OK, I’m talking about myself…

But, even if you were a hurdler, as my mentor told me the day he hired me many moons ago,

“Just because you ran fast doesn’t mean you know how to teach people to run fast.”

Those felt like harsh words when I was 22, but no truer words were ever spoken.

There are a ton of drill based hurdle DVDs out there. And I’ve got a lot of them.

But, as I’ve learned, drills alone aren’t the answer. And there is a fundamental lack of information out there aimed at running a quality hurdle program, especially if you coach at the high school level.

So I decided to fix that problem. Last year I sent a survey to Complete Track and Field readers asking them for their questions about the hurdles. Then I had one of my hurdle mentors, Tony Veney, create a resource that covered all of the topics you want to know about.

So, long story short, here it is – Training the Sprint Hurdler

I’m taking a slightly different approach with this email. I’m not going to give you a thesis on why you should get it. I’m not going to lay out all the features and benefits of the program. The type of coaches who will invest in this resource don’t need it.

You know we put out good information here at Complete Track and Field. Coach Veney’s program is no different.

If you’re the type of coach who likes to learn things, apply them at practice and make track more fun for your athletes, you’ll check it out.

I’ll be basing my hurdles program on it. It’s half price for the rest of the week. It’s digital so you can start watching it in about 3 minutes. And Coach Veney will answer your questions.

Here is Tony Veney’s ‘Hurdling Training Program‘.

To your success,

Latif Thomas

Because, the truth is, 8 out of 10 high school coaches could not pass a basic strength and conditioning test. And I’ve worked with quite a few of them.

You know who I mean. That angry, incompetent and morbidly obese dude that clearly hates kids (and Christmas), but has nothing else to do after school except torment some teenagers.

We need to get these people out of coaching. And being really good at what we do is the only way to drive these people into coaching extinction.

Not to mention the fact that these types of ‘coaches’ are the reason your athletes feel compelled to seek outside coaching when they’re competing in a season they’re not with you.

(If you’re one of those ‘outside the school’ trainers, this is another reason to look into this certification…)

And if you’re both equally uncertified, it’s hard for you to tell a kid not to go to that ‘personal trainer’.

If we, as New Breed Coaches, are going to drive the bad coaches into retirement, we have to be the change we want to see in others.

That starts with educating ourselves and then our athletes.

Not only will they work harder for you, but they’ll get better results, have more fun, and, most importantly, stay injury free.

If you agree with what I’m saying, you should take a serious look at this HS Strength & Conditioning Certification from the International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA):

http://www.athletesacceleration.com/highschool

I know that certifications aren’t the ‘end all, be all’ of whether or not we’re good coaches.

But I know the guys and the organization who created this one.

They’re smart people who care about our industry and care about kids. And if you study their information, you’ll become a better coach.

And that serves the greater good. It helps you. It helps kids. It helps your sport. It helps our industry. Check it out:

http://www.athletesacceleration.com/highschool

To your success,

Latif Thomas

3 Reasons to Follow Me on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/latif_thomas

1. I share info there that I don’t put in my standard emails & blog posts.

2. You’ll get my uncensored thoughts & opinions on every topic anyone would consider interesting.

3. There are no other speed, strength & conditioning coaches saying anything funny, so experience priceless Latif comedy that can only be contained by Twitter servers.

Effective training systems are about taking what you’ve got, understanding the realities, knowing what’s best and then turning out what makes the most sense for your situation. And the key to understanding how to effectively train high school athletes may not be what you think.

The IYCA’s own coaches Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, Brian Grasso & Wil Fleming got on a call recently and covered their step by step system for training high school athletes. They ran this exclusive teleseminar last week and I thought that you would greatly benefit from it.

The content they covered was great but they only sent it out to their members. So, I had to convince Brian Grasso to send me the recording so I could share it with you (thanks again Grasso!). I hope you enjoy.

Click the play button below to learn more about high school strength and conditioning…

If you’re like me and would rather read then listen, I have included the transcription of the teleseminar for you – Click Here to Download the Transcript (PDF) or Click Here for the Word Document Transcription

Please leave your comments below and let me know what you think.

To your success,

Latif Thomas

P.S. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll follow me on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/latif_thomas

When it comes to any discussion of ‘getting in shape’, the default belief or mindset is to ‘go for a run’. And that misguided belief bleeds over to the way we train our athletes.

