400m S-L questions

[Charlie_Francis]

@AthleticsCoach

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.

I don’t know all the details but I would think it was specific physical adaptation rather than a belief issue because the others in that group had thrived on S-to-L at that time. I think, though, if you look at both the approaches I’ve outlined, they are not nearly as severe as the type of pounding program you mention.
I would also mention a case I became involved in with a female 400mh. I had a number of discussions with the coach and wasn’t getting anywhere when I suggested that his program was impossibly hard.
When the girl moved here for school, I was asked to supervise technically, so, rather than argue fruitlessly, I simply discarded his plan and switched to a S-to-L plan and didn’t tell him since he wasn’t here to see it anyway. Her speed came up dramatically and she dropped 2 seconds in the 400h and made the Olympic team.
Only problem was, after not being told, the coach became more convinced than ever that he was right all along and he gained credibility because of her results.