Why Most Coaches Fail (video)
There are a couple areas of training and athletic development where I see many coaches steer violently off course. But one stands out above all the rest. And if you can’t get this together, with consistency, your athletes simply won’t be competitive with those whose coaches ‘get it’.
The questions I get the most stem from coaches, parents and athletes who want to know what workouts to do, when, which order, how many sets/reps, how often, etc.
To ask these questions implies incomplete understanding of how each of the pieces of the puzzle (development of speed, strength, power, coordination, mobility and endurance) fit together. More specifically, it means coaches don’t understand how different training elements affect and challenge the body’s energy systems.
When I have discussions (and sometimes arguments!) with coaches who really ‘get it’, I find that they all have a fundamental understanding of how certain workouts affect the body. Once you understand the (basic) science behind energy system development, you can start asking the more specific questions that lead to the biggest improvements, i.e., how to tweak different workouts to maximize results.
Today, I want to share a video clip from my Complete Program Design for Sprinters program. In it, I talk about how to develop the primary energy system we should be concerned with when developing 55 – 400m sprinters (or any athlete competing in a speed and power sport or sport that requires running at full intensity).
Take a look:
To your success,
Latif Thomas
Program Design for Sprinters
Complete Speed Training
January 29th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Latif
Great stuff as always! As a owner of both of CST and CPD, not sure why others are not rushing to get these products and increase their knowledge and understanding. I wish that I would have had this understanding or dealt with coaches who took the time to educate themselves so that they could pass this knowledge on to me while I was running in HS and college. Still trying to figure out the weather out here on the East Coast (LOL).
>>> I appreciate the kind words Andre’. Of course there are a lot of good coaches out there who want to be good at their jobs. But most people, I find, think they can become good coaches only by trying to piece together free information. In fact, I once took a survey of the roughly 70,000 people who receive my emails and a full 25% said they are ONLY looking for free information. Well I hope my athletes go against these peoples’ teams as often as possible so I can keep racking up the titles. Youth coaching is the only industry I know of where people aren’t willing to invest money into getting better and think they are entitled to free information. Those of us who spend our resources on knowledge keep getting results. It’s that simple. You get what you pay for.
LT
January 29th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
eXCELLENT TOPICS COVERED AGAIN lATIF, BUT WOULD NOT EXPECT ANYTHING LESS FROM YOU, ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO SHARE INFO WITH YOU.
Kind Regards
Viv Rees
400M AND 400M HURDLES COACH
WALES UK
January 29th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Latif
It is a shame that people take on these coaching positions with little or no knowledge of the sport or craft while at the same time failing to educate themselves so that they can effectively perform their responsibilities as a coach.
This arrogance and/or ignorance of these coaches impedes the progress and development of athletes and sets back the sport.
Thanks again for all of your feedback.
January 30th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
I agree totally,but my problem is,i have those athletes who were,to put it mildly,brainwashed into following the same old bad routines,but,under the accel/strength program,and although they continue to improve,they feel that something isn’t quite right,their not feeling that same old punished feeling,we are in preseason with 2mnths to competition,it’s a struggle but i’ll continue because,i truly believe in this program,thanks Latif.
>>>Money talks. Get them results and they’ll drink the Kool-Aid. Works every time.
LT
February 1st, 2010 at 6:30 am
Hi Latif
Really enjoyed Complete Training Program excellent mix of science and coaching, with good delivery. We need more sport speed coaches as its a skill in itself.
Regards
Eugene
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Hello Latif,
I have 2 questions
First, I just had my first day of using you complete speed training program and I personally bombed it. I have junior high age athletes and decided to start with hardcore conditioning. I only have one hour and forty five minutes to workout with them until they catch their bus. I was only able to get through 6 dynamic stretches, the full tempo 100 running @ 75% with the 45 to 1 minute rest in between, and i got through 6 exercises with the 50 yard jogging in between. I finished with about 5 core ab exercises. I was unable to do hips and glutes. Normally you mention we should do most of the exercises twice and i only got through once. It took a while concentrating on proper technique. My kids had trouble doing prisoner squats properly.
Second, My head coach from the high school came to me and congratulated me on our practice. Kids went up and told them how sore they were and how it was a great workout. This is how i know i bombed it. They shouldn’t have been that sore. Granted, some kids haven’t done anything since the fall. My coach then told me make the distance kids go out and road run. They shouldn’t be doing the workout with everyone else. I tried to plead my case about how we’re trying to strengthen and limit lactic acid build up. But he strongly recommended i let the distance just go run. Please help with the great advice you give.
Thanks,
Nick
>>>Keep in mind that the CST sample program is more of a guide then a hard and fast set of rules since it has to be applicable to the full spectrum of sports, skill levels and age groups.
For a day 1 workout with middle schoolers, I think you did plenty. 1 hour and 45 minutes is more than sufficient to train that age group, so I wouldn’t worry too much. For example, one time through a circuit is fine for those guys.
Distance kids legs were probably shot for a road run. However, I’m not exactly sure what your question is in terms of what you’d like me to say in terms of helping you reign things in. Ask a more specific question and I’ll give a more specific answer.
LT
PS. For the record, don’t stress ’screwing up’ a workout. We all do it. The important thing is that you recognized that kids shouldn’t have been that sore right off the bat. Next time you’ll make an adjustment and that, my friend, is the sign of good coaching!
February 6th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Latif, you wrote an article about sprinters running cross country and maybe using a modified cross country program for them. I can’t seem to find it. Could you direct me to those articles? Thanks!
February 6th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Latif, found the article I was looking for! Have a coach/father who is concerned with how ‘flat’ his 400/800 daughter looked after putting in cross country miles this fall. Told him about this article. No need to post this. Just email if you want to. Also, I am still watching for a way to print your slideshow on 400m training and short sprints (awesome info by the way).
February 8th, 2010 at 11:55 am
thank you LT for the vote of confidence,
I really wasn’t clear with my question about my middle school distance kids and i apologize. The distance kids never went on a road run. My question is, do they have to. My high school coach wants them to completely skip the CST workout and wants them to hit the roads after their dynamic stretch leaving the rest of the team to do the awesome CST workout.
Thanks,
Nick
>>Do distance kids need to run on the roads? Yes. Do they need to do that every day? No. All that long slow distance just turns kids like that into slow kids who plod along at slow paces in everything they do. They need overall athletic development. They need to develop biomotor skills that make them better athletes. You don’t want weak, slow runners. Well, I don’t.
LT
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:03 am
I wish I had access to this insight in my high school sprinting days (longer ago than I care to admit), but am working on applying it to master’s track. In my endurance days (job requirement) I learned through some trial and error and good sources (Rob Sleamaker, et al.) how to take the guesswork out of my workouts. Gone were the questions of “How far or fast today”? I understood the concept of programming. You have done exactly the same thing for the sprint events! Gives me the number one ingredient for program success, athlete’s buy in!
jpm