Complete Speed Training: Biggest Scam on the Internet?
By Athletes' Acceleration | December 17th, 2007
People are skeptical by nature. Especially when it comes to
a near $200 training resource. And that’s a good thing.
Because there are a lot of people on the internet peddling
crap programs and Complete Speed Training knock offs.
In most cases, I find that peoples’ skepticism comes stems
from simple lack of knowledge. And since I believe that
better coaches equal better athletes, my goal is to bridge
the gap between peoples’ misapplied beliefs.
Here is an email from Joe G. that caught my attention which
exemplifies the typical belief system held by people before
I get them to drink the Kool Aid, so to speak:
****Joe wonders:
“I’ve been reading some of your emails and find them both
interesting and hard to believe. Interesting in that as a
former soccer player, I was one of the top two or three
fastest players every year. I never trained in such a way
as you describe, mostly laps, some sprints and other drills
but nothing like what you mention. The detail you describe
interests me that I wonder how this ‘new’ training would
improve my 8 yr old’s speed in football.”
>>Latif says:
Just because you are fast doesn’t mean you are as fast as
you should or could be. At the first Teacher-Parent conference
my mother ever attended when I was in kindergarten, do you
know the very first thing the teacher said to her?
It wasn’t about how smart I was. It was ‘Wow, Latif can run
really fast!’
My mother still tells that story.
According to Joe my natural talent should have taken me
right to the limits of sporting achievement, regardless of
the training I did.
Fast forward to high school and I was still pretty fast. I
still hold 2 school records at my high school in the sprint
events and I earned an athletic scholarship to college. But
I wasn’t as fast as I could have been. Or should have been.
Because between the ages of 8 - 18 no one taught me the skills
required to be a better athlete in any of the many sports I
competed in or the many teams I was a member of.
I didn’t do a dynamic warm up (part of the reason I tore my
hamstring in high school), I didn’t learn speed drills or
running mechanics (see above hamstring comment), I
wasn’t taught how to lift weights or strenghten my core, I
didn’t do speed work, no one developed my coordination…
Should I continue?
Sure I was fast *despite* the way I was trained. But I wasn’t
efficient. I was probably operating at 50% efficiency. But
what if, through proper training, I was operating at 80%? 90%?
How fast *could* I have been?
The truth is there is nothing ‘new’ about this training.
Good coaches have been using similar techniques for years.
It is only ‘new’ to so many people because so many people
don’t know anything about how to train athletes.
Which leads me to Joe’s next paragraph…
****Joe wonders:
Hard to believe that your training regiment is something I
came across on the internet and not on the field. I ask
myself, “how come no one else is doing this?” Maybe it’s
because after training in a certain way for so long I
question just how legit your training techniques are besides
financially sound for you.
>>>>Latif says:
That my friend is entirely the problem. That you haven’t
come across this information in the field is, quite frankly,
a crying shame.
I see the results of mediocre training every day. I get
emailed stories of mediocre coaching every day. I am begged
to help parents and athletes overcome mediocre coaching
every day.
So I know that the majority of coaches out there are, at best,
mediocre.
There are lots of other people doing this type of training.
I speak to them every day. And we’re converting more mediocre
coaches every day. But not fast enough. Because most adults
think they already know everything. And maybe they’ve been
successful in spite of their bad coaching. So they see no
need to change.
But the ones that do are getting incredible results. We don’t
make up the testimonials you see on the site. Read them again
for yourself:
http://www.CompleteSpeedTraining.com
I get people who bring up the money issue all the time.
I run a business. A business has one purpose:
To generate a profit.
If I don’t make money, I can’t put out information that helps
you or your athletes. If Complete Speed Training didn’t work
or get results, people would return it and never buy anything
from us again.
But they don’t return it and they do continue to buy from us.
Why? Because the information works. It’s based on science and
experienice.
I may be preaching to the choir here, but if you think running
mileage improves a soccer player’s game speed then you
better invest in Complete Speed Training quick.
If you think repeat 200s with 1-3 minutes rest is going to
make your 100-400 meter runners faster then you are not a
very good track coach.
If you think running wind sprints up and down the football
field with short rest periods is going to help your football
players improve their 40 or burst through the line faster
than you also qualify as, at best, a mediocre coach.
I’m being blunt, but I’m being honest. Most coaches’ training
methods are just terrible. They look for excuses to justify
their training instead of investing in some education.
I could have gotten out of college and said ‘Hey I’m an All
East athlete and a scholarship athlete. And I’m naturally
fast. I must be a good coach.’
But I didn’t.
I got educated (thanks to my mentor Kevin Murphy, a Hall of
Fame coach who didn’t let me rely on my personal success as
a coaching crutch) and realized I didn’t know very much about
training.
And my athletic experience alone is more education than many
coaches have. So think about the crap they’re doing with their
athletes. Because you don’t need a certification to coach
youth or high school sports.
In many cases a pulse will do the trick.
