Mike Holloway, the University of Florida Head Track & Field, is recognized as one of the top sprint coaches in the sport. Coach Holloway believes that the make-up of a successful sprinter must include the ingredients of power, flexibility, elasticity and the willingness to be a student of the event.
Holloway strives to adapt those ideas to the training and competitive arena:
- Drills are done for endurance and to teach the body to do things in a proper way.
- The ground strike of the foot is the focus of these sprint drills.
- The dribble series involves five footwork drills in the warm-up mode.
- The start is a vital component that sets of the rhythm and flow of the sprint.
Holloway uses an athlete to demonstrate the proper starting position and includes the common errors made when starting.
The Race Model for the 100 m sprint is broken down into three areas:
- drive from the blocks
- acceleration phase
- maintenance phase
Patience is the key to the drive phase, pushing to 30 m.
For the 200 m race, Holloway teaches the sprinter how to attack the curve and reinforces the principles of running the straightaway.
The 400 m sprint is broken down into five phases. Acceleration is the key to the first 30. Being aggressive – yet in control – is a key to the middle phases of this race. In the last phase, sprinters are taught to be calm and focus on the proper sprint movements.
Race footage shows the breakdown of each of the fundamentals of 100m, 200m and 400m sprints.
This video is 32 minutes long.
>> Mike Holloway: 25 Tips & Drills for the Sprint Events (DVD)
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