recovery phase of a sprint cycle, basically getting the hamstring to pull the heel to the butt as soon as the foot leaves the ground.

The more you can dynamically strengthen the athlete’s hamstring and hip flexor to quickly recover the foot, the less backside motion you should see and the more efficient the sprint cycle should look. Again, excessive backside swing seems to be something football players typically struggle with, and this is one of the drills I like to correct it. You want to use the drill to improve the sprint. A typical workout would look like:

• 2×10 yards flying sprint (20-yard build-up)
• 2×20 yards butt-kick skips
• 1×10 yards flying sprint (20-yard build-up)
• 2×30 yards butt-kick skips

Video 2.   With butt-kick skips, I really only look for knee up, toe up, and heel to butt. Groove that motion you see in the sprint cycle and strengthen up the tissues involved.

3. Sprint-Float-Sprint Paired with Hurdle Hops

My last example would pair together sprint-float-sprint (sprint 10 yards, stride or jog 10 yards, sprint 10 yards) and hurdle hops. Hopefully, we are all aware of the need for a stiff/elastic ankle to transfer force into the ground for sprinting: if not, check out this article. The unrivaled way to improve these qualities in the ankle is with plyometrics.

Hurdle hops, albeit an advanced plyometric, are a good way to do this. I would start with the sprint-float-sprint, 10 yards each zone, two reps of this. Then go to the hurdle hops, four track hurdles, one time through. Back to the sprint-float-sprint, I would either increase the distance of the sprint zones or add more sprint zones—sprint-float-sprint-float-sprint.

For this example, I would increase the distance of the sprint zone to 20 yards and only do one rep, then back to the hurdle hops. Then, finish with one more sprint-float-sprint.

I think it is good to mention that, as the coach, you dictate the rest between drills and exercises. Rest could be a water break or deliberate rest (telling the athletes they have three minutes before their next sprint). It could also be giving the athletes a quick coaching cue while taking your time to walk to the group, giving the cue on what to think about, and then taking your time to walk back to where you watch the sprints.

Use the Drill to Improve the Sprint

As a coach, you should expect to see improvements in the athlete’s movement by using this method. If you improve the athlete’s ability to have a stiff ankle, their hamstring’s ability to bring their heel to their butt, or whatever you think a drill does, then of course you should see that improvement in their sprint.

The improvements I really look to make with football players are to improve ankle stiffness, strengthen the hamstrings and hip flexors (not just with slower weight room movements, but more sprint-specific speeds), force production into the ground, and better overall running shapes. Football players notoriously struggle with hamstring injuries—improving sprint-specific hamstring strength and getting them into better sprinting positions should not only help to minimize that but also improve speed. Again, this is not solely for sprinting but for any movement you want to focus on for that field session.

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 laying out a training program, we always want to do what is best for our athletes and fill multiple boxes from the physical preparation checklist. This requires considering characteristics such as movement capacity, general strength, and coordination, along with several other subcategories that lead to more physically prepared and durable athletes.

Crawling is one of the most fundamental movements with which to examine general, foundational human abilities. Other than rolling, crawling is the first effective means of movement we perform as infants. Crawling is the first step that we take to get from point A to point B, though somewhere along the way we forget this and miss out on the value in crawling for athletic development.

When looking to develop the most robust athletes possible, crawling movements should be a cornerstone of training—especially in the training for youth athletic development. Share on X

When looking to develop the most robust athletes possible, crawling movements should be a cornerstone of training—especially in the training for youth athletic development. Crawling patterns promote total body strength and body and spatial awareness, and they create an engaging environment for young athletes to be challenged in and have fun.

Looking outside of youth athletes, crawling is still beneficial—though the older the individual, the less potential there is for movement development and quick learning (kids are like sponges). That doesn’t mean crawling won’t offer improvements: along with the previous mentioned benefits, crawling is great to develop hip and shoulder mobility, as well as trunk and spine stability in a slightly older population. These are things that I still want to develop in my high school, college, and tactical athletes.

Introducing Crawling with Isometrics

Introducing crawls is about focusing on positioning: teaching how to get into proper positions and then maintaining them when disrupted.

Introducing crawls is about focusing on positioning: teaching how to get into proper positions and then maintaining them when disrupted. Share on X

The two base crawl positions I recommend starting with are the bear and crab crawl positions. When labeling the isometric holds, we will refer to four-point, three-point, and two-point positions, designating to how many limbs you have for support. This also makes for an easy progression if you are in a group setting or writing a long-term program.

Video 1. Bear Crawl Iso Series. Holding the isometric for the bear crawl, you want to keep the hands under the shoulders, knees under the hips, and a neutral spine when holding each position. 

Video 2. Crab Crawl Iso Series. The crab crawl is similar to the bear crawl but with the hips staying off the ground during the hold.

When holding the positions, it’s important to evenly distribute your weight through your points of contact, especially when performing a hold with fewer limbs.

Holding the crawl positions for time should only be progressed to longer durations once the athlete has demonstrated complete control over the position. Clearly, a two-point hold will look different then a four-point one and allow time for the individual to gather themselves and balance, but they shouldn’t be falling onto the ground.

