At the track
Trackside
The exact words, big enough to read in sun.
48 cues
Field cards
First to Fifty
About fifty steps. Same steps for everyone. The winner takes them fastest. Speed is the pattern, repeated faster.
Before any session, to frame the day. · First to Fifty
The Running Order
Activations. Active stretches. Sprint drills. Fence drills in running shoes. Spike up. No-hurdle drills. Lane line. 7-14-21. Block Start Warm-Up. ABCs. Working sets.
Clipboard order of the session. · The Running Order
One Theme per Unit
Sprint drills: frontside. No-hurdle passes: foot feel. Lane line: quick hands. 7: up-DOWN. 14: lead leg. 21: left-left. ABCs: down.
Say the theme, then saturate it. · Practice Runs on Themes
The Cue Set
Lead leg: thigh to chest. Trail leg: heel to butt, chicken paw to the side. Posture: forward lean. Arms at H1: Mike Tyson. Measure: left-left.
Between reps. · The Cue Set and left-left
Name the Step
Through. Punch. Getaway. Sprint. Each step sets up the next hurdle. A weak Sprint Step makes the cut step cover ground.
When a step stops doing its job. · INTENT and the Named Steps
ABCs
A: 4 ft discount. B: 3 ft. C: 2 ft. Four hurdles up, down to two. H1 to H2 in the low 1.0s, or the Slide. Bring the A to the B, the B to the C.
Setting and timing the ABCs. · The ABCs
The Slide
Each interval faster than the one before. H1 to H2 is the slowest. After H2: 0.99 or faster is the goal.
Reading the splits. · The Slide
Hurdle Count
Every hurdle counts against the cap. Count the 7s, 14s, 21s, ABCs and pop-throughs. Size the working sets by what is left. Home: 3 x 7, 1 ft discount, 3 in down.
Before choosing the working sets. · Working Sets and the Hurdle Count
Tape
H1 is zero. Measure from H1. One color down the track. Round down only. Never add rounded marks. Black is race truth.
Laying out marks. · The Tape System
What Kills Speed
Back kick kills speed. Braking step: the cardinal sin. Pole Vault: cut step too far away. Pop is good. Jump is bad.
Naming the fault fast. · What Kills Speed
Find More Aggression
What are you going to try? Where are we going to be more aggressive? If it's to be, it's up to me. Success is trying.
Before the next rep. · Find More Aggression
Bring This
Bring this to the next drill. Bring this to the next rep. Bring this to the race.
Between drills. · Bring This to the Next Drill
Productive Danger
Press the gas.
Commit to speed into the problem
Push hurdling speed to the edge where instinct takes over
Hot Hand
Faster, faster, faster.
Urgency in the nervous system
The electric brain-to-muscle signal the problem is meant to produce
Hot Hand
Move your hand before it gets smacked.
React before comfort decides
Hot Hand reaction model
Hot Hand
Practice Runs on Themes
Frontside, frontside, frontside.
Limbs and hands out front, quick off the ground
Single-cue saturation for the sprint drill theme
One Word, Shouted
Down. Punch down, punch down, punch down.
Strike down into the track
The emphasized half of up-DOWN, the only ABC cue
One Word, Shouted
Sprint Drills: Frontside
Frontside.
Get limbs, hands and the foot strike out front
Extreme frontside bias, the only goal of the section
What Frontside Means
Fence Hurdle Drills
Thigh to chest.
Lead knee drives up, bent, heel under the hamstring
Lead-leg point of emphasis
Two Cues, Solved at the Fence
Heel to butt.
Trail leg folds tight with the toe to the side
Trail-leg point of emphasis, solved at the fence
Two Cues, Solved at the Fence
No-Hurdle Drills
Foot feel.
Notice what an effective strike feels like
Theme of the no-hurdle passes
Foot Feel
Quick hands.
Hands pump up and down, elbows slightly in front
Lane line drill theme
Lane Line Drill: Quick Hands
Bring This to the Next Drill
Bring this to the next drill.
Carry the technique, INTENT, rhythm and smoothness forward
Transfer from the easier constraint into the next one
Bring This
Bring this to the race.
Keep the practice-built pattern under race conditions
Final transfer command
Bring This
INTENT and the Named Steps
Through.
Send yourself through the hurdle
Through Step, the intent name for the cut step
The Loop
Punch the track.
Stiff, bent lead leg strikes hard
Punch Step
The Loop
Get away.
Strike down and back and leave the hurdle
Getaway Step
The Loop
The Lead Leg
Thigh to chest.
Lead knee drives high and stays bent
Lead-leg shape
Thigh to Chest
On top.
Get above the lead knee
Position that lets the athlete step down over the hurdle
Thigh to Chest
The Trail Leg
Heel to butt.
Fold the trail leg tight
Chicken Wing
Chicken Wing, Chicken Paw
Chicken paw.
Toe to the side, foot level
Trail-foot orientation
Chicken Wing, Chicken Paw
Push the heel down.
Start the descent immediately
Trail-foot drop at clearance
Down the Moment It Clears
Forward Lean, the North Pole
Forward lean.
Tilt forward from the hips
The North Pole target
Don't Be a Slinky
Brace your core.
Tighten abs and lower back
Bracing raises whole-body stiffness
Don't Be a Slinky
Don't be a slinky.
Stop the torso wandering
Slinky Diagnostic
Don't Be a Slinky
up-DOWN and Straight Lines
Keep your discipline.
Hold the shape while going faster
Shape integrity under speed
Discipline
Stiffness, Pop and Bounce
Stiffness.
Brace and spring off the ground
First invariant set
The Hurdler Superpower
Pop.
Short, quick, efficient contact
Positive word for the contact the method wants
Pop Is Good. Jump Is Bad.
Hitting the Track
Whack the track back.
Drive the strike backward
Backward strike direction during acceleration
Whack the Track Back
Hit behind you.
Land the force behind the body
Felt target that organizes a real down-and-back strike
Whack the Track Back
The Big Four
Whack the track.
Strike the track hard behind you
Big Four strike direction
Four Big Steps
Big and strong.
Long, powerful, charging steps
Big Four intent at the ABCs
Four Big Steps
Dribble, Then Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson.
Two hard same-arm punches over H1
Upper-body force organization at hurdle one
Knock Somebody Out at H1
Find More Aggression
Find more aggression.
Take ownership and raise intent
The athlete authors a more committed next rep
If It's to Be, It's Up to Me
If it's to be, it's up to me.
Accept responsibility
Execution belongs to the performer
If It's to Be, It's Up to Me
Go impress me.
Perform boldly for a witness
A visibly more committed rep
If It's to Be, It's Up to Me
Impress yourself.
Hold your own standard
Self-authored excellence
If It's to Be, It's Up to Me
You can't be too aggressive.
Commit fully
First invariant set
If It's to Be, It's Up to Me