Technique ​​​​ Ralph Mann described two different factions in track in regard to starting. One he says, "advocates a powerful, explosive start that seeks to jump out and make steps as long as possible (Jump Start), and one that believes that the action should be a quick turnover action that makes the steps as short as possible (Shuffle Start)." He said that both starts can be effective. I say this to recognize that there is a bandwidth of acceptability, and I'm sure that many

Start Doctor Training is based upon moving effectively and efficiently. In regard to sprinting short distances, max velocity (top speed) is the primary consideration, but as I've said repeatedly, a good start and initial acceleration set up the maximizing of top speed. A 100-meter dash race model is taught and adjusted and applied to other sprint distances and scenarios. Various types of conditioning and physical preparation are vital elements as they not only go hand in hand

A prerequisite to reading this blog is to first read my Preparing Athletes for Sports That Feature Starting, Stopping, and Changes of Direction  blog. I may repeat some things from that blog but certainly won't go into as much detail. It goes without saying, that preparing the players to execute the fundamentals on the pitch is the most important thing. I submit, however; that helping the soccer player to maximize explosiveness and speed to get from point A to point B without

A prerequisite to reading this blog is to first read my Preparing Athletes for Sports That Feature Starting, Stopping, and Changes of Direction  blog. I may repeat some things from that blog but certainly won't go into as much detail. It goes without saying, that preparing the players to execute the fundamentals on the court is the most important thing. I submit, however; that helping the basketball player to maximize explosiveness and speed to get from point A to point B wit

In my opinion the athletes need to be provided with an environment that is conducive to developing good fundamentals. Ideally, having the luxury of helping the football player to maximize explosiveness and speed to get from point A to point B without having to deal with opponents and other responsibilities, is a good thing, and can be a very important part of the learning progression. I believe that familiarizing a football player with how to best run a 100-meter dash is very

Speed is a primary measurable that gets the attention of coaches and scouts looking to add talented players to their organization. This, understandably, causes athletes to place an emphasis on speed preparation prior to camps, combines, etc..., and gives trainers opportunities to sell themselves as being able to help the athletes improve in this area. The objective, in my mind, should be to improve speed by learning to better position and balance the body, and coordinate move

Females in sports that involve jumping, pivoting, and changes of direction, are 4-8 times more likely to suffer a knee injury, than males in the same sports. Most of these injuries are with females between the ages of 15-25 and are non-contact in nature. One of the root causes of the prevalence of ACL Injuries among female athletes in sports that feature jumping and cutting is found in Laura Ramus's  quote, "Genetically, the typical female demonstrates less muscle mass and st

At the beginning of a season, teach a basic warm up and stretch routine for a running workout. I like walking and limbering with some varied arm movements, which will ease into a jog at some point. Add lateral and backward movements, along with various dynamic warm up movements , before doing dynamic stretches. Movement activities during warm up is not only preparing for the workout but is also a movement screen, ie; dynamic postures, pelvic positions, where on the foot does

Stance and Start If you read my other blogs, you'll see that I'm a proponent of creating leverage and momentum via skillful positioning, balance, coordination, and timing. A big part of that is learning how to be poised to react well and explosively out of a standing start, and to then be able to carry those skills over to the other starting positions. So, I suggest that you read my blogs pertaining to starting and accelerating, including max velocity. A major difference for

In our society, we can get away with not having to do very much physical labor and exercise. Contrast this with our ancestors, whose survival included a necessity to perform manual labor, walking, etc... This obviously provided our forefathers with a better fitness base than we typically have today. I like to keep this in mind when I advise and train athletes in strength training. My thoughts go toward contributing to their general fitness base with a variety of activities an

Pardon the picture above. It is the best I saw in the Wix "Free" selection, LOL. Basic Overview A sprint should begin with the athlete very effectively displacing the center of mass (COM) up the track. The various transitions described in my other blogs should be executed in a manner that allows velocity to increase in an efficient manner, making great use of the energy stores, and with the max velocity utilized very effectively for the given distance of the run/race. Max Vel

Generally Speaking I've stressed the importance of body positioning in order to execute a good standing start. The same aspects apply to three-point and four-point starting positions. The difference is mainly that now the base is established with the feet being appropriate distances from the line, and with one or two hands on the ground. The hips are now higher than the shoulders during the "set position", and the athlete now needs to learn how to effectively align the feet,

Learning to position and balance the body, and coordinate movements to react well, and move explosively in an efficient manner up the track from a standing start when the starter doesn't allow cheating, not only can carry over to other sports where athletes start while standing, but can also can carry over to starting positions where the hand(s) is/are in contact with the ground and required to accept some body weight, ie; 3-point and 4-point starts, with and without startin

Learning to recruit the glutes effectively is universally understood as a key aspect to maximizing performance, and it has been described in previous blogs how the presence of pretension in the glutes and gastro-soleus complex is important while in the "set" position in the blocks. This glute recruitment  video is worth looking at, as it references external and internal pelvic rotation and the big toe being in contact with the ground—aspects that relate to various exercises

Although there are definitely linear aspects to sprinting—i.e., the athlete is trying to travel a straight line up the track from point A to point B—and  side sway  running actions are inefficient, it is important to understand that running features rotational actions that counterbalance one another. As in a previous blog, Dan Pfaff explains in this  video how the hips and shoulders coordinate in this way. How the athletes perceive the rotation is an important part of their

The following instruction on continuing the acceleration after the first three steps is assuming that the first three steps were executed in a decent manner. In other words, the effects of not moving violently and completely up into the "high post" position, of; faulty body alignment, collapsing joints and deficiencies in flexibility and power, and poor fundamentals that may occur during the first three steps won't magically disappear as the run progresses. After Starting Wel

In his book,   The Mechanics of Sprinting and Hurdling , the late Ralph Mann said he considers the first three steps to be the start because, "the magnitude of the change in Horizontal Velocity generated during block clearance and the next two steps of the Sprint race is radically different than any other portion of the race." Meaning that the athlete goes from being basically stationary, to moving really fast. I like to refer to these three steps as "getting out" and blendin