You may increase time from session to session or weekly, depending on how many times you implement crawls into the program. I start at a manageable 10-second hold and work up to 60 seconds for four-point holds. I have worked in longer holds, 75–90 seconds, but those were specific cases and more appropriate for those athletes.

When doing a three-point hold, you have to consider that if you perform each position for 20 seconds, that would be a total of 80 seconds; so, either give rest in between each position or account for total time, holding each position for a decreasing duration. If an athlete can manage a 60-second hold, they can begin moving with the crawls.

This is three weeks of a progression of time. Once completed, you can then progress into a three-point position and conclude with the tougher two-point position.

Taking it one step farther, you can also add resistance or a little chaos through partner perturbation if you’re able.

Video 3. Advanced Iso Holds. When adding resistance, I use either a weighted vest or chains, as these are safer, more comfortable options.

Crawling

Once positions are set, you can begin having the athletes crawl in motion. Here you will begin to challenge the positions that were easy before.

There are several variations of crawling that can and should be incorporated into an athlete’s training on a regular basis. The more practice and exposure to various crawling patterns, the more the athlete will gain from the movement. I typically keep crawling exercises between 5 and 20 yards. Five yards is a great marker to begin at, with most exercises being performed in the 10- to 15-yard zone, and 20 yards being where I cap the exercises.

Video 4 & 5. Bear Crawl & Crab Crawl. Once the distance begins to exceed 20 yards, fatigue begins to settle in and can dramatically affect the movement, leading to more risk than reward.

When performing the crawls, the cues will be different depending on the crawl, but universally you want to maintain proper, consistent body positioning throughout the movement.

Video 6. Spiderman Crawl. The Spiderman crawl forces the athlete to keep their body as low to the ground as possible. This helps with hip mobility and a high amount of upper body strength.

Video 7. Monkey Crawl. Monkey crawls allow the athlete to push away from the ground with their lower body while pulling themselves forward with their upper body. This is also great for hip mobility while achieving total body synchronization. 

Video 8. Shrimp Crawl. If you have ever done a Brazilian jiu-jitsu class, you have probably performed a drill known as shrimping—a movement where you essentially bridge the hips and curl your body in, moving yourself down the mat with your hips. While I don’t use the shrimp crawl for the same reason as jiu-jitsu does, it is an excellent way to teach individuals how to use their hips to create movement.

Video 9. Butt / Back Crawl. The butt crawl has been popularized by former powerlifter and coach Donnie Thompson. It is fantastic to help with lower body warm-ups and activation by shifting your hips up and side-to-side to create movement.

The back crawl is a humbling movement where the athlete begins on their back. Have them maneuver down the field like the butt crawl, shifting with their shoulders, lower back, and hips.

Keep these movements shorter in distance, 3–5 yards, as they are difficult to cover a lot of ground with.

Video 10. Plank Crawl. The plank crawl can be performed from either the hands or elbows and is exactly what you are probably imagining. The athlete locks themselves into a plank position and then begins crawling down the field, working to maintain body position.

Video 11. Tactile Cues. If athletes are struggling with the movements, including tactile cues with equipment can help teach and drive the intent of the exercise. An example of this is the commonly seen cone or object on the flat back when performing a bear crawl. Another option that may be easier for coaches to implement is the use of a stick to keep the athlete in position.

Video 12. Crawls in Various Lanes. Many of the crawls previously mentioned can also be performed in other directions such as backward, laterally, and in a circular movement. This helps keep the options fresh but doesn’t change the movement entirely.

Advanced Crawls

If your athletes are crushing the crawling exercises seen so far, here are five more advanced variations that you can place into the program for those they may be appropriate for.

1. Kettlebell Resisted Backward Crawl

While adding external load to crawls is not high on my list, this banded kettlebell setup is an exception and a phenomenal exercise. I first came across this exercise from John Hunt, an athletic trainer and professor who primarily works with baseball players of all levels.

Video 13. Kettlebell Resisted Backward Crawl. The crawl involves tying two resistance bands together and anchoring one end to a heavy kettlebell and the opposite end around the athlete’s waist.

The athlete pushes away from the ground, fully extending the arms, as they begin dragging the kettlebell. This is great for shoulder and trunk stabilization but also hammering at the connection between the upper body and trunk—a good alternative to get the arms overhead in a stressed but safe manner.

2. Disc Crawls

The athlete places their feet onto a pair of Valslides and begins making their way down the field while maintaining a strong body position. I introduce this exercise first going backward, where the athlete can push themselves away from the ground as opposed to pulling themselves going forward. 

Video 14. Disc Crawls. Each direction is difficult and requires the hips to stay engaged as you drive your feet into the discs the entire time.

3. Ab Wheel Crawls
This is similar to the disc crawls but this time the athlete has their hands on the ab wheel as they crawl down the field.

Video 15. Ab Wheel Crawls. Perform this movement slowly, working to maintain a complete flat back while in motion.

