straight inta coaching...

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1

In March a friend of mine asked if I could coach his 8 year old daughter (M). She had done quite well that season, making the regional finals. she finished 5th in the 70m with 12.5, 4th in the 100m with 17.5, and first in the 60h with 12.4 (all on rubber tracks with electronic timing).

Her dad was keen for her to make it to the state championships the following season, but in order to do that she needed to finish top two at regionals. I looked around at the current competition and estimated that she would need to improve her 70m by about 1sec and her 100 by about 2sec. In the space of a year, past athletes going from u8 to u9 tended to improve by about half of this, so M would need to make rapid improvements if she was going to achieve this.

He sent me some videos of her racing and a few areas for improvement stood out straight away. one was that she had a dramatic arch in her lower back that was limiting her knee lift and shortening her stride. two was that she would throw her head back and run with her face pointed to the sky. the third thing was that she appeared to be pushing for speed through the whole race. as a result she was getting tense through the shoulders and slowing dramatically towards the ends of her races.

I agreed to take her on and set about writing out a series of targets and plans.

I enjoy a good challenge… :smiley:

2

7-4-15

heavy rain meant that we had to start off with an indoor session in my garage.

I got her to do a variety of simple movements and stretches in order to assess where her body was at. As I suspected, her hip flexors and hamstrings were really tight. everything we did was brand new for her, so we progressed slower than I thought we would. She had little patience for stretching, but by the end of the session she reported that her legs were feeling really good.

14-4-15

we met at the track for the fisrt time, however before she even started the warm up it was clear that there was something wrong. Her left hamstring was really tight. range of motion was way less than the week before and it was tender to touch. It turns out that she had attended a training clinic the day before and she had done 3 hours worth of sprints and jumps.

this was not exactly the ideal way to start, but I did my best to loosen her up and had her doing short 10m runs, followed by slow 40m runs, then 100m runs; all done with an emphasis on being as relaxed as possible. her stride gradually eased open, but she was clearly impeded by her hamstring strain. We did a variety of stretching and core exercises and called it a day.

16-4-15

left hamstring was still tight.

4x20 slow, stretch and test, 4x40 slow
marching
hurdle step overs (had great trouble coordinating this)
massage/shaking, stretching and core exercises
2x100m alternating between running and walking, also with skipping.

21-4-15

raining again, so another session in the garage.
hamstring condition improving.

marching on spot, hip flexor stretch
lunges, quad stretch
star jumps, lat stretch
glute bridge (1 and 2 legs)
butt kicks, hamstring stretch
lying leg raises (mostly using hf, no abs)
side plank
step ups
reverse hypers

23-4-15

garage once again.

arm drills
cupping on hamstrings
belt sprints (sprinting on spot held back by a belt around the waist) - 6s, 20 steps (feet too low, no knee lift)
reverse hypers, single leg
planking

hamstring is improving. muscles are feeling firm, but not so tight.

28-4-15

6x20 warm up
hamstring sliding with cups
stretch routine
marching

2x10m accelerations (feet scuffing the ground, coming through very low)
3x20m accel (around 4.5sec each - mucked up the timing)

wizard skips for 100m - skipping like in the wizard of oz (“we’re off to see the wizard!”) 10m run, 10m skip, 10m sprint (starting to look much better)

core exercises

by the end of the last session I was feeling much more optimistic…

3

1-5-15

3 lap warm up

lunges and quad stretches
butt kicks and hamstring/lat stretches

marching and getting the heel up.
10/10/10 skip/sprint/walk for 100m

5x100m - slow but with 30-50 run faster with sprint technique.

core strength work

5-5-15

40m run throughs with skipping
stretching - hamstrings both tight after doing school cross country.
several slow 20m runs, getting looser each time.

15m accelerations working on her starting position. she was standing with her front leg straight and her back leg way back and locked out.
4x15m belt sprints - holding her back for 10m then letting her go for the last 5.
one more unresisted 15m sprint.

core exercises and stretching…

4

8-5-15

1 lap warm up jog - run/walk

50m slow runs
skips
marching
stretching
cupping

3x100m slow

fetch and throw with a rubber ball

3x100m slow

resistance band exercises for hip flexors

core and stretching

12-5-15

warm up runs
stretching
marching
skip/sprint

2x20m accels

weight toss + reaction (stand with weight between knees, react to my clap and throw - this is to get her out of her false start habit)

4x20m belt sprints
1x20m accel - excellent!
2x100m slow

core and stretch

15-5-15

tempo circuit
drizzling rain

run 60m between each exercise (lunges, toe springs, push ups, stretch, leg swings, etc) - 4x400
stretch and massage between each lap

sliding and cupping

starting to look much better.

