Well, I have coached athletes for 15 years so I think I have equivalent knowledge to your fathers experience. You are talking about grade school girls and boys. On all levels, regardless of age, the kid’s who stand out have been the ones who for whatever reason, are fore foot runners. The interesting thing is that when the masses “get” it technique wise, that gap between the born freak athlete and joe average closes significantly. I have watched a kid who in 5th grade ran 4.95 hand time 40. Every year he was faster and still is. The interesting thing is he ran 4,52 at Michigan State camp going into 9th grade. A kid I have trained along with him ran a 6.2 in 6th grade. Last summer at U of M camp, he ran a 4.63 going into 10th grade. Oddly, the fast kid works half as hard and has lousy technique on every drill. The slower kid works his butt off trying to perfect everything including me barking toe up through A skips every workout. Oddly, I don’t have to say it anymore, it is unconcious competence, hence James comments. Asafa Powell is one of the greatest technical runners ever and look at his a skip on youtube. Toe up.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad0ToqBV3fo
Regarding sprinting, yes, it is undeniable. And the best distance runners are mid-foot/forefoot strikers too. But skipping is naturally heel-toe. It’s when we teach sprint drills we teach skipping off the forefoot and it becomes learned for that specific drill. If you asked Powell to power skip for height would he still stay on the forefoot?
And that’s what is interesting about Pfaff’s comments, should sprint drills mirror the natural tendencies of skipping or should they mirror sprint mechanics?
to agree with what Charlie taught me. No disrespect to Pfaff, I just think Charlie was leaps and bounds better coach than anyone else. I trusted his opinion and have had stellar results following such. If you like Pfaffs teachings, than I think that is great. I just happen to use variations of CFTS. That is the great thing about this field, more than one road leads to Rome. We have to do what we believe and what is congruent to our learnings to be an effective teacher.
James I’m with you. I was a rhythm/power sprinter and I tell all my athletes who I train (regardless of sport) to try a drill just for rhythmic purposes. (A skips for example). I’ll admit the athletes who have natural rhythm were usually faster but the 1’s who got it after a few weeks showed dramatic improvement.
Cool stuff 
I played piano, violin is my main instrument. My favorite thing to do is draw and paint, I’m getting a phd in urban and architectural design, but one day I’ll be a track coach. :o
p.s. Charlie was talking about wanting to post some of his father’s paintings here, is this still possible? (Ange???)
ok, back to S&C-ing…
hahahahhahahaha, my friend Silencer on this forum made this, I laughed so much… (James Smith, you’re in it too 
)
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7236635/
haha dear God.
Well your persona is certainly colorful in it’s multidimensional character; unlike mine…
Haha, sorry coach smith, I had a 30 minute space to fill between speed and weights ! hehe.
Big fan 
I know that seminar you are talking about and Pfaff’s quote. He’s discussing injuries using a tongue cheek phrase like “blew them up”. Of course a coach hopefully learns from their mistakes, especially one that has been coaching for 35 or so years.
Injuries are a part of the sport at that level. He also points out how he is less experimental with elites. His program has produced multiple medals in multiple events. Donovan Bailey was running what 10.36 or so when he first started training with Pfaff and Pfaff was not a sprint only coach by trade, he was known as a field event coach.
I guess you probably think Glen Mills and Stephen Francis and John Smith’s programs succeed only because of the great talent they get.
[QUOTE=lr1400;241500]I know that seminar you are talking about and Pfaff’s quote. He’s discussing injuries using a tongue cheek phrase like “blew them up”. Of course a coach hopefully learns from their mistakes, especially one that has been coaching for 35 or so years.
Injuries are a part of the sport at that level. He also points out how he is less experimental with elites. His program has produced multiple medals in multiple events. Donovan Bailey was running what 10.36 or so when he first started training with Pfaff and Pfaff was not a sprint only coach by trade, he was known as a field event coach.
I guess you probably think Glen Mills and Stephen Francis and John Smith’s programs succeed only because of the great talent they get.[/QUOTE
I don’t know them well enough to comment one way or another - but my point was that drills have a specific purpose and any coach no matter the level can interpret and use them the wrong way.
[/QUOTE
I don’t know them well enough to comment one way or another - but my point was that drills have a specific purpose and any coach no matter the level can interpret and use them the wrong way.[/QUOTE]
Absolutely! Trust me I get athletes all the time who once they start doin there drills its almost like I have to reprogram them not to do them wrong or at full speed all the time.
I kept waiting for the crossfit > all joke ;).
James Smith, this is off topic, and hope you don’t mind…just curious if you are recieving email from the address used on this site, as, I emailed a few times during the past week.
Rick
Rick I haven’t received anything from you. You may contact me through the university email or the email on my site, however.
Happened to go back through this thread and realized that I missed your comment here. Very well stated.
I’ve always maintained that the drills, and training in general, are a means to an end.
Thus, in my view, it’s critical to always maintain site of the ultimate objective; which in the case of training for speed is speed/sprinting itself.
So in my program, the drills are always performed under the influence of sprint mechanics versus what may or may not feel like the most natural way to perform the drill in a vacuum.
Having said that, and again, I rarely come across an athlete that naturally heel strikes and remember that my athletes are almost always introduced to the drills without shoes on in order to foster, and typically re-familiarize them with, the most natural and efficient possible movement.
Also, having been heavily influenced by Charlie in many ways, his stance on drills resonates strongly within me in that he always maintained that drills are so useful for resolving mechanical sprint issues in that they present the possibility to ‘fix’ a problem without the athlete knowing it. It then stands to reason that in regards to training for speed it is logical to instruct the drills in a fashion that most effectively transfers to the sprints.
James
I’m right with you…but I’d like to know how you can efficiently implement the barefoot drills as a team. Do you have a high end grass field? (I thought you may have turf)
My school only has access to a field-turf field. The three grass fields are not of high quality, and I would hesitate to do anything there.
I have NOT done any barefoot/sock work on the turf, but I have not read anything in favor of turf running yet. Do you have an opinion on the subject?
Our indoor facility, which we share with the Steelers, is field turf. In addition, we have one outdoor field turf field and another grass field. All three are very well cared for and excellent for shoeless training.
My guys perform all tempo and warm up without shoes on during the off-seasons; however, some opt to keep the shoes on as it’s their choice.
Some even perform linear speed work barefoot; however, most have shoes on for the speed work.
The field turf is great from a pliability standpoint in that, at the most, I may have one guy out of 50 or so that ever deals with shin splints.
Thanks James, I appreciate the advice.
BTW, you kept writing “shoeless”. Can I assume that some players leave their socks on, or does that make an ass out of me;)
You are correct, most remain in socks with usually just a few going barefoot.
The small few who might go shoeless for linear speed work will go barefoot to avoid slipping.
Some of my kids like the Vibrams to keep their feet safe from any sharp objects that may have found their way to the turf.