Recently, we got into a big debate on the blog
about what qualifies as ‘cheating’ when
coaching your athletes and running your
sports program/s.

If you missed all the drama, be sure to
check this out (the drama starts with response
#7 in the ‘Leave a reply’ section):

http://tinyurl.com/l4zhc5

In the end, you can put all sports coaches
into one of two camps:

1. Open minded people, like you and I, who use
critical thinking and reason to determine
whether or not our ideas, programs and
coaching philosophies are in line with
what is best for our athletes and teams.

2. Closed minded people, like Coach Vincent
(click the link above if you don’t know what
that means) love the status quo. Change is
too difficult and scary, so instead of
spending time and effort assessing their
knowledge and approach, they strike down
any opinion that goes against the same old
crap they’ve been doing for the past 5, 10,
20+ years.

You probably know (and do battle with) people
like Coach Vincent on a regular basis.

The only path to defeating Coaching Cancers
like the Coach Vincents of the world requires
constant assessment (of ourselves
and others) and, fundamentally, requires us
to *always* entertain the possibility that
our current way of thinking/coaching is
outdated, inefficient, or, in some instances,
flat out wrong.

No matter how smart or successful we appear
to be (or think we are).

At it’s core, we must constantly strive to
learn new information, upgrade our approach,
test and retest our coaching theories, invest
in our education, attend seminars, read
articles and, yes, even spend some money on
training products and resources.

Highly successful coaches don’t sit back and
say ‘Well this is the way we do it here at
Such and Such High School, this is the way
we’ve always done it and this is the way
we’re always going to do it. Because it’s
our Tradition.’

Tradition, for tradition’s sake, is the crutch
commonly used by the laziest and most
complacent coaches.

And one of the main reasons we are suffering an
acute sports injury epidemic in this country.

When Patrick Beith and I used to coach together,
we would regularly get into heated exchanges
about the smallest details of our programs.

Why? Because if I can’t give a satisfactory
reason for *WHY* I’m doing something in my
program, I shouldn’t do it.

And you shouldn’t either.

I dare say most coaches at the subcollegiate
level could NOT back up their training with
basic science. One could also argue those
coaches should not be allowed to work with
*any* athletes until they can.

Good coaches seek out such constructive feedback.

Those other coaches don’t.

Good coaches explain what they’re doing and
why before every practice. They encourage
questions from athletes. And they answer those
questions in language kids can understand.

(You’d be amazed at how quickly kids buy into
your training when it actually makes sense to
them.)

Those other coaches don’t.

This past season I had my most successful
year of coaching of all time.

Since the spring season ended I’ve accumulated
more information than I can possibly read or
watch, purchased several coaching
resources and picked the brains of multiple
coaches who are far more intelligent than I am.

In some instances, I realized (despite my
success on paper) that there were far better,
cleaner and more efficient ways to get results
than the way I was doing it.

Instead of getting defensive and pointing
at all the state titles, records and scholarships
my athletes have earned, I ate my humble pie
and went back to the drawing board.

Because that’s what good coaches do.

And that’s why my athletes will continue to
rewrite the record books again this season.

The best way to become successful is to copy
what highly successful people in your field
currently do.

And if they’re constantly seeking out new
information and resources to keep their ideas,
training and programs from getting stale,
shouldn’t you and I do the same no matter how
good our programs and athletes appear to be?

After all, you don’t want people calling you
a ‘Coach Vincent’, do you?

To your success,

Latif Thomas

P.S. Not exactly sure where to begin or what
to do next? Here are the 3 resources I
recommend:

1. Complete Speed Training is our runaway
best seller and should be the ‘Go To’ program
for every coach, regardless of age, sport
or gender:

http://www.completespeedtraining.com

2. If you’re a track coach and you already
have a firm grasp on teaching and developing
biomotor skill, the next step in your evolution
is understanding the most effective way to
put it all together:

http://www.completeprogramdesignforsprinters.com

3. If you coach field and court sports and
*only* want to learn the most effective
movement techniques for teaching multidirectional
speed and agility, this oldie-but-goodie
belongs in every coach’s library:

http://tinyurl.com/GBAM123
.
 

Athletes’ Acceleration

PO Box 3178
North Attleboro, MA
02760
US

Pass this on!

Each Monday, for the next 10 weeks (and a total
of 12 weeks), I’ll be posting a preseason
training program for developmental 400m
runners.

I get so many questions about this event I’ve
decided to share what I’m doing. This way
you can copy it, pick it apart (respectfully),
or flat out steal it. Use it and see just
how much your athletes improve.

Of course, feel free post your comments and
questions below. I can’t guarantee I’ll
answer all of them, but I’ll do my best.

If you want more detailed information about
program design for 55-400m sprinters,
click here.

For Week 1 workouts, click here.
 

HS 400m Training
Pre-season – 12 weeks
Mesocycle 1, Microcyle 2
General Preparation Period
 

M: 10 x 20m accelerations from various
positions @ 90%. R = 2’. 10 x 2 Standing
Long Jump into pit.

T: 10 x 100m, 5×100m @ 65-70%. R = 45”, 3’
Bodyweight circuit (10 exercises @ 30” on,
30” off)

Preferably done on the grass. Barefoot if
athletes have access to field turf.

W: Mile run. 3 x 250m hills. Walk back
recovery. 800m warm down on grass, barefoot
if possible. Core.

TH: 8-10 x 200 @ 70% B: 34-35, G: 39-40
R = 2’ 800m warmdown on grass, barefoot
if possible.

F: Cross Fit Workout (runs preferably on
grass)  Run 800, 50 pushups, run 800,
100 crunches, run 800, 50 split squats
(25 each leg). 10’ warmdown run on grass.
Hip mobility.