19-5-15
drizzle again
undercover near the clubhouse
mobility work similar to the garage sessions

reactive throws as per 12-5

start technique - stance

3x100m slow

27-5-15

today she came with a very negative attitude. complaining, arguing, not putting in an effort.
had to give her a big talking to after the warm up. started to improve.

2x3x100
2x70 (20/50) - freelap timing

4.47, 8.89 = 13.45
4.43, 8.90 = 13.33

feet were coming through too low again, possibly due to trying harder with the timing on…

5

2-6-15

in light of her recent spat I decided to rethink and restructure the sessions. I made up a routine based more on the activities she enjoyed rather than the ones I wanted her to do.

15/15 skip/run x6
15/15 scissor skip/run x6
lunges
walking flags + knee hugs
hops
react and throw
2x15m accel
3x15m belt sprint

40m 7.66h
70m 13.63h, 13.60h

ab wheel

this session went very well. her attitude and effort were as good as they have been up until now. this was partly due to the more enjoyable activities, but also because myself and her father gave her a good talking to.

4-6-15

  • 15/15 skip/run x6
  • 15/15 scissor skip/run x6
    walking flags + knee hugs

run fwd/back/fwd on whistle, 1 minute

1x40m
5x20m

6x reactive throws

1x20 freelap
2x70 20/50 freelap

4.37
4.77, 8.72 = 13.49
4.32, 8.94 = 13.26

left hip still doesn’t have great movement.

9-6-15
3x15/15 skip run
3x15/15 scissor skip/run
2x15/15 butt kick/run
stretch
walking flags/hugs
fwd/back
general stretch

5x reactive throws
3x15m

3x40 (20/20)

  • (missed the timing - this was her best, though)
    -4.34, 3.58 = 7.92
  • (missed timing)

belt - 45deg marching (some difficulty with coordination)

ab wheel

told her father afterwards that she really enjoyed this session.

13-6-15
hamstrings and lower back really tight after playing football at school. could barely reach her ankles. lying hamstring stretch was less than 45deg!

warm up as previous
stretching
hamstring and back massage

sand pit jumps
marching

4x50m slow

step ups.

after this session I recommended she should see a chiro about her lower back…

6

What other activities she’s doing?
From my observations there are a lot of things outside track which kids that young can do/ should do, to fully develop such as gymnastics, different ball sports, swimming etc…
All the kids I have worked with in primary schools who have done regular activities above (2x/ week) have outperformed their peers by quite a lot.
There is few things which needs to be taken to consideration except chronological age eg: developmental age, biological age, training age.
There are windows of opportunity, bellow for girls.
Keys to Youth Development Dr. Rtzdorf.jpg
Keys to Youth Development Dr. Ritzdorf girls development.jpg

7

great posts guys. I too have seen many many kids running with head tilted back in the latter stages which leads to overall tightness. however ive rarely seen kids at this age with tightness like the above. has she any underlying issues? flexibility and rom should be excellent and also in the majority of cases overall running biomechanics shpuld be excellent

8

she is generally extremely active and she does a lot of sport at school, but nothing else particularly organised. her father keeps her busy with bike rides and various physical pursuits.
I recently discovered that they have a rowing machine at home and I’m wondering if that has contributed to her lower back/hamstring tightness.

I think she is fairly physically mature for her age. she looks quite muscular although not especially tall. her father is about 6ft but her mother is very short. I’m hoping she ends up closer to her father in height!

I’ll have a read of those links shortly…

9

sometimes she does it late in the race, but other times (when she’s over trying) she does it from about 20m onwards.

the pelvic tilt and tight lower back are the main issues causing hs tightness and mechanics issues. the lower back seems to be the main source of trouble, along with her doing heaps of sporty stuff with no physical maintenance, such as stretching, etc…

10

some things that I learned about M by this point:

Physical
strong and muscular but tight af.
lower back and left hip locked up.
pelvis rotated anterior.

technical
action too much out the back. pelvic tilt, pushing too long and weak hip flexors contributing to this.
feet coming through low (below opposite knee), knee extension too soon. impatient to get her feet on the ground and push, which is good for the first 20 but no good after that.
increasing braking forces due to planting foot ahead of cog and no negative foot speed. also, hips riding low because take off is limited.
finally, she tends to get jumpy and anticipate the start.

attitude
she is impatient, so activities need to change frequently.
she is energetic and almost needs to be tied down during her rest periods (“the better the rest, the better the best”).
she hates tempo style training with longer runs at a slower pace. I planned for L-S but switched to S-L to best fit her personality and enjoyment.
she enjoys using gadgets, so I have brought a number of things into play, such as an ab wheel, belt, free lap (“the machine that goes beep!”), etc.
she loves the therapy (begs for it), although her mum hates the cupping marks.
complains most when she feels physically not ready. has a good game face - borderline white line fever.
needs things to be fun and game-like, so funny names and various in jokes are included.
she is obsessed with winning and posing…

11

17-6-15

raining again
running on the spot, star jumps, butt kicks, etc
stretching - tight hamstrings again (plenty of massage and shaking)

bulgarian bag - side swings (too heavy for her body weight), squats (5:5), throws from chest (5:5), throws from knees (2 - too big)

I figured out here that the butt kicks were causing the tightness in her hamstrings.

