The Easiest way to get faster
Over the years, I've gotten lazy with teaching proper arm action.
I know it's important. But…I don't know. It's boring to teach and watch. So, over time, I've distracted myself with the myriad of other skills that need to be taught.
But then I saw this video. And I tried it out. It had such an immediate impact on my kids' speed, I'll never get away from it again.
I think teaching and constantly reinforcing this is crucial to the success of your sprinters. I know my kids like it and can feel the difference. Yours will too:
Many thanks for that Latif – very useful tip. I will be trying this out. Take care, John
I teach this every year and I am religious with this training. My coach in H.S. really emphasised the arms being the key to everything. It made a huge difference in my speed and performance. Therefore, it is a key part of my program.
Thanks for the boost,
Coach B
love this…
I always tell my sprinters legs follow arms…
Will be showing this to all my athletes AND forwarding it to all coaches I work with!
Thanks Latif
Once again, Thanks Latif. Mechanics – wow, what a concept for improvement. Keep up this excellent work of helping all of those who accept help..”The teacher will appear, when the student is ready.”
Excellent reminder….It’s amazing to me how the legs (the most powerful part of our bodies) never get to be used fully because our arm-action is under-developed. Good stuff. Love it
Latif, thanks for the clip. Coach Tellez is one of the masters, I still use one of his books “Sports Speed” as resource. Thanks again for sharing and keep up the good work.
I’ve been using the arms as part of agility and speed for years and I learned
something from this video. Thanks for passing it along.
This method should be always taught first. I have been teaching this in a similar fashion for many years with my speed camp and AAU Sprinters. As I always say – “You legs will follow your arms”. If you do not have proper arm movement you will not have proper stride length. It is cumbersome for some at first and may even slow them but once they get it and relax with it they get faster. Great Stuff!
Latif –
Great video. I’ve been trying to tell my kids this, but to be able show it to them, as demonstrate AND explained by one of the greatest coaches of all time will get the message across to them far better than I ever could!
Thanks!
Latif, Thanks for passing this on. You are right on, Tellez should be a name found in your personal coaching library. The symetry, balance, and turnover relations with proper arm action are fundanmental keys. I did not have this incorporated in my workouts as much as I have in the past, it showed on my younger athletes. It will be a staple this year in my practice plans. Thanks again, I look forward to hearing you speak in Feb. at Milwaukee.
Awesome segment Latif! We teach the arms dicate the lower body and we always teach arm action and posture first and we usually have kids running faster within 10 minutes. Parents are amazed when we say we will make their kids faster in 10 minutes and then we do it. Can’t emphasize arm action enough and it is one of the easiest things to fix, in my opinion. It is also one of the components with many incorrect variables. Great job, keep ’em coming!
Brilliant video. I am most impressed
Yours aye
Adam
Dale Basket is the #1 Guru when it comes to arm rotation. No one teaches speed better.
Any ideas on how to this would apply to a mid distance/ distance runner???
Great clip!
What are some of the verbal cues coaches have found to be successful?
Latif, great stuff as always! With the arm drill coaches might want to add, “no daylight between the side of the arm and side of the body going back and forward” I had the opportunity to meet Coach Tellez at the NCAA’s in 1980. Great guy!
Great stuff Latif, glad to hear you admit to neglecting the arm mechanic as they are often boring. I too make the same mistake. It’s something so simple though I can send this to my athletes and they can work on it on their own.
Excellent! Prof. Tom Tellez. The arms is 20% of the strength and the core is about 60%. The movements comes from the core. The core includes the abs,low back,
glutes.I learned these with Prof.Todd Durkin. He is an excellent trainer too.
visit http://www.todddurkin.com and buy speed improvement techniques for young athletes. Is an excellent dvd for youngs and kids. Buy it and you dont repent of it.
Sportfully,
Prof.Jorge Vélez Pacheco
Personal Trainer IFA,IFPA
Track Coach Youth
Yauco,Puerto Rico
This is a great explanation and demo by one of the masters!! I’ve always called it “maintaining the rhythm”. The arms set the tempo and once you get to full speed, relax and maintain the rhythm; or the “stroke”. That is a great and I’ve had my athletes; sprint and distance, watch it. For distance kids; this relates directly to the finishing kick; the arms start the tempo or the “gear change” fo the kick and again once you accelerate to full speed; keep the “stroke”. That’s just great stuff!! Thanks, Latif.
thanks a lot, i think teaching kids this at the elementary level is very important to there development.
Hi Latif
Well done my friend, good to see your still not too ahead of yourself to pay attention to one of the fundamentals of good running, at my speed school this is one area we spend quite a bit of time practicing and it does pay in long term, excellent Latif.
Regards
Paul Rees
Would the P90X workout be good for the track team during club and pre season practices?
I think we often forget the basics in our search for the one new thing that nobody else knows. Then the basics become the secret weapon.
I didn’t know where I should post this, but I am just getting into coaching track, and really enjoyed it this past summer with my rec league. I want to focus on middle school for right now so I have a couple of questions being that most of the programs I will be purchasing from you are geared toward high schools.
1. How do you calculate % intensity and the times they should run for a work out. Ex. athlete runs a 33.0sec 200m and he/she needs to run their workout at 70%. How do I calculate the time should be hitting the 200’s at?
2. When using your CST2 dvd’s and other resources you recommend how should I reduce the workouts for 10-14 year olds. Should I reduce it by half, quarter, or a third?