3 Things I Learned at the Wisconsin Track Coaches’ Clinic

Great advice for anyone doing anything. I”m a organizational development trainer (help people work better) and I’m constantly reading books, journal articles and getting certified to teach new stuff. The more you know the more likely you’ll figure out what your client needs most, versus just what worked for you, what you like or what you’re comfortable with. It’s not about YOU…..
Good stuff. thanks.
(and I’m not track coach or even know one….)

As always Latif very good post. I agree with you that the pareto principle comes into play in high school sports. For me and the other coaches I work with we noticed it at about 90-10.

It drives us crazy when we see the coaches that we like to say…” phone it in”

THey just rely on what they were doing 20 years ago, or their egos are so big that they never spend any time to improve their program. It’s not fair to the kids. Especially when we as coaches have the power to create opportunities that most of the kids would never have if they didn’t do a sport.

Oh, you actually get a one week for pre-season? Haha… That must be nice!

Latif,

You are so right about 80% of HS coaches being clueless. I just finished the initial certification class for USTFCCCA with Boo Schexnayder, and man I am on fire and ready to go. Boo validated everything I have said or done as a coach lo these many years. My problem is a head coach that insists on coaching the sprinters when he NEVER was a sprinter and has them using the Moye blocks. He is deliberately setting these girls up for failure. Add to that they hired a coach with NO experience in track as our boys sprint coach.
Now ask who’s kids score all the points and have been stae qualifiers the last two years. Pareto’s Law is in full effect. On my Facebook page I have on my profile page my things to do list:
From NOBODY to UPSTART-done
From UPSTART to CONTENDER-done
From CONTENDER to CHAMPION-?
From CHAMPION to DYNASTY-?

Hi Latif-

I am in CT and the state of HS track and field here is pathetic. The pareto principle sure does apply here! I am a developmental coach and sponsor and coach two clubs with over 200 members. We feed most of the high schools in SW Connecticut and have helped raise the status of many of the teams with the athletes we send them. In 8 years only one HS coach has actually reached out and thanked any of our coaches! Plus most of the sprinters and mid distance kids come back to us for private sessions because they are all lumped together at practice and the kids know the workouts do not work. My observation is similar to those above and yours, these coaches actually do not care and just go through the motions. The people who suffer? The athletes! You have, however, left someone out of the equation and that is the AD. Track ranks down the list, maybe just ahead of tennis and volleyball in most high schools and I believe that the AD’s are just glad to have warm bodies in the position of track coach. There are no standards in CT for track coaches and coaching certifications here are not sports specific. In fact, there is a disdain in our HS governing body for USATF certifications as they do not allow Level II certifications to count towards continuing education. They do not consider it education unless it comes from someone inside the state association. Anyhow, I appreciate your commentary and thanks for mentioning all us “developmental” folks because we do it because we love it.

You should see what it is like in Rhode Island. One of my former coaches was known for his popular saying “Never underestimate the incompetence of other coaches in Rhode Island”

What up Coach Thomas,
I’m 22 and just took the head coach position of two brand new VARSITY track programs at a charter school on the south side of Chicago. I bought CST2 and CPDFS and use both faithfully. I also plan to continue my own training and both are great study tools. All we have is a 50 meter hallway, some stairs and my sunny disposition. In spite of this, and no budget, I’ve tripled the team and I’m a hit with the kids, mostly because of my ridiculous swag, but CST2 is playin its part too lol. I set standards of excellence via facebook and explained the difference between goals and expectations during week 1. Just wanted to let you know my AD is upset that he looked at practice during some slow recovery periods and noticed kids were having “too much fun” at practice and even brought me to a different campus to show me “how a real practice is supposed to look”. I respected that, but I think I’m going stick with CST2. Thought you’d like to know. Holla at me if you want to have another laugh. In 2 weeks I have more stories than most coaches have in a year.

I have to categorically disagree with Frank. If someone was never a sprinter, they can still coach sprints. It goes back to Latif’s post. Are they willing to watch video, read books, go to clinics, reference experts, etc? If so, they can coach championship athletes regardless of their own athletic background. I was a high school thrower and did not compete in college. I coach sprints. I’ve had state qualifiers including relays that were ranked #1 in the state. I credit that to having athletes that were coachable and my willingness to find the right information to help them reach their potential. Would a career in sprints have helped? Absolutely, but I’m not going to let that be an excuse either. I’m dismayed at then number of athletes that give up on a coach before they even start if they don’t have an all-star background (I’m talking high school level.). A good teacher has the potential to be a good coach if given time to develop and if he/she has the willingness to do the work to get there.

