If you’re still debating whether or not to come to the clinic this summer, search #ctfclinic on Twitter to see what past attendees said during and after the event. So, every year we get a flood of last minute registrations and countless sad stories from coaches, parents, and athletes who waited too long and get locked out. If you want to take advantage of the $50.00 ‘Early Bird’ discount and NOT have to pay full price, you MUST register by the end of the day this Friday, May 27. ⇒ Register now for the 2016 CTF Summer Clinic (click on the event groups in the menu for their individual pages.) Coaches: Remember, if you send three athletes from your program, you can come for free. If you coach high school…
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How to Run the 200m Race
The 200 meter sprint is the Rodney Dangerfield of the sprint events. It gets no respect. When we commonly think of the sprint events, the 100 meter dash gets all the glory and the 400 meter dash gets all the respect. That leaves the middle child, the 200, left out in the cold. As an athlete whose primary event was the 200 at the collegiate level I’ve developed a certain affinity for running and coaching the event. While I’ve arguably had the most coaching success at 400 meters (and, where I’m from – the 300) I still love the Deuce best of all. In this article I’m going to break this event down so that your athletes can find greater success in the event….
[VIDEO] The Only Way to Peak Your Sprinters When It Matters
Click here if you want more information like this. This past winter, when I spoke at Speed Training Seminars and Track & Field coaching conferences in Illinois, Florida, Indiana, and Michigan, I did 19 hours of presentations on the sprints and hurdles. When I showed this to coaches and asked them if they: Knew what it was… Knew what to do with it… Created one each year as the BASIS of their program design decisions… Without being hyperbolic, at best 2% of coaches raised their hand. I wasn’t surprised. And I don’t know if you’re part of the 98%. But, without it, it is impossible to consistently get your sprinters to run their fastest races in the biggest meets and keep them injury free. Here it…
Gift the Top Selling Programs of 2015 to Your Favorite Coach!
Here’s an easy way to get the coach/es in your life (or yourself) a quality last minute Christmas present…without leaving your couch. I’m doing a Beta test with a new system that allows you to purchase one of our digital programs for someone else. Once you pay for it, they’ll get an email with instructions for completing the registration process. To set it off, I’m making 7 of the top 8 best selling programs available through Christmas Day. You can get 30% off your order on these programs when you use coupon code COUNTDOWN. (The Best Selling program of 2015, Complete Speed Training 2, isn’t available digitally, but the coupon code will work.) Click on the links below to go to the Registration Pages for the…
Why You Need to Develop Speed Reserve
Developing a ‘speed reserve’ through a well designed speed development program is essential to success in any sport where combating fatigue is a requirement for success. Though we look at this term primarily when discussing track and field sprints, it’s applications apply to a range of sports. Speed reserve is, essentially, the difference between an athlete’s maximum speed and their maximum aerobic speed. In many coaching situations, we look at an athlete’s perceived inability to finish a workout in the expected time as a matter of not being ‘in shape’. (A discussion of what ‘in shape’ actually refers to in the parameters of anaerobic training is a topic for another time, but one that fundamentally affects the way athletes are coached.) The solution, for many…
Latif Thomas: Speaking Events in 2015-2016
Latif Thomas Schedule and Appearances Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) Connecticut High School Coaches Association Coaches Clinic November 15, 2015 Mastering Your High School 400m Training Program Montini High School (Chicago Area: Lombard, IL) Track-Football Activation Consortium December 11-12, 2015 Specific Strength Progressions & Acceleration Complexes Teaching and Progressing Acceleration & Top Speed Complexes Block Starts and Acceleration Hilton- Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort (Daytona, FL) Florida Athletic Coaches Association Track and Field Clinic January 7-10, 2016 Visit the website for speaking topics Sheraton Hotel (Indianapolis, IN) Indiana Association of Track & Cross Country Coaches Association T&F Clinic January 28-30, 2016 Blocks, Starts, & Acceleration Teaching & Progressing Top End Speed (Max Velocity) Mastering Your High School Short Sprints (55-200)…