19-6-15

wet
warm up and stretch - hamstrings good

long jump runway
marching with bulgarian bag on shoulders
squat and throw bag
reactive throws x5

2x20m accel - didn’t run well

lying flags, glute stretches, quad stretches

4x45deg march with belt (sumo steps) - very good!

4x20 - much better form, 4th time really good after standing knee hugs

this was an interesting session as it evloved according to M’s physical condition as well as some of her own creativity in the activities.

24-6-15

complaining of knee soreness (another kid jumped on her leg earlier). limping during warm up runs, barely above a walk. stopped the warm up.

decided to do upper body only activities

elbow punches on bag x20
push ups
started to feel less discomfort in her knee

knee punches - tentative to start, then gradually more aggressive
knee feeling much better

3x20m run throughs
30sec run - 160m

26-6-15

soggy track
skip/run warm up - looking good
stretch routine - hip flexors, kneel and reach, hamstrings, down dog
standing flags - holding on to dad for balance

bag - marching, throwing, throw/chase, squats, overhead squats
belt - sumo steps (getting more powerful through these. starting to break into a run)

hamstring massage

4x20m on lj runway - pounding the ground too much. getting lighter with each rep.

ab wheel - 2:10 (much better posture maintained through lower back - not collapsing)

30m run up and down the runway - ran really well with a good contact sound, knees high, ran it hard the whole way.

after a slow start she is starting to show significant improvements…

12

30-6-15

drill/run warm up
stretch routine
standing flags and knee hugs

5x build up runs - 8/18/30

bag throws/gather, jump/land/throw

20m accels on runway - good

knee/elbow punches

ab wheel 3:10

30s+10s run

run + freeze on whistle - 2min

another good session. knee drive improving…

13

3-7-15

warm up
stretch + massage

4x70 [20/50] (6min rest - technique and activation exercises between)

4.36 + 8.83 = 13.19
4.34 + 8.86 = 13.20

    • 8.81 = ?
      4.27 + - = ?

belt sumo walks - not done well, possibly tired

ab wheel 3:10

30s + 10s run

good session. the third run, where the timing didn’t work for the first 20, was the best of the four.
by now I am dividing the sessions between acceleration focus and speed endurance focus…

14

15-6-15

warm up
stretch
etc

3x EFEF (10/10/10/10)
20m sled
3x20m
20m sled
2x20m

17-7-15

raining
variety of activities
4x20m

22-7-15

jump/throw with bulgarian bag
4x sled/20 - mobility, technique and activation activities in between

24-8

left hip manual mobility work
3x EFEF - knees low, butt sticking out, legs training
knee kicks

3x70 (20/50)
4.45 + 8.76 = 13.21
4.47 + - = ?
4.51 + 8.54 = 13.03

31-7-15

warm up, stretch, mobilisation of left hip
flags

jump/land/throw 25m

2x 10m sled/20m accel - 4.20, 4.10 (tuck jumps and knee kicks in between)

rest/stretch

1x70m - 4.17 + 9.25 = 13.42 (was a bit too tired for the last 50m)

5-8-15

warm up - cantankerous (left leg looking tight)
mobilisation and massage/shaking
stretching
jump/throw - sluggish, but getting into it by the end
4x 10m sled/20m accel - 4.13, 4.1, 4.1, 4.00

30/10s run

acceleration is really starting to come together well…

15

there were a few sessions missed due to my car breaking down and M going on a ski holiday. this was not ideal timing as her school athletics carnival was being held on the day after her return.
I was feeling a little unsure about how she would go, although I was obviously confident that she would make it through to zones.

13-8-15

turns out the whole event was a shambles and organised really poorly.
she qualified for the “100” (which was more like 85), but missed out in the 200 and the long jump. for the 200 she was jumping up and down getting ready when the starter blew the starting whistle, so she gave everyone a big head start. plus the race was organised so that the kids ran up the "100"m track, touched the line, then ran back to the start. most of the kids turned without touching the like, although M did it properly. despite all this she still won her heat. unfortunately her time wasn’t good enough to get her through.
in the long jump they had other kids doing the measuring, and apparently a lot of the marks were measured from the FRONT of the foot! hers was measured from the middle and she ended up missing out by 1cm.

