Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #121: Gill1918 presents Erik Jenkins "Coaching the Relays Part 1" from Tampa Bay/USF Clinic

Transcript

#121: Gill1918 presents Erik Jenkins "Coaching the Relays Part 1" from Tampa Bay/USF Clinic · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Welcome to the Gill 1918 Project, a podcast series by
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  coaches, for coaches powered by Gill Athletics.
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  Now let's get into today's topic.
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  All right, our next guest Guild podcast alum, by the way.
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  So if you want to learn more about his journey, how he got
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  into track and field, how he got into coaching, it was fantastic.
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  Had a lot of lot of fun during that interview.
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  Eric, I hope you did as well. You, you let me come back on
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  campus. So it must not have been too
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  bad. So I appreciate that.
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  But one of the things I've learned from Coach Jenkins is
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  good coaches can coach regardless of where you're at.
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  He did an absolutely fantastic job at his location before here.
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  He was at Western Kentucky. He was in there beating up the
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  big boys left and right. And then he comes to South
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  Florida and he goes and does the exact same thing, even better
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  actually. That was a tremendous thing.
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  This guy goes up to one of the biggest meets where the biggest
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  schools are pen relays and goes out and just sweeps it all.
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  He he, he's, he's very, very selfish.
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  He's not very good at sharing. He goes out and wins the four by
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  one, the four by two, the four by four and just takes home all
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  the wheels. So it's been tremendous to watch
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  him and what he does. And he's going to be talking to
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  us about the relays today. So help me welcome from
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  University of South Florida head coach, the wise winner for Eric
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  Jenkins. Thank you.
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  Thank you all. I asked Coach Dean one thing and
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  that was to give me a short presentation because I did not
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  want to go after Sammy or Coach period.
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  I got held up in a meeting that I did not want to be in.
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  So here I am, second behind Sammy.
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  All right, so real simple, we're going to look at relay coaching
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  essentials and this is the introduction to relays.
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  There are a lot of smart people in this room, so I felt it
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  wasn't prudent to to just threw a lot of information at you.
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  So we're going to have an overview and then you guys are
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  going to ask me questions or whatever you have about the
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  relays. Now I'll start this presentation
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  off by saying what you do in your situation, your
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  environment, that's you. I personally believe that in
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  relays, it's about personnel, period.
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  You can have four guys that can run 10 flat.
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  You can have four women that can run 11111 two.
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  But if that personnel does not jail, if they cannot pay
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  attention, you're probably not going to run very fast.
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  That's just just simple. In my world, when I look at
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  relays, most people look at the 100m guys or ladies as the
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  optimal people to run the relays.
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  I do not. Most people can pay attention.
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  Then my second criteria is who runs the best 2 hundreds, not
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  necessarily the hundred. A lot of people run very fast,
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  but they start backing up, especially when you get closer
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  to zone work. And so that's why I go 200
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  meters back. So as we jump into this first
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  thing it says goals to maximize baton speed and minimize risk.
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  So in a relay, especially in a four by one, you don't want the
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  baton to slow down. It's just that simple.
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  So as we're trying to build relays and one thing we look at
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  trying to do is always preach push the zone, push the zone,
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  push the zone, do not allow the relay, I mean the baton to slow
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  down. We're also looking at baton
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  placement. You know, we want people who can
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  actually pay attention to come in with the baton up.
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  A lot of times, some of the relays I've run in the last
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  couple years, a lot of people eliminate themselves simply
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  because they do not pay attention.
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  And if you come in with a baton like this out in front of you,
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  if you come in with sweeping motion, then I'm probably going
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  to push you to the back of the order and hope I don't need you
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  in the big meets. Next thing we can move on to is
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  picking a system. Now one of the cool things about
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  being at the world meets if if you watch the relays, you watch
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  a lot of the European countries come with the sweeping motion
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  and therefore by once. And in the US, we've, we've got
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  to get a better as we continue to figure out how to run relays
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  and big meets of pushing that baton.
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  And we've got some great, great relay coaches.
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  But you just wonder what some of the athletes are thinking that
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  time of execution. Next thing we'll talk about is
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  exchange zones. You know, how many high school
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  coaches do we have in here? What are the zones now for high
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  schools? OK, All right.
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  I asked that question because I was at pen relays and got in an
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  argument with an official who was trying to tell us to start
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  at the wrong place in the 4 by 1.
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  And I figured he had to be a high school coach, but I guess
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  he was just wrong, period. You know, again, as you look at
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  the exchange zones marking with your steps back, some people do
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  8 to 12 steps. I think that it's one of the
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  things that you have to know your personnel and how you're
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  trying to figure out your steps. If you try to follow too many
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  things to the TI think you're going to have problems with the
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  exchange zones. One thing we look at here when
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  I'm trying to build relays with some, as simple as they've got
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  it, I had a young lady and she wears a size 11.
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  I'm not going to have her marking off the same as the
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  young lady who wears women, usually six, 6 1/2, something
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  like that. So little things like that.
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  I've seen coaches arguing with their athletes.