Dan Pfaff said:

“Beware the myth of building a BASE. The better question is a Base of what?”

I know that coaches believe in building a base. But, chances are, you’re building the wrong kind of base.

Recently, I interviewed UTEP coach and Pfaff protege Kebba Tolbert on this subject.

He said something very interesting. It might turn your entire program upside down.

Here is part of the transcript of that conversation, where I just asked Kebba about Coach Pfaff’s quote about ‘building a base’:

Kebba: Dan’s absolutely correct and it’s something that he’s helped me with mentally over the years. In terms of prioritizing it means that it’s something that we’re concerned with, maybe even obsessed with that we really put it first and foremost in our plans. That’s something from the very first day of training that we do and it’s something that we’re concerned about from the very first day of training of developing those qualities.

So I do believe in a base for sprinters and jumpers and hurdlers and throwers. I believe in a very big base. I think it’s absolutely crucial. However, it’s a base of speed and power. It’s not an aerobic base.

There are aerobic components that we look at when we look at sprinting and hurdling and jumping and throwing in basically all of the speed power events, but those are almost an afterthought or a side effect of doing other things, but our main concern is to make sure that those qualities are being developed, that they’re being used in a correct fashion and that they can be expressed when we need them.

Latif: Now would there be any differences in that philosophy if you were developing ,say, a 60 meter or 100 meter specialist versus a 400 meter runner or 400 meter hurdler?

Kebba: Not really because you’ve gotta be real fast if you’re gonna be a great 400 runner or a great 400 hurdler. You can be good with just average speeds and average power, but if you wanna be great, elite at whatever level, then you’ve gotta have good speed and power qualities. So even for those events that’s something that we’d be put a serious investment into.

————
Good stuff, right?

Click here to read the full transcript of my Kebba Tolbert interview.

And don’t forget, you can get a full 7.5 hours of video on topics like this by getting your copy of the Learning from the Legends Program with Coach Dan Pfaff and Coach Tom Tellez.

To your success,

Latif Thomas

Get my uncensored thoughts and opinions on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/latif_thomas

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

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)

I recently heard Boo Schexnayder say acceleration is about finding the ‘resonant frequency of oscillary patterns’ in terms of developing and improving the efficiency of locomotive mechanics.

I recently heard Gary Winckler say, “90% of speed development is technique.”

I once heard Will Smith talk about understanding how the universe works by ‘studying the patterns.’

Well, I’ve been studying the patterns, and, in doing so, one fact has become overwhelmingly clear:

Our athletes will be faster when they develop this quality.

Our athletes will be more explosive and powerful when they develop this quality.

Our athletes will be on the board (instead of over and behind) and won’t trip over hurdles (or themselves) when they develop this quality.

Our athletes will consistently hit their times during tempo runs and race modeling sessions once they develop more of this quality.

So, if all I’ve said here is true, then what is the most important word in all of speed training?

Coordination.

Everything we do in practice is designed to improve the ability to express technique in order to positively influence performance. An athlete’s inability to express said technique simply boils down to lack of specific coordination.

Of course, I didn’t invent this concept. I heard Gary Winckler talk about it. Then I thought about it. Then I stole it. Now here we are.

Here’s an example. Last week I ran the exact same workout with two different athletes.

One was a 16 year old high schooler with a 200m PR of 26.1. The other was a 22 year old post collegiate with a 200m PR of 24.7.

The high schooler has been doing consistent technical work all summer and fall, going back and forth between me and another great sprints coach, Marc Mangiacotti. (He and I will be running a sprints clinic this summer, so, when they come, your sprinters will get to learn what we’re doing first hand…)

In our last session, she looked incredible. Her bad runs are now vastly superior to what good runs looked like in June. She can break down her own technique before I say anything which, to me, is a sign of wildly improved kinesthetic awareness and skill acquisition. Her confidence is light years ahead of where it was 6 months ago. I’m very proud of her and can’t wait to see her reap the rewards of her hard work.

The post collegiate, on the other hand, comes from a (Division I) college program that did absolutely no technical work, no speed work and sent 200m specialists out for 30 minute runs on a routine basis even in the middle of the competitive phase. She came from a good high school program (cough, cough), so that’s roughly the last time this athlete had good technical instruction (a 25.02 HS PR vs 24.71 collegiate PR is not a comforting improvement over the course of 4 years at the D-1 level).