4. Plus Sit-Out

Adding the sit-out component to crawls continues to push the qualities of total body strength and coordination.

Video 16. Plus Sit-Out. This is also great to include some rhythm into the crawls, as they should be on a cadence of when to sit out.

5. Plus Drag

Video 17. Plus Drag. Dragging a kettlebell or sandbag during a crawl requires tremendous amounts of trunk and spine strength and should be used only with the athletes who have demonstrated the ability and capacity to do so.

Honorable Mention

While not technically crawling, I do find tumbling drills work hand-in-hand with the movement.

Video 18. Tumbling Drills. Activities such as rolls, cartwheels, falling, and other movements work similar characteristics as crawling but require different movement and landing strategies.

Applying Crawling

Applying crawling movements to games and competition is the final objective. Don’t be overly cautious when doing this with younger athletes—kids shouldn’t be worried about their perfect crawling positions when you tell them they’re going to play a game where everyone crawls around like a bear. Keep it stricter when the environment is more controllable (such as the isometric holds), but there are ways to keep games fun, yet safe.

Video 19. Catch Game. When introducing games, start from the isometric position in the same way you introduced the crawls to begin the progression.

A simple toss and catch, or even Simon Says from the bear or crab position, promotes additional challenges. From there, you can implement more speed and movement to the games, having races and chases.

Video 20. Capture the Flag. Another, more complex game is Capture the Flag. Using a flag or even a towel can create a competition for athletes to try to crawl into better positions to capture their opponents’ markers for victory. We also use this or ankle tag for a quick, fun warm-up.

Crawling is far too beneficial to be excluded from your athlete’s physical preparation. Share on X

Crawling is far too beneficial to be excluded from your athlete’s physical preparation. From helping improve mobility to strength and coordination benefits, it serves as a complete exercise prescription. It is also a fun way to enhance engagement during training sessions. You can follow the crawling progressions as you see fit and work to improve these capacities over time to benefit your athlete’s physical development.

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

Welcome back to another episode of Facility Finders. I have a gem of a facility for you this month. I reached out to the man in charge of training some of the future protectors of our great country, Coach Conor Hughes from Army Football in West Point, New York.

This episode is special for me, because I have wondered how one of the last teams in the country to still run the triple option is able to train to run that offense at a high level while also training the future soldiers of the United States of America.

Design and Purchasing

The O’Meara, Malek, Dawkins, Class of 1959 Strength Development Center is 20,000 square feet split into a large main training space with 28 racks and a 60-yard turf area, a turfed multi-use area, and a nutrition area. Initially, I thought why such a big space for a football team to train? Then Coach Hughes reminded me that he isn’t just training football players but also cadets.

Their schedules are incredibly packed and intense. It requires elite planning for a team to be able to do sprinting and plyometrics in the same building as their strength training, but it was a necessity for Army to be able to train the number of guys in the timeframe they do and still have space for a nutrition station.

“The biggest thing we needed was space and racks,” Coach Hughes explained. “With the time restrictions the cadets are under, we need to be able to handle large groups of athletes all lifting at the same time. That is why we try to have everything our athletes need for the workout right there on their rack. If we have a group of 100 guys lifting at once, whatever piece of equipment we are using we need to have 20 of.”

Another planning marvel that Army had to figure out was how to make this second-story weight room work effectively. Yes, I said it, this beauty is not on the bottom floor of the building. This was something completed before Coach Hughes arrived at West Point, but for the program to have the most maximized space, it was a necessity. The logistics behind this design came from the partnership they created with PLAE flooring.

Another planning marvel that Army had to figure out was how to make this second-story weight room work effectively. The logistics behind this design came from a partnership with PLAE flooring. Share on X

“The weight room on the second floor produces its own set of challenges, with our locker room and our athletic training room underneath it—every time we dropped a clean, it sounded like a bomb going off in those two areas,” Coach Hughes said. “We worked with PLAE to develop a unique system, which is multiple layers of different thicknesses of foam for our clean drop zones, our platforms, and our turf space, so under our floor is about 8 inches of foam padding. PLAE has been outstanding throughout the entire process. Anytime there is an issue with the floor, PLAE comes and immediately fixes it.”

When deciding what racks to go with, Army chose to partner with Sorinex Exercise Equipment out of Lexington, South Carolina. This was a simple choice because of the quality that comes with Sorinex and their ability to create what needs to happen at that rack. The ability to add things like jammer arms and different pull-up handles or even to squat in the power rack and clean on the platform allows for guys to be constantly moving. Also, the purchasing power that comes with Sorinex is next-level; because of the size of the space, Army will not ever buy just one of something, they will need 20+. So, they need someone to be able to handle that type of volume.

Specialty Equipment

Coach Hughes told me that with the different training cycles his guys go through, supporting the ability to run the triple option at a nationally ranked level means needing special equipment and A LOT of it. He talked about the Run Rockets, Tendo units, and PowerBlocks that go up to 175 pounds (I need to get my hands on those), Keiser functional trainers, and specialty bars like the Kabuki Safety Bar, as well as different training bars (Olympic and Power bars). The crazy thing is that EVERY rack has all this stuff—that way, those 4–5 athletes have access to everything they need for their program in that space.

