Does anyone have opinions on prevelant coaches in America… West coast? I ask this out of curiosity, and I was also curious if anyone knew of Deanne Vochatzer at UC Davis in California? Thanks all
East Coast is where its at!:D:D
Sorry, I don’t know anything about her.
she has always produced a quality team every year.
Charlie, Have you ever spoken with Deanne Vochatzer. She was the head womens coach for the 96 Olympic games. do you have any opinoins? I know she belives in a lot of back ground before anything else. This goes agains what you have taught and learned. How do you feel about back ground for sprints? anyone have opinions?
Well what coaches/clubs are there on the East Coast? Ill be out of college in a few months and want to continue my training properly.
Dlive, you need to tell him about the Saint. That guy’s in a class all by himself-he could not get anybody to attend his class.
I heard recently that “There are at least 200 sprint coaches in the US who are qualified” to look after the top two in the world. No-one should have any problem getting top coaching then!
Stay by the phone! You never know!
i think besides from the obvious things that background training does. it s biggest asset for me has been helping to prevent injuries. But i quickly move in to developing speed before it becomes too stale (start to flatten out).
I don’t think that “background” should be ignored! I think it must be addressed first. That said: should it be RE-addressed each subsequent season- and to what extent? Once certain qualities are in place, it is important to maintain them and build on them. Qualities of speed/strength can be easily and needlessly sacrificed in the pursuit of a “base” that’s already there.
I think that part of the reason that coaches pursue base work so much is that (especially in the college system) they are getting new athletes wil all different levels of training and skills. sadly, some great sprinters will grow stale and more suseptible to injury when put thru the base, then speed work, instead of just continuing on with speed work and creating a “base of speed” so to speak. So it is hard for coaches to look away from base just because they want to have a little army of runners all doing the same thing. sad, but such is life in some college programs.
This is precisely Why advanced athletes require an individualized program! If EVERYONES program must be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator for the convenience of the coach, in dealing with turnover, there’s a real problem!
Originally posted by Charlie Francis
Qualities of speed/strength can be easily and needlessly sacrificed in the pursuit of a “base” that’s already there.
When should a person discontinue the use of base training. Does this only apply to the elite level? Or is it the same for everyone. And would you consider base training simply all Tempo? What else is there, or should there be?
In Britian I don’t think the situation is any better. If I wanted to I could go for the introduction leval 1 coaching certificate. Leval 2 is a higher grade but you are not allowed to go for leval 2 exam unless you first have the leval 1 certificate. “leval 1” only gives you the right to be an “assistant coach” (even in the lower divisions). That means for several months I would have to stand next to another coach and watch how they do it. That would be o.k if they were good coaches but they are crap coaches. I would have to either nod my head and agree with everything they said (with my blood boiling) so that I could remain positive relations with them and then get recomended for leval 2 exam or;
I could tell them a better way, like some of the stuff I’ve learnt of this forum for example, and burst their bubble and get accused of trying to take over. The other sprint coaches at the club would feel threatened. Not good.
The other day I saw a sprinter doing 60 meter sprints and he was trying to use the same mechanical positions for the full 60meters! We all know that top end speed mechanics are differant than peak acceleration and that there should be a smooth transition. Not only was he doing it incorrectly, it just wasn’t anywhere near naturall. His pysique and fitness showed me he had the strength for better technique. It was obviously ingrained by some coach who didn’t know any better.
And the B.A.F system recomends I should be the UNDER-study of these people?! They must be kidding.
Treble
I think it’s a matter of judgement, but I call the process the movement from “right” to "left’. If you think of a power to endurance continuum (L to R), first you get the maximum training improvement by working on general conditionning (why go for two tenths at the start when you can get two seconds at the end?). But, as time goes by, the benefits of maximum general fitness have already been taken, and additional improvements require Special Endurance gains. Eventually, athletes achieve a level of fitness where- at least in the 100m the deceleration factor runs between 3% and ZERO. Then additional improvements can only be achieved by increased velocity and speed tolerance achieved primarily by ALACTIC means (repeats of less than 8 sec duration with total recovery). This year over year improvement process requires the individualization of programs by year and performance level.
Goose
There are good coaches out there. The trick is to apprentice with the right ones, which may take some research and re-location. What about Malcolm Arnold? He must be doing something right. Also part of learning is to judge what DOESN’T work.
Linford Christie will make the transition to great coach as he:
1: Has stopped competing himself and can concentrate fully on his charges, and
2: Gets used to the idea that the vast majority of athletes he will train will never be able to handle the workloads that he could, because they simply won’t have his talent.
i know a coach based here in Jamaica who has the following athletes
women 100mh - 12.49 and 12.92
mens 400mh - 48.30 and 50.43
mens 100m - 10.12
men’s 200m - 20.84
men’s high jump - 2.30m
nobody tells him that he should act as anyone’s apprentice
oh, i forgot to say that he is just a level 1 (IAAF) coach.
So, you feel that his education is complete. Is specialization important? If so which event shows the most promise? (ON results you list so far that would be the 100m hurdles)