Needless to say, this athlete was some sort of Hot Mess. She could feel it wasn’t right.

It wasn’t lack of effort or focus. And it sure wasn’t lack of ability. It was pure lack of coordination.

She lacked (’lost’ might be a better word) the strength (coordination training under resistance), endurance (coordination training under event specific time constraints), speed (coordination training to express highest force in the least amount of time and resulting in optimal displacement) and mobility (coordination training to dynamically express forces through desired/required ranges of motion) to accelerate to top speed and maintain that velocity with any semblance of efficiency or consistency of execution.

Once she acquires the coordination that the high schooler currently possesses, I know one thing for sure, she won’t be grinding to dip under the times she ran when she was 16.

My point is pretty simple. If you want to run a 21^st Century program, it’s not enough to just run fast in practice. As coaches we have to have our own process for solving the acceleration equation. And, just as importantly, we have to be able to help our athletes solve it themselves. Because we can’t cue them or engage in technical feedback once the gun goes off. Their success fundamentally depends on the ability to feel what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ and make corrections in real time, under the stress of competition and with 6-7 other athletes trying to beat them. Or with a crowd of people staring at them while they barrell down the runway.

It’s not enough to send kids into the weight room if you don’t have the same technical standards for a squat or clean as you do for coming out of blocks or doing phase work in the triple jump.

But if you reframe your training perspective with coordination being the ultimate goal and strength, speed, endurance and mobility being interdependent qualities, it will be easier to connect the dots between movements, event groups and specific skill development.

At your next practice, watch your athletes perform all the drills and exercises that make up their practice with this concept of ‘coordination as the ultimate goal’ in mind. It will be both liberating and overwhelming at the same time.

Here’s the first step to solving the coordination equation:

How to Build Champion Sprinters

To your success,

Latif Thomas

UPDATE (March 24, 2011): I will be running a sprints/hurdles clinic this summer with ‘Building the Perfect 100m Sprinter’ creator Marc Mangiacotti. It will be for athletes AND coaches. I will have a website up with full details and we will begin taking registrations (we have a limited number of spots available) in the next 2 weeks. However, this much is confirmed: The clinic will be held in Massachusetts  on Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24, 2011. Send your athletes and/or attend yourself.

Check it out and, as always, ask questions if you have them:

#1 Best Seller: Complete Speed Training Volume 2

Sure, I’m biased because I created it. But, if I didn’t know what I was talking about, you wouldn’t be reading this right now, would you? And, here’s the bottom line:

CST2 has sold more copies than all the other programs on this list….combined.

If you don’t have CST2 yet, I’m sure you have lots of great reasons, all of them involving the word ‘price’. And that’s cool. I totally understand. But, it takes money to make money. All of the coaches I go to for advice get  results because they have more tools in their toolbox. Common sense says I should go out and purchase the same tools. And I do, which is why I get results. And you can be sure the elite coaches I study didn’t get those tools from scavenging the interwebs for free sample programs.

If you’re offended, my bad. Really. But I bet no customers are offended. It’s just that you’re probably picking rusted wrenches out of dumpsters and I won’t apologize for recommending a pair of Channellocks.

But, in truth, it’s a win/win for me. If you get a copy, I get the satisfaction of knowing you’re going to help a lot of kids. If you help kids, then I help kids and that’s the reason I started doing this in the first place. If you don’t, it just means even more of my kids get to stand on the podium at the big meets. And kids love that.

Click here to learn more about Complete Speed Training Volume 2.

#2 Best Seller: Complete Program Design for Sprinters

Again, one of my core programs. CPD is more advanced than CST2 because it’s not about showing you how to teach drills and exercises. So I wouldn’t recommend this for novice coaches.

Instead, I get into the science of workout planning, training phases and managing energy systems. I go into the psychology of getting kids to buy into your program hook, line and sinker.

If you already feel good about how to teach the mechanics of speed, but want to know more about where, when and why to do various types of speed work based on training age, event group and training phase, then you’ll be pretty excited about CPD.

Click here to learn more about Complete Program Design for Sprinters.

