Governing bodiesUK Athletics IAAFEuropean AAOlympicsSport EnglandUK SportUSATFOlympicsBeijing 2008London 2012Our London 2012CountryEngland + RegionsScotland Northern Ireland Wales English Schools RegionalMidlands South North UsefulDirections to all tracks Athletics DataTeam DecathlonCommonwealth Games FederationLeaguesBAL (Seniors)NatYAL (U17)NJAL (U20)SportshallStatistics | | For Young people with no previous experience, I have found that the best progression paths is: - Teach Sound technique until Young Athletes run correctly
- Time each Athlete over 60, 100 and 200 as a control
- Only after 1 has been clearly demonstrated for several weeks increase Stride Length. After 2 weeks their times will improve
- Time each Athlete over 60, 100 and 200 and compare (best from competitions)
- After a 5% of better improvement has been demonstrated, teach Stride frequency
Ideas below for teaching Stride Length and Stride Frequency: Stride length | Warm up and stretch | | Drills – do 4 different types (Prancing, Butt Kicks, High Skips, Borzoi and change one per week) | | Rebound drills up a gentle slope, taking care to stop with any slight niggles – we use the cycle track around our running track – about 25 deg slope – and do three drills: double leg high knee rebounds up with walk down; single leg high knee hops with walk down for each leg; ten runs up and down without stopping (which we call "the murder run") | | Full recovery rest whilst they put their spikes on | | Stride length Stick drills – on the 100m straight we use 12x1 metre sticks and start placing then 1.5 metres apart. We then repeat the rebound double and single leg hops through the sticks. | | Finish with a knockout competition gradually moving the sticks apart 25 cm more each time and getting the Athletes to sprint through with one step between each stick. They are allowed a 15 meter runup and are out if they touch a stick or take a double touch between sticks. Our best 12 year old got to 3 metres between sticks last year, all Athletes improved 100m and 200m times by over 5% in two weeks. | | Warm down |
Stride frequency | Warm up and stretch | | Drills – do 4 different (Prancing, Butt Kicks, High Skips, Borzoi and change one per week) | | Rebound drills across 12 sticks placed on the flat 0.5 m apart, taking care to stop with any slight niggles – we use the indoor gym in Winter – and do three drills: double leg high knee rebounds up with sprint back down the gym to the start; single leg high knee hops with sprint back down the gym to the start for each leg; sprints concentrating on Stride frequency (see Coaching Speed video from Human Kinetics at http://www.humankinetics.com) | | Full recovery whilst I set out a mini circuit | | Finish with a knockout competition around the mini circuit – ideas from Human Kinetics video as referenced above | | Warm down |
You should expect about 1 year from start to finish taking one session per week over a 30 week school year. |