This is the streamlined process that it takes to train effectively and efficiently at the high level as they do. The Run Rockets are an ideal product to use to help you train speed indoors: the resisted sprint not only helps in acceleration but also enables athletes to run without needing 80–100 yards of turf and can be used to help train things like sprint mechanics or even crawls.

“Our Kabuki bars have been outstanding for us to do any hand-assisted type squats, but also for our guys with an upper-body injury to be able to train the lower body,” Coach Hughes said. “The Tendo units we only really use when we are doing our secondary squatting and benching movements, and it is a dynamic effort movement. KISS principle the majority of the time—we give them a percentage and a speed and say move it faster than X, and they will adjust the weights up or down based on the speed. The Keisers are a huge space-saver for us; they are easy to set up and the exercise selection opportunities are endless.”

Finally, the unique pieces of equipment in this weight room are the BEAT NAVY training plates. This is a rivalry that has stood the test of time and continues to this day. This, like anything, is a choice that is made to serve a specific purpose—for Army, the plates deliver a daily reminder to handle business and beat Navy.

“You cannot walk 50 feet at West Point without seeing Beat Navy; it is the best rivalry in sports,” Coach Hughes adds. “That game is electric. Every game on our schedule is important, but the Army-Navy game is the highest of highs when you win it, and the lowest of lows when you lose it. Everyone involved with Army football has to bring a Beat Navy mentality to every task they do.”

Takeaways

Coach Hughes was a valuable resource. I enjoyed getting to talk to him about all the little details that make his training facility special, and his passion for his athletes can be heard in the way he talks about the space.

“It needs to always work; you need to always be able to take your population from their origin to their destination,” Coach Hughes told me. “The fancier it is, the more likely you will have to make costly repairs: power windows break, but crank windows will always work. Build a solid base of equipment you know is always going to work, and as your budget increases, then get fancier.”

Power windows break, but crank windows will always work. Build a solid base of equipment you know is always going to work, and as your budget increases, then get fancier. Share on X

This idea gets lost many times because we all chase the “newest and best” without thinking about the longevity of equipment and products. Thank you again for following this series, and as always, if there are more details that I can pass along for ya’ll, please let me know!

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

As a high school athlete, I was clueless. I ate all the wrong things, almost never warmed up properly, and didn’t push myself nearly hard enough in practice. Despite these realities, I was a fixture in both hurdle events and the 4×200 and 4×400 meter relay teams during my junior and senior years.

As a young coach, I wasn’t a whole lot better; however, I’ve been lucky to have great mentors who have taught me a lot and given me opportunities to lead. I’ve had some decent success teaching kids how to hurdle, developed a race plan for the 300-meter hurdles, and evolved in my sprint training, becoming heavily influenced by Tony Holler’s Feed the Cats philosophy for everything from the 60 to the 400.

But as much as I’ve grown, for the first 15 years of my career, there was one nut I couldn’t seem to crack: the best way to get the stick around the track in the 4×200 meter relay.

For the first 15 years of my career, there was one nut I couldn’t seem to crack: the best way to get the stick around the track in the 4x200 meter relay. Enter the fly-by exchange, says @TrackCoachTG. Share on X

The 4×200 is not the 4×100. And while this is an almost insultingly obvious statement, along with many other coaches, I’ve been guilty of running those two exchanges in very similar fashion—as a blind exchange with a push pass from the incoming to the outgoing runner. Simply cut the outgoing runner’s “go-mark” a little shorter than in the 4×100, I thought, and the stick should get around the track safely. But this led to all kinds of problems that I would be willing to bet almost every coach has experienced:

• The outgoing runner leaves early.
• The outgoing runner leaves on time but leaves too fast.
• The incoming runner is inexplicably tired at the end of their leg.
• The incoming runner is running well but is so nervous about not being able to catch their teammate, they shout “go slow!”
• The outgoing runner is so nervous that the incoming runner is tired that they barely move at all.

All these problems mean one thing: The outgoing runner must stop or slow down to keep from running away from their teammate and get the stick inside the zone. This brings your race progress to a standstill (or at least a massive deceleration).

The 4×200 is also not the 4×400. I know you know this. But another approach to the 4×200 exchange is to treat it like a sped-up 4×400 with an open exchange, or a hybrid approach where the outgoing runner takes off, then turns and looks back to get the baton from the incoming runner. In my opinion, this is a much safer option than the blind exchange, but it still leaves something to be desired, since running sideways is slower than sprinting straight ahead—also, turning back to look for the baton doesn’t help acceleration.

Many teams run variations of these exchanges. And while they are reasonably safe, if well-executed, consider this question: What is the goal of your relay exchanges—to play it safe or to be fast?

I think every coach would agree: It doesn’t matter how fast your kids are. A slow stick destroys relay times. But the same is also true of a dropped baton, and given the choice between a slow baton and one that’s bouncing on the track, many coaches will opt for the safest exchange. After all, a slow baton is a bummer, but a dropped baton or a zone violation is a death sentence.