#3 Best Seller: Complete Track & Field Conditioning for the Endurance Events

At first, I was surprised to see the #2 most popular event group of my list of coaches isn’t jumps or hurdles. It’s the distance events. Then I realized that I live in New England and 9 out of 10 head coaches is a distance coach. (Which explains why so many sprinters around here run on their heels, but I digress.)

Scott Christensen is arguably the top HS distance coach in the country, a 14 year lead instructor for USATF Level II Endurance school, has had 7 Minnesota State Champions at 800 and 1600 since 1996 and has had 4 former athletes go on to run sub 4:00 in the mile since 2003.

So, yeah. That’s pretty solid, don’t you think?

If you’re a distance coach and that doesn’t get you salivating then I highly recommend checking yourself for a pulse because you may have inadvertently ingested some puffer fish.

Seriously, I don’t even coach middle distance/distance runners and I study Scott’s information. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.

Click here to learn more about CTFC for the Endurance Events.

#4 Best Seller: Complete Track and Field Conditioning for the Jumps

If I have a question about the jumps, I’m calling Boo Schexnayder. If you’ve been involved in USATF Coaching Education, you’re a Boo disciple. If you get involved in The Academy…Boo.

Not only is Boo one of the kindest human beings I’ve ever met, he’s also one of the smartest. (No one draws a series of stick figures like Boo Schexnayder!) And he’s probably the best jumps coach on planet Earth.

So if you’re looking for some introductory level information in regards to workout planning, training inventories and progressions for your jumpers, you would be crazy not to have this book in your library. It’s not Level II school, but if you’re still lumping your jumpers in with your sprinters every day and then just separating them on ‘jump days’, my good friend, please come join us in the 21^st Century.

Click here to learn more about CTFC for the Jumps.

#5 Best Seller: Complete Track and Field Conditioning for the Sprints/Hurdles

I was on the phone with Tony Veney last week and, listening to him talk, I felt a bit like the younger Bizarro World version of…Tony Veney. I agreed with everything he was teaching me, he just has a much bigger toolbox full of better tools. That is the value of experience combined with open mindedness.

I’ll admit it’s a bit frustrating talking to guys like Tony because they understand things on levels I have yet to reach. But, then again, it’s not nearly as hard to humble myself now as it was when I was 22 and knew everything…

At the same time it’s great to know that a USATF Master Coach reads my emails and has positive things to say about my training philosophy. Tony is one of my ‘go to guys’ when I have a question about my sprinters or hurdlers. (And we both agree that speed and power is the key to fast 400 times…yeah, yeah Clyde Hart. Isn’t that what you were going to say?)

Here’s the truth: If you already have CST2 or CPD, then you’ll probably find Tony’s book a bit on the basic side. But if you don’t or you can’t bring yourself to spend the money on those programs, please do your athletes a favor and get Tony’s book on developing programs and training progressions for your sprinters/hurdlers.

Tony’s knowledge is as good as it gets. When you’re shopping for new tools, not every job requires a Sawzall. But that rusty hand saw ain’t gonna get it done either.

Click here to learn more about CTFC for the Sprints/Hurdles.

Got questions about which program is the right fit for you? Ask below.

To your success,

Latif Thomas

Oh yeah…

Clear your schedules my friends. In 2011, I’ll be taking my talents to:

Wisconsin Track Coaches Clinic – February 11-12

New England Track & Field Clinic – March 18-19

How do I effectively coach my sprinters while also appropriately developing their jumps and hurdle needs, without turning practice into a mass of kids going in different directions at the same time?

If you coach at the developmental level, you wrestle with this issue on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

I’m going to answer this question in 2 parts. Today I’ll outline the weekly training goals/demands for each ‘subgroup’. That way you’ll know what you need to get done each week with each group of athletes. On Thursday, if you’re a Complete Speed Training 2 or Complete Program Design for Sprinters customer, you’ll get a video showing how I break this down into an actual week of training, what I do, when I do it and how to make sure every athlete competing in multiple events gets the just the right amount of training.

(If you still don’t have CST2 or CPD, order now so you get access to Thursday’s video.)

In the meantime, check out this video:

Invest in the success of your athletes and program by joining the
New Breed of Coaches using CST2 and CPD as the foundation of our sprints programs:

 
Complete Speed Training Vol. 2: How to Build Champion Sprinters

Complete Program Design for Sprinters

To your success,

Latif Thomas

P.S. Don’t forget, in 2011 I’ll be speaking at:

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