http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2011/08/15/sprint-drills-for-athletes-a-teaching-progression/
I can see by the way this coach is presenting the drills that he is heavily influenced by Loren Seagrave’s Speed Dynamics. This is not the way A’s and B’s were designed to be done by Gerard Mach. I know this first hand. (Gerard worked with my training group in '91 or '92. A’s and B’s were a major portion of our training)
I had a long discussion with Charlie about this at Vancouver 2002. (I was experimenting with a Seagrave style stepover technique on drills with my athletes at the time) I was surprised to learn that Charlie’s focus for the drills are relaxation and rhythm. Charlie explained that there is “no time” to step over during these drills and still have proper ground contact times.
Macsprint is correct. You know when someone tells a funny joke, and then as it is passed on and mis-told and mis-interpreted from person to person, it becomes less funny or even unfunny. Same idea here. These drills are passed on from moron to moron and no one actually checks with the guy who came up with the drills to make sure they are correct. The problem with YouTube is that it accelerates and proliferates this nonsense.
Thanks for clarifying the proper technique Macsprint and Number Two.
I seem to remember a post ages back where I made reference to attending a Loren Seagrave Speed Dynamics clinic and it was suggested I was slagging on the man. If you are riding a pushbike the circling motion is fine, using it while trying to run fast ???
The whole speed dynamics drill series was created to provide a plethora of exercises purported to improve speed (and sell videotapes and DVD’s). Did they improve speed or running technique – no. In fact, they set the sprinting community back several hundred years. But, someone made a buck off of them.
But guys, it says right there in the video that he’s the “Director of Speed Development” at the “Academy of Speed”!
Has anyone got any videos they can post of “proper” A’s and B’s as taught by Mach/Charlie?
That’s exactly what I was thinking- that this was the S.D version of the drills. This version of the A-the step over A was termed by Winckler a velocity A skip and the traditional A skip was an acceleration A skip. Many years ago this is the way I had athletes perform their drills but in the last 11-12 years it’s been with the traditional Mach version.
I think the way Ange performs the drills-A skips, B skips, Ham/Butt Kicks in the GPP download (is that her?) is “textbook” form. I use this as an example to show my athletes when they want a near perfect visual example.
There is a great video that illicitly made it through the NFL back in the 90’s. It shows Ange doing proper A, B and C drills, then a bunch of NFL guys fumbling through them afterward, with Charlie providing audio commentary in the background. Al Vermeil gave me a copy and it shows how good the drills can be, and how bad they can be.
Are you talking about the video CF did with the Detroit Lions and Bert Hill, if so I got it. Those guys were horrible!!!
It kills me to think how much valuable energy and time may get wasted by a developing athlete on “perfecting” these drills in lieu of actually sprinting.
I agree 100%, with my younger athletes aka 99.9% of them I don’t use these drills most of the time. Great drills but I’m in the same boat with these coaches who don’t use ol’s because of training economy etc.
The reason for drills/motor skill practice is to fix/reprogram faults. It everything is fine why try to fix it, you will end up applying the other F word.
Go to your local track meets, your state’s meet, and various high school and college combines and pro days to see these drills taken to the extreme. I feel like I am watching So you thing you can dance? Or some other freestyle running competition.
These drills are great to get an athlete ready and in the right mindset for speed work. I like that they can learn extension relaxation rhythmn etc then try and duplicate those qualities in the actual training session. A question for number 2, if your moving at 1m/s during A skip/A run would heel contact with over emphasized dorsifelxion serve a purpose? I understand this does not happen at 10,11,12 m/s but do these prepatory movements expose the athlete to various foot contacts and durability? I am a big fan of the rolling hops that CF shows in some videos as it feels very smooth and effortless. It also seems to deload the knee and load the hip to a great extent. Thoughts
If the drills are done properly (stepping down and just in front of the center of mass) you should be landing on the ball of the foot and utilizing the stretch reflex in the foot arch/achilles tendon. Dorsiflexion should be emphasized on the upward swing of the leg, but not overemphasized on the downward step. The foot will do what it is supposed to do. An overemphasis on dorsiflexion on the downward stroke can be problematic. Remember those devices that Seagrave promoted (the Dorsiflexor) that secured around your ankle and pulled your shoelaces up. What a load of horseshit that was (I’m channelling Charlie).
Kids should do the drills correctly and should be able to sustain the technique at the intensities you suggest. They may fall apart in their actual running, but that is why we are using the drills. Charlie described drills as either:
- Active - Used to teach athletes skills and develop the necessary strength to run.
- Reactive - Used to correct errors in running (i.e. fix your arm swing, emphasize stiffness during stance phase keeping the hip high, etc.).
In the case of kids, drills are primarily “Active” in application. As they get older and stronger, they will likely become more “Reactive” in nature.
Ok guys correct me if Im wrong but my old coach, I should say my last coach taught us not to to do B skips cause he said it caused a BRAKING ACTION. They way he explained it to me made sense. I’d love to hear you guys thoughts
I would say false - only if you do them the way most people do them.
Sounds a lot like what Seagrave said at the clinic I went to.
I brought half a dozen of the footflexr’s late around 1986 and used them at training, all the athletes said when they took them off they could feel how they were dorsiflexing the foot while it was in the air.
I have the Complete Speed Video from Latif Thomas, your feedback on his technique is appreciated, is it correct as Mach would have wanted? I tried to upload the video with this but it seems like only if the video is on the web will it be possible.