We all spend a lot of time over explaining the obvious every day we are at practice so I won’t do it here: Starting today, you can get 30% off all of our programs, regardless of discipline or event group. Use coupon code JULY to apply the discount. If you have questions or want a recommendation based…
All posts by Latif Thomas
go *here* if you want to get recruited by college track and field coaches
Are your personal bests all you need to get college coaches to recruit you? Eh. Maybe… But, go on Milesplit or Athletic.net and take a look at how many people in the country have almost identical times/heights/distances as you. Now think about the fact that coaches are recruiting athletes from multiple other countries as well….
College recruiting & the pandemic: What every coach, parent, and athlete needs to know
Interview Details: Latif Thomas interviews Ron Grigg (University of Jacksonville Director of Cross Country / Track & Field) on a range of topics related to how the pandemic has affected the college recruiting process with a focus on the specific actions HS coaches, parents, and athletes can take in order to increase and improve their…
How to Get Recruited Despite the Covid-19 Pandemic
For coaches, athletes, and parents alike, the chaos and uncertainty of the past year has thrown a wrench into how to get recruited during the Covid-19 pandemic. After all, which criteria are college coaches supposed to use for basing their opinions about your recruitability when you’ve missed entire seasons, training has been inconsistent, access…
[Video] How to manage coaching multiple events at the same time…
For high school coaches, managing multiple event groups at the same time (as well as managing training for athletes who compete in multiple event groups) is a significant issue that can drastically impact the individual and group success of your team and program. It’s one of the most consistent and popular questions I get. And…
The most effective way to improve your coaching during the pandemic?
Organized coaches are successful coaches. All coaches could be more organized. And the foundation of every successful coaching system, from sprints to distance, is the specificity and compatibility of their Training Menu / Inventory. With the spring season being cancelled, the #1 thing you can do to guarantee you come out of the pandemic a…
Advanced Coaching Systems: What Really Drives Successful Programs [Zoom Seminar]
On Thursday (4/23) and Friday (4/24) we’re running the 2nd (and final) round of our CTF live Zoom webinar. The first time we ran it, we opened it to the first 100 coaches who signed up and it sold out in less than 21 hours. This time, we’re once again making it available to the first…
How to Modify Sprints Workouts When School is Cancelled
For this type of thing my philosophy is to keep it simple. I’ve come to that over years of trying to be too cute with my offseason and summer training programs. But, it’s impossible to know what equipment and spacing options every kid has so trying to design training for every scenario is impossible and…
Wicket Drills for Distance Runners
It’s no secret that modern training strategies for middle distance and distance runners have evolved toward using more speed training and speed development workouts and progressions typically found in sprints programs. But your strengths probably aren’t in your understanding of not only how to teach efficient sprinting mechanics to your distance athletes, but also how,…
Those drills don’t actually teach speed
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was 2011 and I was attending the first USTFCCCA Event Specialist Certification school (sprints, hurdles, and relays). We were getting deep into the max velocity / top end speed curriculum when it happened. You have to understand… …this topic impacts me greatly because my high school and…
How to Set Up the Wicket Drill
The “wicket drill” is the best drill on the planet for developing maximum velocity mechanics and technique. The problem is that most coaches don’t know how to set them up properly, let alone instruct them in a way that maximizes the effectiveness of the activity. If they’re set up wrong, especially the run in, the…
What We Learned Shadowing Boo Schexnayder and the LSU Track & Field Program
In October (2019), I went down to Baton Rouge with my good friend David Cusano (Head T&F Coach – Colby College) to shadow Boo Schexnayder and the LSU track and field program. During the time we were there, the team was starting their second cycle of GPP. They were coming off a recovery week and…