Track and Field in the United States is not considered a “major sport”. Do you feel that way? Football was the sport I coached in college, but track and field is my favorite sport. The multiple events in track and field is the best sport to determine ones knowledge and effectiveness for training athletes, our business! There is a stop watch and a tape measure.
It Is the most difficult sport for irritating influences [favoritism, politics, poor subjective judgment and game losing decisions]. The pace of a track meet as compared to other sports does not surface the constant pressure for quick decisions.
In Track and Field, with the exception of 1600 meters and above, speed and power prevail, regardless of the event, period. There is no better sports venue than to determine the understanding of the physiology and bio-mechanics of speed and power, the proficiency of the training methods and the coaches and athletes knowledge of the technique of the event.
Coaching of track and field at the high school level it is ridiculous. Few coaches have the passion and motivation to learn and evolve with the events for which they are responsible. In the throwing events, speaking here only of the discus and rotation method in the shot put, it is absurd! [most states do not allow the javelin or the hammer in high school].
I have been to multiple throwing camps, some D-1, and watched too many videos to count, generally by “experts” or successful international competitors. Interestingly, the most effective throws coach I know is a high school coach and the best pole vault coach I know assists at a junior college. They are passionate and knowledgeable!
There will be more information on the five elements of teaching throwing the discus and rotation shot put later. For now, the first thing to know is that you throw with your feet. It is an advantage if the athlete gets involved early. While it is hard for some to execute, the discus and shot put are not that difficult to coach and start the athlete properly in mastering the events.
It is difficult not to image that it is not a reflection of other interscholastic sports, or the passion in the classroom, and the knowledge and effectiveness of the instructor, which we are unable to observe? As with gifted athletes, the gifted students excel regardless of the influence of the instructor in the classroom.
I am aware of a situation in which the weight training coach had “max outs”, testing for maximum lifts the day before a track meet. The weight training coach was also one of the track coaches. Go figure!
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