But what if I told you that you don’t have to choose between safety and speed?

What is the goal of your relay exchanges—to play it safe or to be fast? What if I told you that you don’t have to choose between safety and speed? asks @TrackCoachTG. Share on X

You can have it all. You can ensure that your outgoing runner will never leave your incoming runner in the dust, and the baton will move fast through the entire zone without any slowdowns, turn-arounds, or (heaven forbid) screeching halts at the end of the zone. All you have to do is implement the fly-by exchange.

Learning the Fly-By Exchange

Like so many good ideas in coaching, the fly-by exchange is one that I stole. Several years back, I was coaching in Illinois at Monticello High School, and I saw something at a meet I’d never seen before. I watched the sprint relay teams from Champaign Centennial destroy the field using a goofy handoff where the incoming runner actually ran past the outgoing runner. I watched those sprint relay teams every chance I got for the next two seasons, and I loved the efficiency with which the stick moved through the zone. They never had a bad exchange. At the IHSA State Meet in 2015, the Centennial boys ran 1:29.22 in the 4×200, good enough for a seventh-place finish. The seed had been planted. The idea has been growing inside of me ever since.

In 2021, I took over as the Head Track and Field Coach at Kalamazoo Central High School. It was a COVID-19-impacted year, and our first practice of the season was April 5, with the MHSAA State Finals exactly two months later. We had some talented athletes on that squad, but we certainly weren’t world-beaters. Still, I felt like we had enough depth that we could find some modest success in the sprint relays.

But it wouldn’t come easily: The last time we had a sprint relay team qualify for the state meet was in 2014. After seeing our first attempt in the 4×200 fall victim to the relay-killing issues I mentioned earlier, I knew we couldn’t afford to have poor handoffs and sniff success. So, I got to work.

I used my old Illinois connections to learn that the mad scientist behind Champaign Centennial’s unorthodox exchanges was Mike Shine. An assistant at Centennial, Mike previously had collegiate coaching stints at West Point, Penn State, and the University of Illinois before joining the high school ranks and forever changing my perspective on relay handoffs. Not only that, but he was a silver medalist in the 1976 Olympics in the 400-meter hurdles. I am almost embarrassed to admit that I knew none of this at the time—I just knew I needed to talk to him.

With the help of a former colleague from Monticello, I was eventually able to get Mike’s number and pick his brain. To be clear, Mike happily agreed to pass his number along and was just as happy to talk to me. I’m not a stalker. He may never read this, but I have to give him credit regardless. After talking to him a couple of times, I knew it was time to implement the fly-by exchange in our sprint program. We haven’t looked back since.

But enough about my escapades as an amateur sleuth. Let’s talk about relays.

What Is a Fly-By Exchange, Why Does It Work, and How Can You Implement It?

A fly-by exchange inverts the standard operating procedure for a sprint relay. In normal circumstances, the outgoing runner takes off sprinting when the incoming runner hits a specific “go-mark.” The incoming runner then chases the outgoing runner and places the baton in their hand in any number of ways, be it via push-pass, upsweep, or some other technique. The idea is that the incoming runner will be able to catch the outgoing runner simply by virtue of the fact that the outgoing runner is starting from a static position as the incoming runner is flying toward the exchange zone. But in a fly-by exchange, the incoming runner overtakes the outgoing runner and finishes through the end of the zone; it is the outgoing runner who must chase the baton and retrieve it from the incoming runner before the exchange zone expires.

In a fly-by exchange, it is the outgoing runner who must chase the baton and retrieve it from the incoming runner before the exchange zone expires, says @TrackCoachTG. Share on X

Given this definition, you either think I’m bonkers, or you might be starting to see why this exchange is effective. Let’s go with the latter.

Here’s why it works. For starters, since the incoming runner passes by the outgoing runner, you will never have to worry about the outgoing runner leaving too early or too fast, causing them to run away from the baton. Next, it doesn’t allow for feelings of panic from the incoming runner. If they’re tired at the end of the race, so what? The outgoing runner cannot possibly escape them. The incoming runner’s only job is to run as fast as they can for as long as they possess the stick. That’s it.

Finally, because the incoming runner is sprinting hard and the outgoing runner is trying to catch up, it encourages an exchange that will take place at the end of the 30-meter zone. This is a good thing, because it allows a full 20 meters of acceleration for the outgoing runner, meaning that by the time they take the stick, they’re already moving fast. An exchange that occurs in the first half of the exchange zone is safe but slow, since most sprinters do not get close to top speed in the first 10 or 15 meters of any sprint. We want our handoff to occur in the second half of the zone—or, even better, the final third of the zone, passing from one fast runner to another.

To implement the fly-by exchange in your 4×200 meter relay, have the outgoing runner start by creating a go-mark. We use chalk in Michigan, so for us that means drawing a box that is 5 to 7 feet from the exchange zone. Video 1 shows our second leg measuring and drawing his go-mark at a dual meet earlier this season.