14-8-14
warm up - looking in great shape, although legs and back were sore.
light massage on hamstrings and calves (hs not bad, mainly calves)
lower back cupping

100m jog
arm swings with light dumbbells
bulgarian bag - catch/return, jump/throw, overhead marching
100m jog

this session is the best her attitude has been, most likely due to winning her races the day before…

16

19-8-15

warm up, stretch, therapy - low back cupping (purple on left side)
ran an 800m race at school the day before. hamstring has been tight since.

2x100m jog

bag - catch/return, squat, throw

boxing

2x 10m sled/20m accel - 4.02, 4.14* the second one would have been better, except she turned her head and called out to us over her shoulder half way through

21-8-15
warm up, stretching, therapy - sliding on hamstrings (hs tight from oztag again)
low back still locked up.

standing flags
2x 100m jog

4x EFEF

2x70 (20/50)
4.29, 9.00 = 13.29
4.26, 8.91 = 13.17* disrupted by being chased by a big dog

26-8-15

school district 100m

I was really nervous watching the video of this. turns out I had nothing to worry about as she breezed home to win easily with a time of 17.2, which was a pb by about 0.3s.
hers was the second fastest time of the day, beaten only by a very tall girl in the year above her.
I could see that her upper body technique started to break down a bit and she started doing swimming arms.

28-8-15

warm up, etc
cupping on lower back

100m jog
walk back doing arm technique drills

standing flags

bag throws

4x 5m sled/20m accel - 4.13, 4.13, 3.91**

3x40m build up (10/10/10/10 - run at 7/10, 8/10, 9/10, 10/10)

resistance band hip flexor work.

4-9-15

first night of club competition.
problem with the lights, so no track
shot put only - hurt shoulder with second throw! :open_mouth:
high jump drills

9-9-15

school regionals
100m - 16.95** pb

didn’t qualify (many girls competing who are in a higher age group) but took another 1/4s off her pb.

things are starting to get interesting…

17

Looks like a heavy load for an 8 year old. The genetically superior kids are draging goannas, kangaroo’s or whatever their lifestyle requires. No shoes, carpeted runways.

Good luck with it.

18

she’s never tired at the end of training…

19

11-9-15

club comp
200: 37.77
400: 1:41.41
70: 12.45

15-9-15

warm up/stretch
resistance band exercises - hf/hs
bag throws - catch/return
hurdles - step over, jump over

3x40m build up
1x100m

another ski trip this weekend, no club comp.

21-9-15

warm up/stretch - flat spot in lower back is gradually reducing.
balancing flags
slam ball throws - btwn legs, chest, jump/throw (these were very good)
3x 5m sled/20m accel - 4.09, 3.90, 4.10

particularly good effort today.

23-9-15

warm up (slightly extended)
stretch routine
hurdles - steps, jumps
balancing flags

3x 40m EFEF
1x 40m build up

2x70m
-, - = ? (missed the timing)
4.03, 8.25 = 12.28** massive training pb, although there was a tail wind

bag squats - 5:5

in this session she started to learn not to push for speed through the whole race. she was much more relaxed through the second half of the 70. good knee lift, foot placement not too far in front.

27-9-15

warm up routine - general mobility very good
slam ball throws - as above plus overhead/backwards

3x 5m sled/20 accel - 3.97, 4.03 (stumbled at around 15), 3.97
20m sled

resistance band exercises - hf/hs

she has a habit of stopping dead after the line. this causes her to slow over the last 3m.
will add a 5m section after the finish for her to run through to.

29-9-15

warm up
left hip mobility - added glute stretch
hurdles - step over, jump (snap down close to hurdle)
balancing flags

3x 40m EFEF
1x build up (7/8/9/10) - over straining during this, technique all over the place
2x build up (6/7/8/9) - might more compact and efficient

2x70m + cone at 75
4.17, 8.35 = 12.52
4.11, 8.41 = 12.52

RB - hs/hf

the low intensity resistance band work seems to have a good impact on results…

20

I’ve tried to conform to the cf model of progression for 8 year olds that recommends:

  • 1 hour sessions
  • 2x week
  • 50m
  • standing lj

I’ve differed a bit in terms of the last two because I think she is quite physically mature; very muscular for an 8 year old.

for 9 year olds he suggests:

  • 1.5 hour sessions
  • 2x week
  • 60mh
  • 60m
  • LJ

I tend to use 70m rather than 60, as that is the distance they compete over. other than that, I think I’ve stayed within these parameters for a balance between 8-9 year olds. other than the occasional 100m jog, of course…