Coach ,

The world watched as Devon Allen was thrown out for reacting too quickly. In that race another American took advantage of an opportunity.

Grant Holloway and Trey Cunningham completed a 1-2 finish for the USA in the men’s 110M High Hurdles. Cunningham, an unassuming young American, earned 2nd place and what he has to say about block starts may surprise you. 

Link: Block Starts

Creating a consistent and repeatable block start is the goal. Coach Jaime West explains the proper set up for optimal block start technique. Filming the set up and drawing the provided angles for your athletes can help reinforce a consistent set up that will maximize the athletes ability in the set position. 

Link: Block Set Position

Sometimes we put too much pressure and emphasis on the block starts. The expectation of a perfect start can cause disruption in the athlete's focus. In a hurdle race you have 99 more meters, 10 barriers, and the finish to focus on after a less than perfect start. The United States silver medalist describes the mental approach to a bad start. 

Link: Getting Over a Bad Start

So what is the most important indicator to winning the race? Is it being good out of the blocks? According to Coach Tony Holler, achieving the highest maximum velocity at 60M is the key indicator. In the next clip Coach Holler breaks down Usain Bolt’s world record and what many considered a bad start by the olympic champion. 

Link: Usain Bolt

We’ve seen the NCAA champion Joseph Fanbullah respond from a bad start to win. We’ve seen Usain Bolt, the greatest of all time, show less than perfect starting skills.

Block starts are no doubt critical to sprint events but maybe they’re just one small piece of the puzzle. One where the line between good and great is thin and where .001 gets you kicked out of a race. Maybe when it comes to blocks, good is good enough!

Always be growing,

Coach Rathke and the T&F Community of Coaches helping Coaches