Video 1. Starting from the beginning of the exchange zone, have the athletes measure back five of their feet and draw a line. Then measure two more and draw another. Use those lines to draw a box on the track. Squigglies are optional.

Bada-bing, bada-boom, you’ve got yourself a go-mark. I should mention that these marks are drawn in chalk, not etched in stone. You can adjust, if need be, but this is a good starting point for your experimentation. Our anchor leg, for example, uses a mark that’s just 3 to 5 feet from the zone. At any rate, upon finishing their sidewalk art, the runner will then go stand just inside the exchange zone on the outside half of the lane.

That last part—the outside half of the lane—is critical. For the incoming runner to overtake the outgoing runner, there has to be enough room to do so. We imagine that the lane is split in two. The outgoing runner moves all the way to the outside, so the incoming runner has enough room inside to sprint past.

Given this positioning, the next important bit is that runners are carrying the baton in the correct hand. The incoming runner will always have the baton in their right hand. The outgoing runner will then take the baton in their left hand before transferring the stick to their right. This allows for the exact same exchange to happen in every zone—the incoming runner, with the stick in the right hand, sprinting on the inner half of the lane and through the end of the zone while the outgoing runner chases in the outer half and takes it with their left.

For the baton to pass safely from one runner to the next, as soon as the incoming runner passes their teammate, they continue sprinting as hard as they’re able (which will certainly be submaximal at the end of a 200-meter race) and hold the baton out in front of them like a candlestick. The outgoing runner, who is accelerating as fast as possible, eventually catches their teammate, grabs the candlestick baton, and keeps on truckin’.

I’m going to show you a few examples of the fly-by exchange in action. Before you watch, know that we were not happy with the exchange below—after the video, I’ll explain why and offer some coaching points. I’ll show you a better example a little later.

Video 2. Here’s the first exchange from the same meet as video 1. While not a perfect example, there are a few things that work well here.

As I mentioned, this handoff leaves something to be desired. It’s early in the season, and the incoming runner is coming in a bit slower than we’d like. He lets off the gas as the exchange gets nearer. Our outgoing runner takes the baton about 12 meters into the zone—not our happy place! But let’s focus on what works well here, even in a less-than-ideal example.

If we run this traditionally, and the incoming runner comes in slowly due to fatigue, the outgoing runner will either leave them entirely or have to run very slowly just to get the stick. That means that if they get the stick at all, they’re crawling when they do. But here, even though the incoming runner doesn’t execute perfectly, the outgoing runner is still sprinting hard when he takes the baton. Even in a bad exchange, I find this to be better than running blind.

To correct the issues seen in the video, I’ve hammered home two points for the incoming runner.

1. “Finish your race”: The distance from the starting line to the beginning of the first exchange in the 4×200 relay is 180 meters. With a 30-meter zone, that means the end of the exchange represents 210 meters of sprinting for the first leg. The distances for the rest of the runners depend upon where they receive the baton, but the significant takeaway is this: If the baton leaves your hand in the beginning of the zone, you didn’t finish your race.
   
   It is vitally important that each runner sprints their full 200 meters (I actually tell them to sprint 210 meters) to ensure that the stick makes it to the end of the zone with speed. Running less than 200 meters with a fly-by exchange means the incoming runner has slowed down, and the result is that the outgoing runner takes the baton early before coming close to their top speed. No bueno.
2. “Make them chase you”: We want the outgoing runner to feel some pressure to catch the teammate that just ran by. I’ve yet to find a runner at the end of a 200 who could outrun a similarly fast but infinitely fresher athlete over 30 meters. The fresh athlete will always catch up, but we want them to have to chase hard to do so. The result? The incoming runner sprints with as much gas as they have left through the zone, and the outgoing runner sprints their tail off to catch them. Fast kids running fast means a fast stick and a fast relay time.

The incoming runner sprints with as much gas as they have left through the zone, and the outgoing runner sprints their tail off to catch them. Fast kids running fast means a fast stick and relay time. Share on X

As for the outgoing runner, there aren’t a lot of cues. As long as this athlete leaves on time and runs the outer half of the lane, the only job they have is to chase their teammate down and grab the stick. Then, it’s their turn to sprint a full 200, finish their race, and make their teammates chase them.

To practice this exchange, I’ve done a couple different things. One option is to incorporate 4×200 relay exchanges into a lactate workout. Simply run a full 4×200-meter relay, then after an eight-minute rest period, do it all over again. During the rest period is a good time to coach and correct any exchange issues you may have noticed in the first rep.

You could probably do even more reps of this given a longer rest period if you so choose. But if you’re working your handoffs in as part of an already difficult workout, you can’t really do very many reps in total, no matter the amount of rest. That’s why we practice handoffs in isolation most of the time. To do this, I send the incoming runner back about 20–30 meters and instruct them to come into the zone at around 90% intensity, maintaining that intensity all the way through the exchange zone. This forces the outgoing runner to practice chasing.

Here are a couple examples of what that looks like in practice.

Video 3. Our first and second runners from the start of the exchange zone.

Video 4. Our third and fourth runners from the end of the exchange zone.