Latif, thanks for the post and it was great having you at our clinic in Wisconsin.

Last year his men’s 4×100 *and* 4×400 team won Division III National Championships. When you’re getting it done at the D3 level, it shows you’re not just getting freaks and keeping them where they are. You’re doing work.” I so agree with you here.

I have been looking at former high school track stars their first,second and so on years in college, and to my surprise many of them are performing worse than they did in high school and I’m so trying to figure this out. Until I do, this is how I’m going to advise my high school athlete who desire to compete in college, first I put colleges into 3 groups, 1. those who develope athletes ( great programs to be part of ) 2. those who only maintain the athletes ability or (get worse) I wonder what’s going on with the coaching, and 3. those who coach to the elite levels (these programs have athletes developed from good youth and or high school coaches). I want to say that “well if you are a college level coach especially in” Div 1″ why aren’t you willing to take an athlete and develope them? For most of them seek only the athletes who are 1st in their state in whatever event, and too many times the other good athletes are overlooked.

To Kevin and J in Connecticutt and Rhode Island. If you have track coaches in your respective states that have a passion to teach kids through the sport of track and you do not have a well organized track coaches’ association to serve that purpose to help all track coaches in your state, please step forward and work to get your passionate track coaches to get your associations up to “speed”.

The Wisconsin Association and National Senate of state associations are ready to assist you to get organized so that coaches’ education and the celebration of track in your state is something to be proud of, not reason for negativity among coaches.

All successful associations have a starting point when someone steps forward to say that we must move forward and stop talking.

Good luck. If there is anyway we can help, please don’t hesitate to contact.

Geoff Steinbach
Past President
WISTCA and National Senate

Simple answers to complex problems are difficult, if not impossible to come by, but I’ll make an attempt at brevity. I would have to agree with most of this assessment, with a few caveats.
We now live in a world hungry for money – i.e., greed- coupled with the desire for instant gratification. Because of the varied skills and talents involved in Track and Field, it takes a good deal of time, talent, and dedication to maximize an individual athlete’s skills. Most athletes – and coaches – have several other competing interests taking too much of their energy. (Club sports – including even Track and Field – as well as soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, summer “passing league” football, etc)
The point is, that unless Track is our PASSION, we are unlikely to rise above our peers — those who CARE, SUCCEED; often even with inferior skills, talents, or techniques. And this applies almost equally to both coaches and athletes.
Also, I suspect the 80/20 proviso applies to many OTHER fields of endeavor, as we all seem to want the reward without the work. (Think of any sport or profession; most of us can name someone who doesn’t “fit” — e.g., politics.) I started coaching in 1961 as a student teacher/coach, and have been at it ever since.
Of all the coaches I’ve met through those years, I can name one or two in most HS sports who have “risen above” – in basketball, baseball, football, track, et al, while the vast majority have moved on to other fields of endeavor. As Latif says, that doesn’t make them bad people, just inferior coaches!

@Latif Thomas:
I appreciate the thoughtfull responses to my post. I’m not used to that for blogs. I realize from an athlete’s perspective, they have so little time that they can be competitive. They want the best and want it now. I am in absolute agreement that experience in an event area helps the coach.
I was looking at it, however, from the perspective of a head coach that has tried to mentor young coaches who are new to the sport. To an extent, I feel for them through the early stages as they struggle with learning the sport and gaining the respect of their athletes. The ones that stick with it and end up successful are the ones that study and take advantage of opportunities to learn. That and showing a genuine concern for the development of athletes ends up winning out (in my mind) over prior experience in the event.
For those of you in New England, you might want to contact Frank Mooney in Massachusettes. He runs the New England Track Coaches Association clinic each year. He would be a great resource for your associations and coaches education. I don’t have contact information on hand. Google “Massachusettes Track” and I’ll be you’ll find his email.

@Latif Thomas:

Sorry about the double post in the other post. Not a big commenter lol. Anyway, after going from 6 to 25-30 kids in a span of 10 days, with more on the way, I made the decision to part ways with that program, which has since disintegrated within 2 days. A sad reality, but sometimes the powers that be see their ways as the best ways and not what’s in the best interest of the kids. I still keep in touch with my kids on Facebook, and was hired as a sprint coach at a powerhouse, 2 days after I resigned. I’m still using CST and CPD for my own learning, and progression as a sprinter…and to help in my capacity as “technique specialist” at this new program, which is a threat for the state title in IL.

I want to thank you for your support, and while building 2 varsity programs from the ground up at 22 would have been a nice bullet on the resume, God has better things in store.

