How much time should you actually spend coaching sprint mechanics...
Fred Duncan@Fred__Duncan
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Jun 17, 2025
~1 min read
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How much time should you actually spend coaching sprint mechanics for non-track athletes?
This is a question I get all the time and it’s a good one, because it forces coaches to confront how they use their time.
Sprinting is one of the most powerful training tools we have.
This is a question I get all the time and it’s a good one, because it forces coaches to confront how they use their time.
Sprinting is one of the most powerful training tools we have.
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But the amount of time you spend teaching it depends on the context…
For a track athlete, sprinting is the sport.
For a field sport athlete, sprinting is a means, not an end.
So how do you approach it?
You need to respect sprinting enough to teach it well, but not so much
For a track athlete, sprinting is the sport.
For a field sport athlete, sprinting is a means, not an end.
So how do you approach it?
You need to respect sprinting enough to teach it well, but not so much
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that it becomes its own sport layered on top of theirs.
They already have a sport. Your job is to complement that, not complicate it.
That means:
•No 10-minute lectures on shin angles or front-side mechanics
•No paralysis by analysis
•No trying to fix 5 things at once
They already have a sport. Your job is to complement that, not complicate it.
That means:
•No 10-minute lectures on shin angles or front-side mechanics
•No paralysis by analysis
•No trying to fix 5 things at once
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What I care about is what they’re showing me. From there, I pick one cue. Maybe two. Not because I don’t know more — but because more isn’t helpful.
I use things like sled sprints, med ball accelerations, varied start positions, and tempo runs to help athletes naturally
I use things like sled sprints, med ball accelerations, varied start positions, and tempo runs to help athletes naturally
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find better shapes. Sprinting teaches sprinting, if the setup is right.
The hard part isn’t giving the athlete more information.
The hard part is filtering your knowledge into the right cue, at the right time, based on what they need, not what you want to show you know.
The hard part isn’t giving the athlete more information.
The hard part is filtering your knowledge into the right cue, at the right time, based on what they need, not what you want to show you know.