In this post we’re going to cover some fundamentals of the high jump, and a couple of things that are opinion and debated in high jump circles, like how to initiate the curve. These ideas are based on Brian Clymer’s presentations.
Today I’m going to highlight coach Boo Schexnayder’s teaching progressions for the rotational shot put, while addressing preliminary movements such as the grip, stand and wind. In this post, I define the differences in the positioning of the rotational style and the glide style, offering effective strategies to teach both styles. Consistent results in the throwing events begin with locating common mistakes made by your athletes and learning how to perfect these errors well before they step foot in a throwing circle.
Track and field coach Latif Thomas likes to simplify teaching sprint drills to his athletes. In this post, we’re going to discuss how he addresses the proper way to both teach and perform drills such as the “A-March”, the “A-Skip” and the “Fast Leg”. Remember that drills don’t teach or fix full speed technique. They just reinforce proper ranges of motion.
Pulling a bar off of the ground is a really fundamental process. It’s what weightlifting is all about. It’s the reaction between the loaded barbell, you and gravity. Gravity pulls in one direction: it pulls straight down. You’re interacting with the floor with your feet. This means that the reaction between the weighted barbell and you is a function of your feet basically.
In this post I provide you the Latif Thomas’ step-by-step approach for teaching all the skills of acceleration and top speed running, including all of his best coaching cues and strategies.
Teaching speed and sprint technique should not be limited just to sprint drills. According to Jacksonville University Head Coach Ron Grigg, sprint drills do not directly translate to good sprint mechanics because the essential ingredient of force application to the ground is eliminated in most sprint drills. Sprint drills are good for teaching the mechical concepts. They are good for specific dynamic mobility. They train coordination in a general sense. And in some populations of young athletes or distance athletes, traditional sprint drills can serve as light plyometrics. Boo Schexnayder perhaps said the best quote: “While these exercises provide an opportunity to address many aspects of running mechanics, the intensities found in the exercises are not sufficient to elicit the reflexes found in competition. Thus, sprint drills do not improve running mechanics directly. Creating carryover to the event itself becomes the task of the coach.” So the best and most specific sprint drill is good sprinting itself. How can we create the carryover? The single best tool is the wicked drill created by Vince Anderson, coach at Texas A&M University.
Today I’m going to explain about something a little more basic, but very important. I´m going to take you through basic anatomy and mechanics of a proper breath with a belt. When we aren’t thinking about it, we normally take breaths properly. If you’re like going to dive underwater or something, you’re going to get a big belly breath. You’re going to expand your diaphragm and get as much air in you as possible. But anytime you tell someone to take a big breath, they normally do it incorrectly. They take a big chest breath. They kind of suck their belly in and take a big shallow breath and they get their chest real big. That’s not what we want to do when we are doing a Valsalva maneuver to lift heavy weights.
I´m going to take you through the proper placement for the bar in the squat, discussing the effects of the position for training, and how the back musculature and forearms support this position during the movement.
In Starting Strength training they do what Mark Rippetoe calls the low-bar squat position. The low-bar squat position is different than where the bar is up high on top of your traps. A high-bar squat has got a much more vertical back angle. A much more vertical back angle tends to unload the back itself. The back is more in compression with a vertical position than it is in moment. And we want to load the back in moment, we want to load the hips in moment, and we want to load everything we can load to put more stress on all these major structures. So, we’re going to put the bar lower on the back in order to specifically create a more horizontal back angle.
It’s amazing how many sprinters loose speed through external rotation. Learn some quick fixes for one of the most common speed killers out there. When sprinting, you want to line up your forces and hit it as hard as you can. Any external rotation will cause your speed to drop. Something as simple as a slight head movement can carry over into the hands and the feet, causing wasted movement and slower times. On top of all of that, if you’re in a competition and step out of your lane, you can get disqualified.
Are you looking to boost your sprinting speed and efficiency? In this post, you´ll discover the importance of proper arm action during sprinting and how it can impact your performance. You’ll learn about the optimal position for your arms based on your individual strength level, as well as why extending your arms past your body during the swing phase can actually slow you down. Proper arm strike and movement can help reduce ground contact time and improve your overall speed. By mastering these techniques, you can take your sprinting to the next level and leave your competition in the dust. All this information comes from the teachings of coach Ken Harnden. Lastly, there´s a section in which Olympian Warren Fraser explains how developing patience leads to developing better technique.