Palmtag,
“Wall Drills” are meant to mimic the body position of the acceleration phase, emphasizing knee drive and striking with the ball of the foot. Aren’t “wall sits” that goofy isometric stabilization that personal trainers have Soccer moms perform to “tone their thighs”?
I was referring to the actual running of the race, not the training. The training breaks down the event into components. However, during any kind of speed work, you want to keep concious thought of the movements to a minimum because they occur too quickly for concious control and any attempt to deliberately think about them will actually slow the movements. Improvements in mechanics are largely achieved indirectly through drills (though not the wall drill) and improvements in underlying physical attributes (core strength, leg power).
I highly recommend you read everything written by Charlie, which is available through this site, because it really gives you the technical background knowledge to get the most out of the forum. Most of the discussion here assumes you’re already familiar with it. It’s the best money you’ll spend on training info.
The body position isn’t as difficult as it’s been made out to be. I do believe one of the major elements of a wall drill is hip separation. I’ve played with stationary wall drills as an active stretch, but not for teaching acceleration.
I’m grad student so extra funds are slim and none at this point but I definitely plan on buying the e-books and dvd’s when I get a chance. It’s my #1 priority as far as the next purchase for training related goods/products. My line of questioning was mainly trying to understand certain criticisms of a specific philosophy.
Flash or anyone else willing to answer!
I have another question, you say, “However, during any kind of speed work, you want to keep concious thought of the movements to a minimum because they occur too quickly for concious control and any attempt to deliberately think about them will actually slow the movements. Improvements in mechanics are largely achieved indirectly through drills (though not the wall drill) and improvements in underlying physical attributes (core strength, leg power).”
But isn’t developing unconscious reaction just a matter of experience in that particular movement and its relevant subsets? In order to master any physical activity you have to go from conscious competence to eventually unconscious competence. For example, the first time someone learns something they have to be aware of all the necessary elements until eventually they can execute the movement without thinking about it. What are your thoughts?
Speedkills,
What do you use to teach acceleration (i.e. drills/methods)?
The hardest thing is integrating all components in acceleration. The drills and methods change with experience but I believe it’s the process and progression that is most important. For example, not starting young athletes using blocks, etc. I like drills that teach the proper body position and mechanics within the skill itself (i.e. get-ups, falling/leaning starts, in-n-outs). Hip separation is obviously a big issue, but there shouldn’t be any playing with the hip position because an improvement in one is detrimental to the other. The higher the level of the sprinter, the less need for drills and drills and drills and the more need for refining the skill itself (it’s the same with the mental aspect as well). As you can tell, my views take a much simpler approach than most. Of course, I just regurgitate what charlie’s taught me anyway.
“Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler.” -Albert Einstein
All you have are some cues like CF likes to use-let the back raise the head and not vice versa. Also, many people artificially attempt to “stay low” but in fact only bend at the waist and let their shoulders round forward because their current mechanics and strength levels won’t make it possible. Much work in the department of general strength and power can allow or permit an individual to have a low starting angle. It’s success is directly related to not only your set position but also your current strength/power output and acceleration and starting mechanics. If someone is lacking in any of these areas, the opportunity “to maintain proper body position” and avoiding “coming up too quickly” will not even be possible and practicing achieving this angle without an actual start and acceleration preceding it will not make it any more possible or likely. Again, I feel it is useful only in visually demonstrating a proper acceleration angle and not useful in actually achieving it.
Basic physical attributes form a big component of proper technique. General strength in the center core and hips/legs, as well as general explosive power and flexibility are prerequisites for proper technique.
A premature emphasis on specific technique coaching without having these physical attributes in place first will often lead to learning incorrect technique that looks good superficially but must later be unlearned to accomodate improved strength, power and mobility.
That’s one of the main problems with a lot of the drills and coaching cues that are popular. They take too much of a superficial view of the sprinting action.
One example that Charlie uses in Speed Trap is Angela Issajenko’s overstriding when she first started sprinting. Other coaches kept telling Charlie to correct her technique. But Charlie knew that her overstriding was a result of low strength levels. Once her strength improved, her stride fell right into place. If Charlie had monkeyed with her techique before addressing the strength deficiency, Angela would have been forced to unlearn the old pattern.
That would be more applicable to a complex skill, but running is about as simple as it gets, which is why it’s the universal sport, and the most selective, everyone does it. It’s not the same as learning to play an instrument or dancing or doing a lay-up in basketball, and there’s the trap. In an attempt to imrpove performance, there’s the tempation to deconstruct running and improve its parts separately. However, running is so simple and basic it doesn’t lend itself to the type of part-whole learning paradigms that work for more complex skills.
That’s not to say it can’t be done, but much more caution has to be used. There’s been a lot of discussion on the delicate art of using coaching cues. The goal is to say the right thing the generate a response while minimizing the degree to which the athlete becomes self-concious.