==> http://www.CompleteSpeedTraining.com
****Joe wonders
Would the techniques you preach help my son improve his
speed? He just played his first season of 8-9-10 yr old
division football and happened to be as fast as the 9 and
10 yr olds.”
Joe G.
>>>>Latif says:
Of course they would. These aren’t some weird ideas I invented
in a dream. They are fundamental principles of athletic
movement and development.
Start your athletes early and give them an advantage over
their peers.
Or pray their natural ability takes them to the top in spite
of their mediocre coaching.
But take it from someone who relied on natural ability alone.
I *wish* someone had started teaching me proper athletic
development when I was 8 years old.
Your athletes will thank you for investing in being a better
coach. After all, I’ve committed my life to educating coaches
so other young athletes don’t have to wonder what they could
have been.
Want more Complete Speed Training success stories?
Click here:
http://completespeedtraining.com/testimonials.html
What do you think? Post your comments below.
To your Success,
Latif Thomas CSCS, USATF II (Sprints, Hurdles, Relays)
2005 MSTCA Coach of the Year
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This entry was posted on Monday, December 17th, 2007 at 9:01 am and is filed under Speed Training . You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 17th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Fantastic response. Hopefully Joe read it and will
learn from it.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Latif,
I started looking around the internet for a running/speed program because my 14-year-old has no speed and a horrible running motion. I talked to the football coaches and they just shrugged it off. They did absolutely nothing to improve speed or mechanics for any of the kids.
My son’s team regularly got thumped on the field and what I saw this year was interesting. The teams that were faster and stronger were definitely using dnamic warmup routines and the players had definitely been taught a proper running motion beginning with the proper arm swing. So some coaches are catching on, and others are neanderthals. I bought ypour program to work with my son to make him a better athlete, but he thinks the coaches know more than me.
Bottom line, he will never ever get any better because he runs off his heels and he gets his stride in front of his knee. On the line, when he has to keep his feet under himself, he is quick and powerful, but as soon as he gets around a blocker, he is toast, because he cannot catch anyone. With just a very small amount of additional speed, he woulld have had 2 dozen sacks this year, but because the coaches know more than I do, he had only 2.
The morons made the kids run laps around the field and ran sprints without any rest, but never really did anything to give the kids the speed and endurance they needed to be winners.
I don’t feel too bad that my son refuses to listen to me or work with me, because I saw Joe Montanna on a TV program & he said his sons won’t take any advice from him either.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I was taught old school stretching from peewee until I stopped playing football many years ago. Now That I have started to coach my 8 year old son I have found that there are much better ways to coach /train. He started with the 8 year old when he was 6 and was one of the faster players on the team. Could he improve absolutely? I have purchased a few programs from athlete’s acceleration and they are well worth the price. I work in an industry that changes ever year. If other things improve over time with research why not strength/speed training? Keep up the great work.
December 17th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Latif:
I am not a coach just an interested parent. Can I absorb the knowledge to teach my 12 year old how to become faster? I have no prior experience or training other than being an ex -high school athlete.
December 17th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Latif,
I believe in being honest and direct. You are right on point in your response from Joe G.
I played soccer through college. I grew up learning from other players and I attended one soccer camp. That camp really opened my eyes. Up to that point, coaches and trainers in my soccer life, for conditioning purposes had us running long distance and sprints for speed training. At the camp they had conditioning segments on running technique, acceleration, core strength and agility. Using what I learned at the camp lowered my 1 mile time from 5:15 to 4:12 over a 3 year period. Over the past summer, my son who just turned 14, focused on core strength, agility, speed training and technical training for soccer. I asked Kevin Lucas, a very experienced core, agiltity and speed trainer to work with my son and I would do technical and tactical soccer training. My son’s program lasted 5 weeks, His speed in the 20, 40, and 60 yard runs all decreased by a minimum of 15%. He attended the Duke Soccer camp and performed much better than I expected. He was very pleased about his performance. But he said, dad, I can do much better. For the last two weeks of the summer, he continued his training and also worked with his high school varsity team. He told me his objective was to make the Junior Varsity, not the freshman team. Well, he was one of the last 5 players not to make varsity. He had an above average first year (this is the coach in me) and he is now in off season training and playing basketball to stay in shape. After the basketbal season he and I are planning his off season and pre-season soccer training and conditioning program.
Best Regards,
John Viotto
December 17th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
I am like you too Mr Latif a Speed and agility coach with the same background in track and football and I agree lack of knowledge makes people leary of trying something that they ‘re not sure about well there is no such thing but I am well aware of your program and I am shocked to what is out there and have contested some of their results and they have no sceince behind it .