Follow me on Twitter @TheBorealis, or add me on Facebook @TrackCoach Alexander. Swag is still at about 100 thousand trillion…in case we were wondering…God Bless and keep doing ya thing big homie…

@Mark Hoffman: m

Mark,you made a valid point-”If they are willing to watch video,read books attend clinics,reference experts”….well that does not apply in my situation. I do all that and more.If Clyde Hart admits to still learning things,then I have no reason not too learn. I have just been cerified by both USTFCCCA and USATF. I still stick by my statement,it doesnt apply to everyone but just those that think they know it all and havent done anything

Latif- I will agree on this point. If someone is a good teacher,is a student of the sport,listens to his athletes and cares about them as people first, they will be successful.Pays to read John Wooden’s coaching philosophy. But remember you said that a lot of coaches in our sport only qualification is that they are carbon based life forms. I coached a state champion in the discus and USATF national qualifier in the javelin…never threw it but I researched like crazy and watch a lot of video. But once again Pareto’s principle is in full effect.Keep up the good work

@ Latif

I will say this, “Boo” said this in his closing comment to us at the Academy. “The fact that you have taken the time to be here mean that you care about your athletes and you want to learn more to get better. But you already know and do that. The folks that need to be here just wont” I’m now getting ready to enter into the real season with conference this week and districts the next. This will be my last season at my school not only because of budget cuts but due to the total lack of respect given not only to the young ladies I work with but to my self as well. I dont believe in “unfinished business” but que sera sera. Keep on doin what your doin, because from me the best is yet to come

Hello Latif,
My name is aaron Hilborn and i am a coach in MI in the thumb area. ive also experienced that 80/20 effect when i was in high school. I was a state champion and my coaches never had me practice anything during practice. i could literally sit on the high jump mat all day and do nothing. I still ran in college and i am now back and am an assistant coach for the High school I attended. And i can surely say there is no one sitting on my high jump mat! I strive to give my athletes better coaching than what i had in high school regardless of my success.

@Mark Hoffman:
I agree with you also.you don’t have to be a sprint coach to coach sprints or hurdles or the long jump or the pole vault. How many nfl head coaches are there in the nfl that played in the nfl. How many nba head coaches played in the nba? The problem with many coaches is they don’t know where to find information and they don’t understand that there are many ways to train a athlete in mnay track and field events. I have coached high school track and field for 13 years and have had a little success. I have also helped other coaches around the united that have had success as well. I just retired this year and I had a 10th grader that ran 10.89 and 22.01. The problem I see, is teachers won’t speak plan track and field language.

@Kevin:
As an independent coach here in CT, I agree completely. The AD’s figure if you run 5K’s on the weekends, you’re qualified to coach track. When you see the sprinters, jumpers and throwers running a two mile/four mile ‘warmup’ you have to question someone’s sanity. The sprinters and jumpers seek ‘outside coaches’ like myself to get event specific training. The AD’s do all they can to prevent this. In one case I was told that I was “forbidden” to speak to an athlete during the season. The parents are in a quandary as they watch potential athletic scholarship winners fade out of the picture by senior year. This holds true for most sports here with the exception of football and hockey.

@coach777b,@Kevin

Gentlemen you are so correct in your assessments of the situation. The vast majority of individuals who coach our sport are just there for the paycheck. In an early discussion I stated that if you were not sprinter in HS,College you should not be coaching sprinters. What other job situation does that happen in…..last time I checked I dont want someone operating a lathe that has never done so,the same should apply in our sport. Some years ago in Illinois there was a move to have all HS track coaches certified by USATF. It was shot down by the coaches in the Chicago Metropolitan Area( so I’m told). Something of that nature is not a cure,since I know many coaches who have that certification but still know NOTHING of how to properly coach.

First of all, I agree with all that you say. I was a good sprinter in middle school I ran 11.3 at middle school in South America, but then I moved into Miami into a prep high school. I had been working hard on pre season and felt ready to run in 10s, but my new track coach was really bad. He was a NFL player, trains both football and track but clearly hasnt studied for it. So far this year, I had chronic achilles tendonitis and took a month off. In two months that i’ve been back, have never never done a speed workout, even if the biggest meet is two weeks away, the average workout is 15×400 at 70% of max effort, no rest. What happened to the rest of training like plyometrics, speed based workouts and gym?I dont know. The sad thing is that the basis of the workout is surviving, not running with technique. He hasnt taught the team baton passing, blocks and drive phase and yells when we lose. I hope that all american coaches learned about track like you so they dont spoil kids with talent and drive