There are a lot of tell-tale signs of a crappy
program.

One of the most obvious is when coaches stand
around and chat in a group while their athletes
are doing their speed work.

No intsruction or feedback other than the
occasional ‘Nice Job’, ‘Swing your arms’, ‘Lift
your knees’ or other generic sayings.

You and I know this happens for two reasons:

1. They are lazy.
2. They don’t know how to teach or correct speed
to begin with.

Coaching speed correctly is a skill and it takes
some trial and error to put in place a good
system depending on your situation.

If you have a large group it can get tiring
trying to watch several athletes run, save the
file of their run in your head and then give
feedback while simultaneously doing the same
thing for the next group.

And then the group after that.

On top of that, let’s be honest, most kids are
a complete mess. It’s going to take some time to
get their technique under control.

And that means you have to keep breaking them
down over and over and over.

If you’re not careful, they’ll start to get
frustrated and believe they won’t be able to
pull it together.

And we all have those extra sensitive athletes
(high school girls??) who need to be tip-toed
around.

To avoid drama and maintain motivation, I like
to give all of my athletes a ‘criticism
sandwich’.

(I’d like to take credit for this term, but I
can’t.)

A criticism sandwich is when you first
*praise* your athlete for something, then
deliver the criticism and then close with
praise that also sends them back to the starting
line before they can begin a long round of over
analysis.

It goes a little something like this:

YOU: Hey Courtney, great effort on that one. I
could tell you were really focusing on (weakness
you have been trying to correct) there and it
looks like it’s really starting to come together.
It’s like night and day compared to how it was
at the beginning of the season.

COURTNEY: Thanks!

YOU: Here’s the thing. You popped straight up
again and didn’t drive your lead arm. Remember,
if you want to run (goal time discussed in goal
setting meeting) you have to be more patient at
the start. If you rush because you’re trying to
keep up with (team superstar) then you’re never
going to get to full speed. Remember, it’s OK
to spend a little more time on the ground at
the start, but you have to drive the lead arm
all the way up over your head so you can get into
good position. If you keep rushing through the
first 5 steps, your times aren’t going to drop.

(Remember, only focus on 1 thing at a time. In
this instance, everything stems from driving the
lead arm.)

COURTNEY: Umm…OK I thought I drove my lead
arm.

(This is where we have to neutralize the self
doubt that is coming in hard and fast.)

YOU: Listen, you’re doing great. Once we can fix
that one issue, everything else will fall into
place immediately. As long as you keep trying as
hard as you are and focus on that one thing, I’m
100% confident that you’ll get it. You’re more
than half way there, so just keep focusing like
you have been and all of a sudden you’ll drop a
bomb and never look back.

COURTNEY: Really, do you think so?

YOU: Most definately. Now I want you to go get
ready for the next one and just visualize the
perfect start, with your lead arm coming all
the way up. No chicken wing arms.

COURTNEY: OK!
With that interaction, you’ve neutralized the
possibility of a self confidence crash, given
constructive feedback and likely even boosted
the athlete’s confidence.

As long as you maintain that procedure with your
athletes, you’ll be amazed at how quickly they
develop.

The art of coaching is, in large part, a mental
game.

Of course, to serve a really great criticism
sandwich, you have to actually know what
problems to look for and how to fix them.

Otherwise, kids will start to see that
you’re BS’ing them. I hired an assistant once
who tried to drop the sandwich on some kids who
knew better. He lost all credibility trying to
make up a technical analysis on the spot that
made no sense.

And getting credibility back is tough.

If you’re not 100% confident that you can
serve up quality criticism sandwiches every
time, I’ll tell you exactly what to look for
and how to fix all the problems that I see in
athletes.

It’s all on Disc 5 of the Complete Speed
Training Program: Pure Speed Training.

Get your copy now:

http://completespeedtraining.com
In speed,

Latif Thomas

P.S. Think you can’t do it?:

“Wonderful, enlightening information. Recently,
I went to a speed and agility class offered by
my son’s local sports club. I had just
completed studying your Complete Speed
Training program and reading several articles
in the newsletter. Well, I was speaking with the
coach who was so impressed with my knowledge that
mid way through the class, I was instructing the
kids on mechanics and exercises. I was invited
back to lead the class by myself and now I’ve
been requested to set up programs for the entire
program. Also, several parents have approached
me about working with their kids this summer. I
guess I now need information on getting certified
and how to run a summer camp. Thanks!”

Allen Williams
New Milford, CT
http://completespeedtraining.com

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Speed Training . You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.