Since implementing the fly-by exchange, our boys 4×200 meter teams have qualified for the MHSAA State Finals in consecutive years. In 2021, we took a varsity team that ran an abysmal 1:37.25 in their first attempt (with a blind exchange) to a season-best time of 1:31.77 and a 15th place finish at the state meet. In 2022, we opened the season by improving upon our previous year’s best and running 1:31.74, then continued to improve all season long before running our best time of 1:29.15 at our regional competition. Unfortunately, at this year’s finals we ran .86 seconds slower than our season’s best time to run 1:30.01 and finish tenth overall.

Video 5. Here is the video of our 4×200 run from State Finals. While a couple of our legs did not have their best splits, the handoffs were executed as well as any we ran all season. We’re in lane three.

A week or so ago, as I was in the process of writing this, a freshman on our relay team asked me, “Coach, how come we do the exchanges this way and not like other schools?” It was something I had taken for granted, since all the other guys on our team had been around since last season. I saw the opportunity to not only teach this kid the method to my madness but also to reaffirm for the rest of the team why we do things a little differently. After I got done explaining, one of our senior relay members turned to him and said, “It’s made a huge difference, bro. We were sorry before we started doing this.”

The fly-by exchange will be a big reason why we’re able to maximize the potential from our relays and squeeze every ounce of juice out of our athletes, says @TrackCoachTG. Share on X

A couple days removed from our State Finals appearance, I know there is still work to be done, but I also know we will be back. And the fly-by exchange will be a big reason why we’re able to maximize the potential from our relays and squeeze every ounce of juice out of our athletes. We’ll never have a sorry 4×200 relay team again.

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

The 2011-12 NBA basketball season was off to a tough start—having been shortened due to the lockout, players and fans alike were excited to get back to supporting the teams and players they knew and loved. The excitement was particularly high for a young guard who was hungry to make his mark on the league. But on March 10^th, 2012, a severe ankle sprain threatened the player’s career—this was one of a string of major ankle injuries to be experienced by the star you may know as one of the Splash Bros: Steph Curry.

Ankle sprains are an all-too-common injury that plagues athletes at all levels of play, and they can be devastating. The effects of an ankle injury can outlast an athlete’s career in extreme instances, with the most severe cases requiring surgery. These injuries are often combatted with high top shoes, ankle taping, and restrictive ankle braces…but what if the very elements that athletes look to for safety are the things that are actually leading to more injuries?

Ankle sprains are an all-too-common injury that plagues athletes at all levels of play, and they can be devastating, says @Jucaelite. Share on X

Mobility and Stability

The ankle is a hinged, synovial joint that chiefly operates through dorsi and plantar flexion, in addition to inversion and eversion. The ankle is also capable of circumduction (a combination of the above movements), and it has been suggested that it is also capable of medial and lateral rotation.

Regardless of its ability to rotate, taken together this demonstrates that the ankle is a very mobile joint, and was designed to operate as such. The joints of the body operate in a remarkable, alternating fashion all the way up to the head and neck. For example, the foot is designed with more of a stability bias while the ankle is more mobile; the knee is more stable while the hip is more mobile; the low back is stable while the thoracic spine is mobile; and the scapula-thoracic joints have an element of stability while the cervical spine upon which the cranium sits has a more mobile bias.

These rules are not clean-cut, especially in the case of the scapula-thoracic and cervical spine, which are capable of quite a bit of mobility. However, the point can be illustrated that they have more of a stability bias as illustrated by the body’s response to scapular winging or issues of cervical instability, which are sometimes characterized by dizziness and vertigo, balance issues, and difficulty holding up the head.

So if the ankle is a mobile joint and designed to operate as such, what is the harm in introducing a little stability into it? The answer: MAJOR DYSFUNCTION.

Basketball is played at a high speed (at least if the athletes are good at the sport), and the body’s segments need to be able to respond at a high speed. When an athlete is moving quickly and needs to change direction, the joints act as shock absorbers to dampen the forces. When one of the stability–mobility pairs is not working up to par, then another joint will have to take up the slack and work double time. When that joint is at its breaking point, an injury can occur in the ankle (ankle sprain), knee (ACL tear), and many others. These components are only part of the whole picture (factors such as torsion, strength, and a smattering of other pieces fit into the injury puzzle), but restricting a mobile joint does not help in any respect.

When an athlete is moving quickly and needs to change direction, the joints act as shock absorbers to dampen the forces, says @Jucaelite. Share on X

High Tops & Low Tops

In addition to braces and wraps, footwear can play a major part in limiting or promoting injuries, and even limiting or promoting athletic performance. In an article by Brizuela et al., performance in running, jumping, and injury resistance were looked at between two different prototype basketball shoes—a low top and a high top.

The results indicate significant differences between low and high top shoes. Studies of impact forces show higher impact forces in high top shoes that transmitted up to the forehead, potentially because of limited plantar flexion movement. What does this mean? There is potentially a higher risk for low back pain with high top shoes. In addition, the high top shoes demonstrated restricted ankle range of motion in eversion and plantar flexion, but also increased inversion (which is typically the most common type of ankle sprain). On performance tests, the high top shoes most limited vertical jump ability, but also decreased performance in running with direction changes.

