USA Track & Field Coaching School

I had the pleasure of attending the Sprints and Jumps sessions at the Level III USA Track & Field Coaching in Las Vegas. As many of you know my background and my passion is Track & Field. The coaches that have achieved in this discipline, those who have really developed athletes are a joy to be around. They think multilaterally. They have to. They cannot afford to follow fads and they must produce. There is no smoke and mirrors because the stopwatch and tape measure are unforgiving. When I am around these guys I can turn the BS Meter off because there is none! Who are these guys? You probably will not read about them in Men’s Health or Muscle and Fiction, they are not on tour with the guru crew. They are on the firing line working to preserve a sport that does not provide instant gratification. These are the guys I learn from, Gary Winckler, women’s track coach at University of Illinois, Phil Lundin, men’s Track Coach at University of Minnesota, Bo Schexnayder, assistant coach at LSU, Dan Pfaff, assistant men’s coach at University of Florida. These guys are great people who are willing to share time and ideas. Phil Lundin did a great presentation on his program for development of the 400 meter runner. It was a great blend of science and practice. It was clear the adaptations he has had to make for the weather and the university environment. He does develop talent and it was clear how he does it in this presentation. He has had two men under 45 seconds in the 400 meters, both from Minnesota. Dan Pfaff did several outstanding presentations. They also reflected the blend of science and practice. Dan always really gets me thinking. Gary Winkler (who by the way is my hero) did a great presentation on periodization that contained many subtleties that I had not seen before, more on Gary’s stuff in a later blog. It has also been neat to see the development and the maturation of the younger coaches who are very involved. They have now formed their own network to exchange and share which is wonderful. A special thanks to Mike Corn for his tireless efforts in organizing all of this. There was a level III School, a Level II school, an instructor’s school, and a level I school all going on at the same time and he keeps it running like a well oiled machine.