ands te Special Projects
‘ >
‘tice | outing a thity-minute sprints session thet |
SGiten use in schons
ere is a vast ray of actives that a coach can do wi &
| Grou during 2 sori sesson | patel ke the sseson
ined below ati easy to set up ad cond, and Keeps
the gaup ative.
T have used these teaching steps with cass-size cups of
lito tty cllren and abo at Lie Abletics Ceres th
vous sized groups. With slight adaptations depending o7
the age group te sessions been suecesstuly conducted
vu groups ranging fom 5 year 016 years of 208
‘The content this sessions
= Desc sritrg technique
‘Standing tarts
+= Shutto oly
| find that formal sort drits are_not popular with school
‘youps and many school caren do rot hove the pateres
evar interest in performing them. fs unis to ty 1 get
foo technical with a schac roup. They wil ose Ierest =n)
tuicky and often fol awkward and embarassed if asked
{ periorm drs that require cooeination that curently
tueide tei bites. Therefore, meat of the activities Det
sre high ably, qos motor movements that quire ini
kl to perform.
Sprinting sor the csir eon to tact a eae ru
Sreept single Minimal equipment ie equred ena $ €25/
tb oroanize an act so that 3 can be active at once a
‘minimal weting time 8 ncuTed
Much of my sprints insbuoton ie done ov unmatked ovals Of
Grased areas, Ihave aso coached th cesion on Haskell
cours,
You need ten dome markers, preferably in five iterent
Tours ard ve relay atone. Each team wine wo behind &
Gfferertcxieured marker, acing a markr ofthe same Colour
tito 2m ary, (Ihave, however, corducted this eadon Oey
viieh shorter esiances), Using the diferent colours alow
the soach to refer to the groups by thei claus and assists
Joungercildren to moe caslyrementer atieam they are
yeas should be spaced at least 3m apart possible OP
avoid interference.
vith ait ofthe activites, up to five athletes (ane fram each
Loicer wits etencve wor nthe doveleomert area wit the Ltle
is anacnng courses and Attics ens thoughout New Sour
rou) win at time, Altes 40 no on ul uted
are eo To keep the session moving, te coat may He to
fart off tho acat Ine of rurers rir to the previous OUP
reacting he other end
en the ables rean he oer end, they tay thee and
ve up ae before facing bac towards wee they have jest
re Pear narust he atest forma sagt ie and Ke
‘Petmuncs efecto themselves wile wa
Cais
onaunce ateam competion” enweon te grouse atthe
omer ouson. Ding the session, aarp rick
thing Soightvtiete Oer eas eet OUOU
ace earn corpetin proves ext interest and
tas ae, a asp renbrces “on tao’ tetavonr. The
Heenan ter on scores, Regula review the pin score
fhreughat the session.
ed e
Some ofthe BAC points of spins tochrique that ca be
fonusedon depending oe age ct the attics ae:
The heed shold te Ket Fev vision tthe fon.
{The sunkand shouler oe hee squeretothe fot
‘The hoad and tuk be tld uni
«Nove te leet ec imbs in astaightpath
«= Piva the arms about the shoulder int andremin bent at
the elbow at approximately 80"
+ Fick up the knees and eet.
+ Use light. quick movements of feet, leas and arms.
«+ sea generally coordinated. tythmical aston.
(ie ee ad
‘Primary schoo-agea cilaren typical wi
+ Move thr head excessively
“> Have a poor running posture (Leaning vackfonrad: nea
ovun’bach)
«= Aw their ns to fal backworde, resulting ie 2 “sting”
positon,
« Fitaie/wt their torso fom side to se when tey Tun.
«Swing ther ams aorss ther bed).+ salghton thelr arms onthe backwares swing
‘= Run with alow knoe lit donot “pick ther fet up")
‘Fun with excessive Dackside mechan.
+ Plant their feet inwards or outwards
‘un wit a eet pint oF afoot,
‘Use aheavy foo! plant
un with ete”
sim:
+ Togo to gropacti and ving fn
+ Toeipemen nse len
Activity:
‘ak the abe oun to te Neen tng te Hopes
‘tess our hat hy cake cont he et
Steps tat kes em cover dene
+ Can they do ities than 20 steps?
+ Pick an athels er two to which you can award pints fr &
areatofior, “huge steps”, ete.
‘un with small steps.
Aim:
Fun
‘+ Tofurther experiment with stride long
+ Toinoauce igre, quick steps.
Activity:
‘Te atetes run wit fst ite ipier-paten steps to he oer
end, (They do not have to court ther eps!)
+ Encourage ligt, quick stop.
+ Watch forthe athletes who drag of “rub” tre feet along
the around. Ask them to “ap” ther fe, sot “rub” them
aleng the ground,
Watch forte athletes wo simply jog along Instruct ther
to move fonward at ony on featlengtn at atime,
Encourage the athletes to “pump” their rms.
Award points for a great eto, running wat really quick
fect, et.
‘un with arms folded.
im:
+ Toomphasise the importance of arms when running
Aativity:
‘The athletes run over 20m wih thet arms flded acoss thei
chest. As the athletes wo are waltng ine to observe the
effect that lolcing ams tas onthe runners Le. what does it
look ee”)
‘Once each athlete has attempted thi, ask the group how it
tel, was tte best way torun, what iit bok tke? Common
answers seit was hard, they felt unbalanced. Point out how
yeu noticed the athletes’ shoulders swinging or "webbing"
{rom side-to.sio, which is nat good for sping. Ask the
athletes how they would fc this. The answer vunlly isto"vee
your arm", Explain how good use of arms in sprning wil
help them be balanced and “not wobale”.
Ces
‘em action rehearsal
Aim:
+ Inredueea basic arm action fo sprinting,
Activity:
‘Standing in her tines and spaced for enough apart 10 avcid
inerforence, the athletes rehearse a basic sprinting arm
action at incteasing speeds.
8
Instruct the athlote to keop their hoad etl, eyes t the
front, shoulders rele and stead.
‘The arms should be bent at bout 90 dearees atthe elbow
and swing from the shouts, maintaining the 0 degrees
angle a the ottow.
The ams should move vitually straight forwards and
backwards and be kept close to the sides.
‘Tac hands shouldbe relaxdks the athletes are holding a
potato chip” each hand.
Alow te athletes to try swinging their arms whist straight
atthe olbowe and ao to owing their ame across their
body (ebows out to better understand the advantages of
cores action.
Instruct the attletes to renearse the caret ation whist
running on the spot
‘Award points te the team whois patting in the test exort.