Workout parameters: The bodyweight exercises
can be done in any order. So athletes can
start with pushups and end with split
squats, as above, or they can start with
crunches and end with pushups. It all
washes out in the end. (For example I wouldn’t
do split squats first because that would
cash out my legs for the rest of the
workout). The workout should be timed and
final times written down for later testing
comparison. The goal of the workout is to
finish the entire workout as fast as possible.

Sa: Off
Su: Off

Click on the player for my audio breakdown of Week 2:

For speed training drills and progressions,
bodyweight and strength training exercises,
dynamic warmup drills, etc, CLICK HERE.

For a step by step breakdown on writing
record breaking workout progressions for
55-400m sprinters, CLICK HERE.

To your success,

Latif Thomas, USATF II (Sprints, Hurdles, Relays)
2005 MSTCA Coach of the Year
 

Pass this on!

A few weeks ago I got married then went on 
my honeymoon .

In fact, I thought of you while I was there.

OK, that sounded a little weird, so let
me clarify…

I went to a Sandals Resort in
St. Lucia for my honeymoon. The reason I
chose to go to Sandals was really due to
my laziness. I didn’t want to think too
much after the wedding, so I wanted to go
somewhere that would take care of everything
for me.

In case you don’t know what Sandals is,
it’s a resort that is all-inclusive.
So your room & board, food, drinks, etc.
are already paid for upfront.

This is why I thought of you. It’s actually
a great business model that you can use for
your business.

First let’s look at what Sandals offers:

They offer services like airport transfers,
golfing, snorkeling, food from all different
types of restaurants, unlimited drinks
(which can get ugly), sailing, water skiing,
tennis, volleyball, billiards, and they
have entertainment every night, plus a ton
more. (they don’t even accept tips). 

Now I don’t want to sound like I am pitching
you to go to Sandals, I just want you to
look at your own business.

What if you set up your gym or camp like
this?

Picture your camp being all inclusive. You
could offer everything to your campers.

For example, if I was running a football
camp for quarterbacks:

I would obviously offer the skills portion
for the quarterback position covering
passing, hand-offs, play action, and other
technical skills a quarterback needs.

But what if I also included:

- Speed training for a faster 40 yard dash
- Strength training and weight room work
- Nutrition information to show them what
  they should & shouldn’t eat
- Agility training so they can learn how
  to cut better and become quicker
- Power training to become more explosive
- Flexibility training and core work so
  they are less likely to get hurt
- Conditioning work so they don’t fade in
  the 4th quarter
- Mental toughness and leadership skills
- Motivational talk from a professional,
  college coach or athlete

Do you think these football players would
ever go to another camp?

Of course not. You offer them everything
they will ever need so they will stay with
you as long as they are playing.

It adds a ton of value that other camps
are not offering.

That’s powerful, but here is the really
cool thing…

Sandals also had other options to make your
stay even more enjoyable.

Whatever else you wanted to do that they
didn’t offer as a free service, they would
set it up for you.

Say you wanted to take a tour of the island
and go into the rainforest;

You can go by jeep, horse, boat, helicopter,
etc.

You name it; they can get it for you.

If you are looking for more adventure than
what they provide, you can upgrade and go
scuba diving, parasailing, jet skiing, swim
under a waterfall, hike to a volcano, go
zip lining in the rainforest, etc.

If you want to relax even more than just
laying on the beach, you can upgrade and
get a massage, facial and other body treatments.
Not only that but you can have it done at
their spa, in your own room, or
down by the beach (at sunrise or sunset).

If you don’t want to eat at one of their
9 restaurants, you can name your meal and
have them set up a candle lit dinner down
on the beach overlooking the ocean. If
you want a better bottle of wine then what
they are serving, you can upgrade it.

If you don’t want to unpack your bags
and/or want every meal in your room, they
have a butler service.

Sandals took care of everything for you.
If you wanted to do something outside of
what they offered, they set it up for you
(and I am sure they got a cut from the
other company in doing so).

Now, you do not have to upgrade anything
or pay extra amenities if you do not want
to and still have a great time and an
amazing experience.

But really think of what types of services
that you don’t offer now can you provide
to your campers?

Can you work out deals with nutritionists,
massage therapists, physical therapists,
recruiting services, sport clothing and
equipment companies, other coaches that
have different skill sets then you?

Look for other options that you can offer
people that attend your camps to make their
experience more enjoyable.  Your campers
and clients will clearly benefit from these
extra services.

It’s a win-win situation and they will keep
coming back to you.

Keep this in mind and really look deep into
your camp and the services that you provide.

I hope this helps.

Pat Beith
http://www.SportsCampEmpire.com

Pass this on!

When you order Complete Speed Training (CST) between now and
midnight Eastern on Friday, we’ll also give you a f.ree
agility ladder.

That’s a pretty good deal!

Because Complete Speed Training is the most affordable it’s
ever been (have you checked the price lately?) now is the best
time to get your copy.

So what’s the catch?

Well, it’s pretty simple. To get this amazing offer, you
*must* order through the following link:

http://www.CompleteSpeedTraining.com/agility

The only way for us to process your order is to purchase CST
at the above address.

Now, the deal we made to get you the complimentary agility
ladder means it will shipped separate from your Complete Speed
Training program. So don’t panic when it doesn’t arrive at the
same time as CST. It is on it’s way!

But only when you order from the special page I just gave you.

If you coach or compete in field and/or court sports, an
agility ladder is an excellent tool to use and is one that is
featured in CST. Besides, if you work with large groups you
know that you can never have enough of them.

So what are you waiting for?

Get your copy of Complete Speed Training at it’s new low price
*and* get your fre.e agility ladder when you order here:

http://www.CompleteSpeedTraining.com/agility

To your success,

Latif Thomas

.

Pass this on!