Summer Sale Sneak Peak – Massive Savings
Our Summer Super Sale will begin on Thursday, July 20 and run through Sunday, July 23. So here’s how it works: From Thursday 7/20 – Sunday 7/23, every Complete Track and Field program is on sale for 25% off when you use coupon code: CTFSUMMER. HOWEVER: Each day of the sale we will be highlighting a specific event group/category where you can get up to 50% off our most popular individual programs and program bundles ON THAT DAY ONLY. For example, all Middle Distance programs will be 25% off all week. But, on Thursday, July 20, all Middle Distance programs will be 40-50% off for that day only. On 7/21, sale prices go back to 25%. If you’re in the market for programs addressing 600m – 1600m,…
The Best of the 2015 Complete Track and Field Clinic: Sprints Group Recordings
The Best of the 2015 Complete Track and Field Clinic: Sprints Group OK, here’s what’s happening… …I hired a new employee for Complete Track and Field and, well, turns out I actually have to start paying her?! In fact, I have to pay her every week because no one works for free (high school track coaches excluded) and, apparently, labor laws are not suggestions… I suppose I should have factored in salary, benefits and all of the other prerequisites before I started composing a lengthy list of assignments. Fortunately, thanks to coaches like you, over the last year Complete Track and Field has grown beyond what me and my tiny staff can handle. With so many loyal followers the world over, not to mention dozens…
How to Create an Annual Plan for High School Sprinters
Where I live, the indoor track season starts the Monday after Thanksgiving. And if I expect to have a good season, I better have already spent some serious time planning and creating the annual plan for my short and long sprinters. (As well as my ‘super long sprinters’ who run the ridiculous 600m race here in New England.) Taking the time to create a simple, but flexible, annual plan outline helps me focus in on the various training and competitive goals I have for the season. As the years go on, I’ve found that the more energy I put into my general annual plan, the easier it is to write highly effective workouts, as well as make adjustments once the pandemonium of the season starts. If you’re not familiar with…
Supplemental Lifts for Athletes and Sprinters
I’m pretty certain that a majority of coaches and trainers at this point can appreciate the benefits associated with “Supplemental Exercises” in their comprehensive strength training program. I adopted this term from mastermind Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell because I think their terminology is the most logical of all the variations of the word I’ve heard over the years. Other common alternatives to this training category that you may have heard of before would be auxiliary lifts, or assistance exercises. A simple definition of supplemental exercises would be exercises intended to primarily satisfy specific training elements that other exercises cannot. Below I’m going to discuss 5 benefits that you may or may not heard of that supplemental exercises bring to the training table. #1-Muscle Hypertrophy…
Will This Actually Improve Your 400 Meter Runners?
I like to think I’m a pretty good sprints coach. And that I create pretty good sprints coaching programs. So, of course, you won’t be surprised when I tell you how much I think you’ll like my recent program, ‘Compete High School 400 Meter Training’. Or that if you order today: You will get immediate access to all of the videos and handouts, all of which are available on your favorite mobile devices (as well as laptop and desktop). I’ll answer all of your program design, technical and race strategy questions. You will get a $20.00 discount off the regular $99.00 price. Order ‘Complete High School 400m Training’ Now But, maybe those benefits don’t convince you that you and your athletes are missing…
Coaches Purpose Statement
Educational policies in America are rife with contradictions and ironies that make it almost impossible to have a personal coaching philosophy that one can feel comfortable with. On one hand, school administration directs that a teacher be transactional in the classroom in regard to student learning. What matters to the administration is the students standardized test score at the end of the course, and that is about it. In fact, teacher evaluation (and their job) is now heavily linked to these performance scores. On the other hand, that same teacher walks a few yards to the locker room and is directed by the supervisors to be a transformational coach in their approach to sport. Relationships must be the focus is the cry. This means that…