Why running slow times is good news
If you’re doing all the right things in practice,
should your athletes be running fast times?
Not necessarily.
When this happens, some coaches panic and change
what they’re doing. And that’s a mistake I don’t
want you to make.
Especially when running slow can be *better* than
running fast.
During my radio show yesterday, the first three callers
in a row wanted to know why their athletes weren’t
running faster sprint times.
Here is my answer (Q&A starts roughly 6:00 into the show):
- Latif Thomas
Complete Program Design for Sprinters
Complete Speed Training
April 16th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Amen my Friend on the role of parents and athletes! Players and parents have to take as much responsibility for their actions and performance and are an integral part in the development and success of the athlete.
I am also battling the urge to fast forward my program because of the lack of early success. Great Topic and the timing could not be better as I am having the same problem! Thanks!
April 16th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Latif
Thanks for this valuable reminder!
Last year I started using Athlete’s Acceleration. My team jumped from 3 kids to 7. I had only 3 boys on the JV team and they won their league! And all qualified for the Division Meet! This year my roster has grown to 14. I believe it is due to our success. Back to the point – our season starts with big meets; 16-32 schools and some of my kids (and I) forget about maxxing at the end of the season. I am looking for an injury free season where 95% of my team makes it to the Division level so we have to accept the slower times at the start! Patience pays off!
April 17th, 2009 at 12:07 am
I’m not a high school coach, but do you have to run meets so early? If you don’t absolutely have to run meets early in the season, they should be avoided. There is no point running a race where performances will suck- it’s demoralizing.
April 17th, 2009 at 4:00 am
I am an athlete and do the 100 and 200 meters mainly sometimes you can hit a stahe where times dont go how you would perhaps like them to everything can affect the time you get in a competition, The weather, the wind speed and direction, how well you are prepared and did you sleep well the night before. Sometimes when athletes dont get a time they are expected to get it doesnt actually mean that they have done something wrong they could have trained every day at 100% effort and feel great and will have looked good but this doesnt mean you can always perform well in the race