December 17th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Latif,
As a coach who has always focused on the foundation of quickness for my athletes for over 30 years, I want to support your statement that you haven’t just made your program up, but have compiled great overall speed regimens that have evolved over many, many years of trial and error. I personally made many mistakes in training athletes at first but know that, since I kept an open mind and had a sincere interest in each and every player, I eventually could attribute my overall success as a coach to living and learning. Your program removes the bulk of that trial and error for todays coaches, but only if they can objectively review and revise what they are doing. As a multi-sport coach at the fundamental Rec, Club, and High School levels whose teams have won over 90% of their contests, I would like to say I feel you are on the right track… at least for my teams, quickness and speed were always the answer to what ever any other team could throw at us, including size, strength, and even skill. The best part, from a coaches perspective, was watching my athletes grow and development, many achieving D1 and even professional levels in their chosen sport… I really wish I would have had your tools available when I started those many decades ago. Who knows how many more athletes I could have better benefited??
December 17th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
The difficulty is that you present the truth with your comments but for some unknown reason people think that coaches for team youth sports (ie. basketball, football, baseball, etc…) possess the ability to develop such skills. Unfortunately these coaches are typically system coaches. They hold tryouts and take the best players available and put them in the positions based upon their current skill level. The sad part is that they don’t possess the time or ability to develop individual skills, whether sport specific or athletically focused. Now granted, there are some coaches out there that have the full package or they at least understand that they need to get someone on their staff or at their disposal that possesses the ability to help their players develop. Some will even go as far to refer kids to outside programs to help them advance their skill level. However, many coaches just take what they are given and put those kids into their system. Time restraints don’t allow coaches the time to work with each kid on a specific individual level. Therefore they don’t have the time to help that kid develop fundamental soundness, correct athletic posture, or to make consistent fundamental adjustments to running form, etc… The reality is that for most coaches the mentality is that If you are good then we need to get you on the field, on the court, or on the track now. There is not time for development or adjustments. We compete in a few weeks so we have to get ready for the game. No time for individual adjustments for athletes. But as you have commented…how much better could that player be if they were given the information and attention they deserve so that they go to a different level. They may be the best in their school, or city or conference or state right now but where could they be with the right training and right information to train. There is always someone better. For the many athletes that I have seen they have the ability within they just don’t have the resources to get it out. So for many athletes that have the raw gift to compete at a higher level all they typical need to take their ability up a notch is the sound instruction of a good and gifted teacher, As a basketball instructor for 12 years I can testify to your zeal to spread the good news that there is another level and the pathway to achieve that level is to equip yourself with the right resources and the correct instruction. It typically takes time, effort and the correct instruction to give the gift of success that is above what your current ability is able to produce. So if you are at a lower level of performance why not take your skills to higher level. And if you are at a high level of performance right now why not knock it out of the park by making some small adjustments that can take you from being one of the best to the best. The best method is to get the right information and to try it and see the results.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Latif,
Great answer and advice. Now allow me to add my two cents of advice to Joe. At a young age 10 to 12 I was verry fast albeit with no form or training. However as time went on by my senior year in HS I was fast but not ahead of everyone else as I used to be. They had caught up to me athletically. I had not progressed as I could have. Joe, without proper technique neither will your son. The proof for me came my freshman year in college playing cornerback with a fairly slow 4.75-4.8 40 time. A new coaching staff worked wtih me on proper form and mechanics and my 40 times dropped to legit 4.6 almost immediately. You talk about coaches and players taking notice! These were all just basic techniques and form! I could actually feel the difference. One previous reply was right on the money, Dont let the other boys catch up! You are out front, stay out front (and pull away) Who knows what could happen!
December 18th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Latif, I could feel your frustration all through that text. You were on the money with everything you said to Joe and thanks for taking the time to say it! I would be pretty sure that Joe has a genuine interest in helping his son and Im glad he asked the questions too. Its not his fault so many people are un-educated about so many aspects of physical training. I think we could be seeing his name pop up on a testimonial in 6 months time. Joe, if your reading any of this GET COMPLETE SPEED TRAINING! You wont even remember how much it was when you see your son flying down a pitch. He will be happy developing into an athlete and you will be happy because you are able to help him in the right direction. Even just sign up for the free e-mails from Latif and your faith will build. He wont put you wrong. This works and I give thanks everyday that I was lucky enough to come across this website.
In speed, Mick.
December 21st, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Latif,
When I first learned about your training program I was impressed with the Idea that you can train smart vs the erroneous presumption that the more you train and the harder you train the faster you will be. I worked harder than anyone as a 400 runner in high school working out 2 times a day. In college I participated in 3 a-day football practices. Unfortunatly this kind of “no one will out work us” mentality is all to common and leads to overuse injuries that are totally unnecessary. It seems that the goal of the “football” approach to conditioning is to avoid all thinking and run until you puke. The only benifit here is bragging rights for the coaches as to how hard they worked thieir players. Stupid and dangerous!
I will not bore you with a long list of problems that I attribute to this kind conditioning but I would say that your program protects the athletes from injury while maximizing speed and performance. If I knew then what I know now?????
The good thing is that you are helping educate coaches and athletes. Your program is a very big part of my son’s hurdling success. Thank you.