On performance tests, the high top shoes most limited vertical jump ability, but also decreased performance in running with direction changes, says @Jucaelite. Share on X

Results of this study demonstrate that high top shoes may be more appropriate for an athlete who isn’t required to move quickly as often (post players), but can limit performance for athletes who play at lower angles and at higher speed (guards). In addition, high top shoes may be appropriate for athletes suffering from a history of ankle sprains.

Is footwear the only factor that plays into an ankle sprain? Absolutely not. In total, athletes should look at the following solutions to attenuate against ankle injuries:

• Restoring stability of the foot.
• Restoring ankle mobility in all ranges.
• Limiting mobility disparities between limbs.
• Improving proprioception.

This list is generally ordered anatomically from the bottom up and is not exhaustive. When attacking dysfunction, I recommend focusing on areas that may be the cause of issues, whereas other areas may be the symptom. For example, dysfunction at the foot level may present as a dysfunction of the ankle. Once the foot has been addressed, the ankle may clear up. If, however, you address the ankle and then the foot, results may not prove as successful. Below are some solutions aimed at improving any limitations in the ankle and foot.

1. Restoring stability of the foot

To restore stability of the foot we must look at multiple structures. The arches of the foot, and the toes are all major players in stability that are commonly operating in dysfunction. The toes are often weak and immobile in the way that you are not able to consciously move them as you should. The toes are the fingers of the feet, and should be able to abduct (splay), adduct, flex, and extend. Any limitation in degrees of freedom will contribute to dysfunction. In addition to the exercises listed below, rolling the bottoms of the feet are highly encouraged. An example of how to roll the feet can be found here.

Exercises

• Flexion (curling the toes with the foot flat)/extension (raising the heel while keeping toes planted; also demonstrated in video above)
• Abduction/adduction (splaying the toes outward and inward)

2. Restoring ankle mobility in all ranges

Ankles are made to transmit forces up the chain to the muscles that can help to dampen forces that could transmit up the axial skeleton and cause damage. The major movements of the ankles are to plantar flex, dorsiflex, evert, invert, and circumduct. Additionally, the ankle pronates (dorsiflexion and eversion) and supinates (plantar flexion and inversion). By actively moving the ankles through these ranges, as well as manually manipulating the ankle, you can improve the function of the joint as a whole.

Ankles are made to transmit forces up the chain to the muscles that can help to dampen forces that could transmit up the axial skeleton and cause damage, says @Jucaelite. Share on X

Exercises

• Plantar flexion
• Dorsiflexion

Video 1. Ankle mobility, plantar flexion (pointing the toes down) and dorsiflexion (pulling the toes toward the shin).

Video 2. Front Foot Elevated Split Squat (drive the front knee forward past the toe).

Video 3. RFESS (keep back foot plantar-flexed, drive up).

Video 4. Eversion/inversion (move foot side to side), pronation (dorsiflex and evert), and supination (plantar flex and invert).

Video 5. Circumduction (circular motion).

Video 6. Manual manipulations (keep forefoot stable, manipulate heel side to side). More on this can be found in Anatomy Trains by Thomas Meyers.

3. Limiting disparities between limbs

Working together with the two previous points, if there is a major limitation in one joint as compared to the other, this should be a major focus.

4. Improving proprioception

Proprioception, put simply, is the awareness of the limbs in space as well as how fast they are moving and how much force they are producing. There are many ways to improve proprioception, including PNF stretches and patterns, but most functionally you can use balance exercises. If there is no injury present, unstable surfaces may provide some benefit—but manipulating other factors may prove more beneficial.

Video 7. Clock taps (lightly tap free foot).

Video 8. Limiting visual feedback (keep core engaged, slight bend in knee).

Video 9. Manipulating the vestibular system (keep core engaged, slight bend in knee).

Programming

Implementing these exercises periodically pre, during, or post training will greatly assist in reducing injury risk and cleaning up dysfunction. There is no one perfect method for avoiding injuries, but by making your approach multifactorial, you have a much better chance of succeeding in your efforts.

Implementing these exercises periodically pre, during, or post training will greatly assist in reducing injury risk and cleaning up dysfunction, says @Jucaelite. Share on X

The difficulty lies in how you program exercises in this category to keep the attention span of the population you are working with, while also not eating away the time you have for your session. One practical way I have used is to split your athletes into “buckets.” Each athlete would be put into a different bucket based on what they need most and perform the mobility exercises barefoot.

When athletes arrive, they grab their lift card (or a card made specifically for this group) and get to work on their own before the group warm up. In the early stages, it is crucial to take each group through the movements so you can set the tone. As time goes on you can let them take the wheel until the movements change, and then the cycle starts again. Additionally, I have found that some athletes need more than one exposure to a specific movement, or a different movement that attacks the same limitation. In this case, implementing one of these “correctives” during the rest period of a major lift can be a great way to make sure your athletes get adequate rest time. This can add density to their training and keep the movement quality high.

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