Okay, we know that C.F. would use hills and some med-ball work to teach acceleration mechanics while keeping it out of the forebrain of a sprinter.
Tony, how would you help a sprinter with poor acceleration mechanics (does not have deep shin angles) using the three stages of learning.
This question would help me understand your direction, Tony? I’m glad that you’re learning something from the thread though. And I will do a search for your writings? Do you have articles besides the ones with Dr. Yessis? I only saw two on your website.
Obviously the answer will depend on many factors. I will assume that we are talking about a young athlete (approximately 10 or 12 years old) as we were discussing previously.
In this case, improving the GPP of the athlete is the primary goal. If the athlete is too upright out of the blocks, I wouldn’t consider this poor form for a young athlete. With such a young athlete I would see no real need for specialized exercises in order to correct this. This problem is the result of inadequate push-off force that will likely be improved once general strength levels are up to par.
However, the athlete does need to be aware of what the proper technique for the acceleration phase is. At this stage I believe it is appropriate to tell the athlete where to look during the acceleration phase so that he does not become upright too quickly. Referring back to the 3 stages of learning, this cue about where to look during the acceleration phase will initially have to be consciously thought about by the athlete which may negatively impact performance initially. However, this is not a problem as he/she is only 12 or so years old. By the time the athlete is in high school this cue should be well-ingrained so that the athlete no longer needs to consciously think about it since it has become automatic. I believe this is a good way to do things as this ingrains proper technique for when the athlete will truly need it.
Just so everyone realizes it, I am not against hill work. I don’t believe it can over-emphasized though that GPP is the primary focus when working with a young athlete. Technique should be corrected at this age only when it is truly poor and not just a function of lack of strength. I’ve seen many, many young athletes who are heel-toe sprinters. I believe that something like this is a major technical flaw that needs to be corrected ASAP.
To further clarify my stance in this discussion, if you read what has been said, I agree with Charlie that we should attempt to make things as simple as possible for the athlete by not giving them too many things to focus on. I also agree that if the young athlete has good form then there is no reason to bother with minor technical corrections early on. My only dispute has been the proportion of young athletes with good technique to the proportion of young athletes with poor technique. Charlie and Supervenom think that most athletes inherently have good technique, but my experience with young athletes has shown me otherwise.
There is one more that I have written with Dr. Yessis that has been posted on another site. There will be many more to come in the future though.
This was a great post and if your articles are similar i’m sure i’ll enjoy them as well.
Whatever the case maybe, I will agree with you that certain technical flaws should constantly be fixed at any age; for example, if a young athlete swings his arms side to side instead of front to back (like he’s trying to slap people on either side of him on the track, LOL), sprints like a bushwacker (from WWF/WWE wrestling), and finally sprinting like somebody who doesn’t have a neck.
I thought that hill work can be part -if not the main- of GPP.
Sorry if I am not getting something here…
I’m not entirely sure on how Charlie implements it, but I would consider hill work an exercise primarily reserved for SPP. Because of this it would not play a major role in GPP. However, SPP exercises are still incorporated into GPP, albeit at a lower volume.
I see, I suppose it’s an issue approached in a different way with hills mainly in SPP and SPP elements in GPP at an introductory level -this is my understanding from above.
May I ask though,
a) what would you include in SPP hill training? Are you suggesting long, short hills, or distances? This might help better understand the focus of that phase. And
b) how would you approach GPP track-wise? How would you substitute for hills? I mean before targeting hills in SPP.
Thanks!
The only way I can see hill work as a primarily SPP activity is if is being used as some form of specific strength exercise.
Yes/No ?
Correct, although the SPP elements are not necessarily at an introductory level. They are used to maintain the special fitness of the athlete during GPP.
The focus of SPP is to prepare the athlete for competition. As such, the exercises used are highly specific to the competitive skill.
Track work will be highly specific so it is not used extensively in GPP.
Correct. The goal of hill work is to improve a segment of the competitive skill, so I consider it a specific exercise.
Not that the above is clear enough…
Since everything is specific to itself, what would these be per phase?
What special fitness to maintain during GPP? Coming from where will this special fitness be the same? And
If neither hills, nor track is used during GPP, then what?
I still don’t get it and general comments don’t make it easier, sorry!
Thanks!
Not sure what you are asking here.
The special fitness is comprised of all the specific factors relating to performance in the competitive skill. This special fitness will be present from the previous year.
I didn’t say they weren’t used, just not used extensively. GPP is not the time to work on attributes that are highly specific to the competitive skill. It is a time increase general strength and work capacity. For an elite athlete who already has these things in place, the GPP phase will be very short.
Sorry for this again, but apart from GPP targeting general strength and work capacity and SPP specific factors relating to performance in the competitive skill, could you be more specific?
What would a GPP include, for example? Or for a biginner, if this makes it easier to highlight a few things?
Thanks!
Not sure how to get much more specific without writing a book about it. For a beginner who is very young the focus during GPP is on getting in shape. Initially a variety of calisthenics and various games are used. Eventually we move on to squats, benches, etc. with a variety of other drills being used like jumps and plyos.
Hope that answers your question.
No need for a book, Tony! 
The above give me a rough idea, that’s what I was asking for…
Thanks and sorry for insisting!
No problem at all! Just wasn’t sure exactly what you were asking for.
A guess this is where Tony is coming from?
http://www.ruggedmag.com/index.php?type=Article&i=16&a=5
Tony Schwartz: A very pervasive thought among coaches is that special exercises will disrupt the motor skill. Why is this false?
Dr. Yessis: I don’t like the term disrupt. You never want to disrupt the motor skill, but you do want to modify it by making changes that can be easily incorporated in the total skill. Let me be very clear on this: specialized exercises definitely alter the motor skill, but that isn’t a reason not to do them. On the contrary, it is a very good argument for why they should be incorporated into the training of all athletes. I would argue that if it’s not going to modify the skill, then why do it? Swinging a bat faster or running faster is a modification of the skill, but what athlete wouldn’t want this modification?
Changes in technique need to be very small and gradual so that the changes are easily incorporated. Most athletes need to have their technique changed in some way in order to optimize performance. It is true that a change in technique may make the athlete perform worse initially, but over the long-term they will greatly improve. This is why technique needs to be corrected in the off-season, but never in-season. This will ensure that the new motor patterns are ingrained and will allow the athlete to perform at a higher level than he did in the previous season.
I would like to point out that as technique is corrected with specialized exercises, you are also improving speed, strength, or some other physical ability that is necessary for the sport. For example, if I analyze the film of a wide receiver and notice that his knee drive is weak going into the fourth quarter, I may have him use the knee drive exercise for several short sets with about 30 seconds between sets. This type of protocol not only works the muscles in the correct range of motion, but also works the correct energy system. In this way we can be very specific so that the training produces effects that clearly help on-field performance.
The point is that we are trying to make athletes better. If they continue to do the same thing year after year, then they aren’t going to get any better. An example I like to use is the Model-T. When the Model-T came out, people were very pleased with it. And why not, there was nothing wrong with it. It could have been better, though. Luckily, the engineers that worked for car companies did not have the same attitude that many coaches have, or we would all still be driving around in Model-Ts! The engineers had to modify the initial model so that the end product could be far superior to the initial model. This is what we want to do with the athlete.
Yes, that is a good summary.