The 2012 Second European Sprints and Hurdles Conference

Thanks for sharing this PJ.

Yes, from Michael’s presentation there is definitively a long term in sight. I guess this kid is in good hands as long as they keep the workload progressive. He shoudl definitively run sub10 ,ext season.
No talk about Charlie but my presentation, based on statistical analysis for 100+ training plans, showed that decade after decade there is a trend toward more tempo than continuous run, speed endurance performed later in the season and accel/speed workouts earlier in the season. Overall volume decreases (especially 80-89% intensity) but intensity tends to increase. This is what Charlie has advocates on this forum for years and i was surprised that my satistical research would show the same thing (well, not that much surprised actually).

I would be interested too! I’d be especially interested in whether anyone had the guts to ask Seagrave what he did with with (or perhaps more accurately, to) Lashawn Merritt last season.

He got the top 400m man in the world handed to him when Dwayne Miller took a college job, and instead of being a factor in the final in London, Merritt was sent packing in the rounds due to a hamstring issue. I wonder if Seagrave just switched him from Miller’s program (lots of long runs early in the season) straight into his own. Whatever he did, he didn’t make himself look too smart.

I still don’t understand why the change in the first place. Was this more a move by Miller?

Actually the roundable on 400m was with Tony Hadley, Kevin Tyler and me. The 100m roundtable was in an other room with Tom Tellez, Loren Seagrave and ?
During the 400m roundtable, we debated about the timing of speed training (early? late), the specificity of 400m indoor tactics and preparation, training tips to deal with the paradox of running relax while under heavy fatigue, how to go through rounds during a championship, etc.
Over the week-end, LS didn’t went through specific examples of athletes he coaches or coached, except Andre Cason talking about how he had to teach him how to sprint after Cason injured his Achilles at '92 Olympic Trials.

Did you come to any conclusions on the timing of speed training (early? late) ?

Well depend on each coach’s approach and the athlete you deal with and the climate conditions.
But if one wants to run indoors, for sure you’ve got to start speed earlier, for that speed is a paramount factor for 400m success in competition, and even more indoors where you have to go through the first half of the race faster than outdoors.

Indoors you need to get to the break first or a close 2nd staying on the outside shoulder of the leader. Watch an indoor 400 and look at all the crap that happens to the runners trailing the leader. Guys getting tripped, stride alterations, pushing,and shoving. etc…

so AFilaka and Brauman use these small hurdles to regulate a stride length, while carraz seems to use a half sphere type pylon/marker, and dennis mitchell i guess uses a trapezoid shape foam/leather pads.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Skg3-eoxq4 (the daniel gordon documentary with the stride drill at 23:00 mark)

No afilaka uses to teach gemili to get is foot up!

It’s a fast run but not flat out in order to just teach him to get off the floor and step over

It’s a good drill, use it myself

I see so it facilitates the mind to step-over/get the foot up as well, while striking under body instead of over striding to maintain the stride length spacing

While these coaches use a run-in to these small hurdles, would anyone use sticks or shims(the kind clyde hart uses) at an increasing spacing for the first 10 meters…to ingrain an accel stride pattern from a stationary position, that will encourage low heel recovery/positive shin angles

I recall Curtis Frye using sticks to accomplish a uniform acceleration pattern. More of an adjusted incremental approach (depending on speed quality) as opposed to the common ladder format by Seagrave and others. Worked for me with certain athletes.

I believe Dwayne Miller took an assistant coach position at Norfolk State University and thus presumably couldn’t devote the time to Merritt. I don’t think Merritt went out of his way to change coaches, and he had no reason to. He always appeared to be healthy and had the two big titles in his pocket.

Hello pierrejean,

I was happy to read that it appears Kevin Tyler will be heading back to Canada shortly. I’m not sure if you had a chance to talk to him or not, but it will be great to have a coach with his level of experience back in the country. There are few coaches who take the 400 seriously in Canada.

http://www.uka.org.uk/media/news/october-2012/16-10-12-kevin-tyler-to-leave-uka/

Hey PJ, wondering if there are any PDF or PPT slides available from your presentation? Part of my master’s thesis has implored me to research the history of speed-power training, and by the sounds of it your presentation would be unbelievably valuable to me. If you’d rather not share I understand too, though!

Thanks.

Hi Kerr, i cannot send the slides but if you have a specific question, i’ll be glad to help.

Pierre Jean - is there a way that you can post on the site or send your statistical analysis presentation to review?

Was your presentation there 62 slides? If so, yours and all the others slides are already up on the uk website.

If you don’t mind…I can post the link. I’ll wait for the green light.

Also, I don’t ever see anything about educating the athletes. It is not often in the USA that any good athlete stays with one coach for 4 yrs. i.e. HS to College, jr.College to 4 yr College so this has to be addressed somewhere.

Planning? How about every athlete better count on making a change of coaches for one reason or the other and they better know what to ask potential coaches before making a decision.

-Do they follow the cardinal rule? If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. i.e. successful sprinters already running 10 flat 100, 20 flat 200, or even a 44 flat 400
surely their training program was good enough to get them great results so why change the whole program? Work to their strengths.

Which method do they use? S to L, L to S, blend, etc.
Tempo ext. or int. or at all? worried about technique on them? ROM
do they have 2 hour warm-ups before speed? or is it just on off days?
use overspeed? even on someone who has never done it before…if so, when and why?
do they teach the mach drills? correctly or not… w/ stepping over?
What has happened to the athletes that have come over from other coaches-injury rates- Longevity after coming with them? and of course…any improvement? or still the same with all that talent?
Weights? bench press and squats have worked great after the speed workouts…stay this course or change it…to single leg exc. or etc. etc.

I can go on and on but we all get the idea right?

RE: Technology
PJ what is the new 10.00 nowadays?

Harder surface 0-30m times and 30-40m splits
bigger and better blocks
louder gun- faster R/T, more force also? data please
Stiffer spike plates
etc.

perhaps around 9.90? not many camps with sub 9.90 sprinters. Similarities of these camps?

no time to proofread or edit…gotta start my week.

To everyone’s success.

888

for example, look at Kid Carl (King Carl)

He was coached well by his parents before going off to his HS Team (or Jr. High Team) and was almost kicked off the Team b/c he refused to do some of the Training in practice. He knew something wasn’t quite right and rejected it.

On the other hand…he had the longest career in both the LJ and Sprints and never ever considered leaving a Great Coach like Tellez.

If Carl can learn this while he is still quite young…others that are Pro’s have no darn excuse. i.e. agents, etc.

Loren Seagrave presentation about Sprint hurdles was short and quite interesting.
He’s stated that most of the athlete he’s been working with are underpowered and the strength level is not where it should be.
I have asked him to what by his standard is strong enough and powerful enough for sprinter/ sprint hurdler.
Answer I got was for male sprinter Squat 2.5 times of the body weight and female as far as I remember 2.2,
Re: power, standing long jump male sprinter should be 3.20-3.30m and female sprinter around 2.70-2.80m
Also very interesting thing in his strength program he’s been using vibrating plate machine,