Over the years, I’ve gotten lazy with teaching proper arm action.

I know it’s important. But…I don’t know. It’s boring to teach and watch. So, over time, I’ve distracted myself with the myriad of other skills that need to be taught.

But then I saw this video. And I tried it out. It had such an immediate impact on my kids’ speed, I’ll never get away from it again.

I think teaching and constantly reinforcing this is crucial to the success of your sprinters. I know my kids like it and can feel the difference. Yours will too:

Click here to Learn from Coaching Legends Tom Tellez and Dan Pfaff

To your success,

Latif Thomas

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/latif_thomas

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If you’re the type of person who gets excited about learning new information that will immediately make your athletes better, then don’t even read on, just go check this out:

http://trackandfieldlegends.com/

If you need more details, I’ll be brief. There are two coaches that every great coach I know steals many of their training theories from:

Tom Tellez and Dan Pfaff

These guys have coached Olympians like Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell, Mike Marsh, Donovan Bailey, Carol Lewis and Amy Acuff. To name, literally, just a few…

In fact, they’ve probably forgotten more about technique and program design than we’ll ever learn.

Recently they put on a seminar aptly titled “Learning from the Legends”. Now, for the first time, you can get immediate access to that seminar.

It’s got 7.5 hours of truly exciting information and I’ve been, well, borrowing liberally from it since I first saw the videos a couple of months ago.

http://trackandfieldlegends.com/

This seminar is like crack for track junkies. And, for the rest of this week, it’s on sale for an insanely low price, especially when you see how much information the videos contain.

I rarely get glossy eyed over a program, but this is one of those occasions where I *highly*, *highly* recommend you invest in a product.

For example, Coach Tellez talks about arm action in one
small section of his sprints talk. I stole that one drill/cue/idea and it’s had a *significant* impact one my athletes’ speed. And that’s just one small example.

That’s it. Email is over. Click on the link and order. It will be worth it. But at the very least, go sign up for the free information.

If you coach sprints, hurdles, jumps and/or throws, you need to get this program. And start watching it today.

You’ll be glad you did.

To your success,

Latif Thomas

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/latif_thomas

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If you’ve always struggled with squatting (teaching it to your athletes or performing it yourself) and no matter what you tried just couldn’t seem to figure it out, I have some great news…

Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Eric Cressey, shows you exactly what you need to do to address your squatting woes.

This seven minute video reveals 7 exercises that you can do before your squat workout that are going to instantly make a massive
difference in your technique and depth.

Here’s a quick list of what Eric shares in the video:

1. Lying Knee To Knee Pull Ins
2. Split Stance Kneeling Adductor Mobs
3. Wall Hip Flexor Mobs
4. Wall Ankle Mobs
5. Squat to Stand
6. Squat to Stand w/diagonal reach
7. Walking spiderman w/hip lift and overhead reach

Watch this sweet video to fix your squat:

Click here for more from Eric Cressey.

There’s an argument to be made that strength training is more important to getting faster than speed work itself. And, depending on my mood, I might agree.

That’s why I have to take a deep breath each day we go into the weight room. Because that segment of practice is probably the most exhausting part of my day. If athletes are not performing core lifts (like the squat) correctly, they are both setting themselves up for an injury, but also not getting anything out of this fundamental part of our training. Because I’m anal about technique (we even skip a very specific way during our warm ups) I demand perfection in the weight room. And that starts with me.

I know that I’d rather do speed stuff than weight room stuff. But I’ve got to continue to get better teaching the lifts and their variations. I’ve followed Eric for some time now and this program is excellent.

If you’re serious about improving your athletes’ speed, you should check this out:

http://www.showgotraining.com

To your success,

Latif Thomas

Follow me on twitter:  http://twitter.com/latif_thomas

Check me out at the following conferences in 2011:

Wisconsin Track Coaches’ Clinic – February 11-12
New England Track & Field Clinic – March 18-19

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Happy New Year my friends. We’re jumping right into the week with a video segment I’m calling ‘3 Things’. This week, it’s 3 Things I’ve Learned So Far This Season.

Now, the video is 15 minutes long. That’s right. I talk a lot. I know that bothers some people. If you’re one of them, I invite you to create shorter videos on your blog. I will not complain in your comments section…

But, I’m also a man of the people. Some might say the People’s Champion. (that’s an indirect hint, kids) So here is a quick breakdown of the topics I discuss and the time stamps I cover them so you can skip around. As always, post your questions and comments below.

1. Private School Superiority is a Myth (The difference between public school and private school kids) (0:00 – 4:08)
2. It’s Always Better to Be Yourself (Why turning weaknesses into strengths is a waste of time) (4:09 – 8:45)
3. Sometimes You Have to Rob Peter to Pay Paul (Compatibility training is a great idea…if you live in San Diego. Otherwise, try this.) (8:46-13:40)
4. Free CST Shirt Contest + Dartmouth Relays Anyone? (13:41 – 15:02)

To your success,

Latif Thomas

P.S. Click here to see all of my recommended coaching resources (and get your CST shirt!)

You can catch me live and in person at the following conferences in 2011:

Wisconsin Track Coaches’ Clinic – February 11-12 (Milwaukee, WI)

New England Track & Field Clinic – March 18-19 (Framingham, MA)

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