When you say S-to-L hadn’t worked for that female 400m runner, what were the specific signs of same? Was it a failure to progress or had she actually regressed?
Much of this tends to be down to the mindset of the athlete. I had a very good male 400m hurdler who would have done well with a S-to-L approach which would likely have been similar to what Adam Kunkel HAD been doing. The problem was that when I got him he was so used to pounding out 600’s that he got nervous when they were taken out of the program. He eventually left for another coach who would work him harder. He regressed, never breaking 50.00 again until he returned midway through 2000. He toyed with a comeback in 2004 and was committed to building from the speed end. In the end her knew that her was done and never followed through.
On the other hand, as I outlined earlier in the thread, I had female sprinter who was benefitting from the L-to-S plan except that she had been developed on a pure power/speed program. Things were going well, but she didn’t believe in what we were doing and nothing could change her mind.