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  They take this many steps, but literally I'm watching a girl
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  with, excuse me, lady with some larger feet, mark it off and the
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  coach is yelling at him because he's got somebody or he actually
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  has small feet. He was marking right beside her
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  saying that's wrong when it's a common sense thing.
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  Her feet are bigger than yours. Think about it.
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  Moving on after that as far as visual, excuse me, visualize
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  baton speed through not to the zone.
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  So when you're looking for your 4 by ones, the one thing you
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  want to see is baton again, continually moving good relays.
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  You don't see a slowdown of that baton.
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  Anytime you see breaking forces in a relay, you're slowing down.
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  One thing I also look for is where's the body from the
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  shoulders to the hips? Where the body going through the
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  zone? If I see people doing this, are
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  we pushing it or we backing off? If you, if you want to stop your
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  car, if you're in your car, you put the foot down and usually
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  this is the position you're in. It's the same thing when you're
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  going through the zone. I want to see good angles
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  through the zones. Next order of tips.
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  Again, you take this with a grain of salt.
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  Great starter, curve runner for leg one.
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  I'm not so sure about that at all times.
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  I think it comes back to having a good starter, not great.
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  A good starter who can run a good turn and who can run
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  through the zone. The first leg is crucial that
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  you have a good starter who can run a turn, but more important
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  they can push that zone because if you have somebody who can get
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  away and really accelerate through that zone, then you're
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  off to a good start. Anybody, not anybody, them take
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  that back. A lot of people can run a
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  backstretch. To me, the most important people
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  are first and third legs, 1st and 3rd legs.
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  The second leg I've got are the fastest straight line runner.
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  You can find those on most teams.
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  They aren't hard to find. Third skill curve, runner and
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  passer. The third leg to me is
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  absolutely crucial. If you watch, you know, elite
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  level relays, the third leg always is a make or break leg.
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  Because if you have how many people ever heard, just hide
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  them on the third leg. I can show you a team that's
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  going to get beat if you hide them on the third leg.
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  If you're going to hide them, you better hide them on the
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  fourth leg and hope they don't get rundown.
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  But if you're trying to so-called hide them on the third
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  leg, good teams will beat you. Fourth leg I've got as
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  competitor and closer. The person I'm looking for on
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  the fourth leg is again, a person who can run very well on
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  the straightaway, but it's a person that they're decelerating
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  the least amount in that last 15 meters and they can hold it
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  together because everybody's going to be coming.
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  And it's the person who can be most composed and let last 15
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  meters. That's the person you want or
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  your ankle leg. Now they might not necessarily
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  be the absolute fastest, but who is that person that can hold it
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  together at the end of the relay?
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  That's what I'm looking for. I've got drills, you know, three
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  zone simulation at 90%. You've got no look baton pass
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  under pressure. Some of the things we would do
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  here. Here I will set up short zones
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  and we will pass the baton 30 to 35 meters and we moving it.
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  And I am looking for the people that can pay attention in that
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  short amount of time because that's all you really have in
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  that relay. Once they get into that kill
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  zone, you better be paying attention and understanding
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  what's going on in that area. Baton passing.
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  There are some people who look back for the baton.
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  I don't, I believe, and I'm going to set my Marks and I'm
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  going to send you. It's up to you to make sure that
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  you are leaving on time. Paying attention.
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  You have your hand placement, correct?
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  You cannot have your hand in your pocket.
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  You cannot have your hand reaching the dangling for it.
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  I want you to create a stop sign so that the incoming person can
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  see your hand and they see the hand and they push the hand.
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  And I want to say that again, they see the hand and they push
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  the hand. That is what we're going to
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  consistently preach in our relay situation.
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  Now, those are just a few notes for the four by one.
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  And again, we'll go back through a lot of this 4x4 rhythm and
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  resilience. 4 by 4 to me is a thing of poetry, right?
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  We've been able to run moderately fast because again,
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  it's about the personnel. I can guarantee you I've never
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  had the fastest 4 guys in the country.
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  But we for some reason tend to find our way into some of the
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  finals. You know, Mike was talking about
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  the pen Relays and we won four by 1/4 by two.
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  We have yet to win the full by 4 yet though, you know.
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  But we did win the national title last year at the end, but
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  I think it was because of our experiences at pen relays and
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  some other meets. So 4x4, smooth, smooth exchanges
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  under fatigue, everybody. How many actually ran track in
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  this room? How many of you actually ran the
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  400? OK, so you know what it feels
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  like at 37380, the last thing you want to do is run another 20
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  meters, right? But it's the people who can stay
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  composed in that moment and push through the zone are the people
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  who are going to again have success.
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  You continue to hear me say success.
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  It's the zones. It's all about the zones.
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  You can have 4 fast people, but if they cannot move it through
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  the zone, it really does not become as efficient.
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  And they don't think you run the times you need to.
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  So exchange visual open hand target.
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  So what we do a lot of, and I use my relay practices for speed
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  development, I use it all in one day.
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  And so when we line up for doing open hand exchanges, I want to
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  see a big target. I want to see thumb to the sky,
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  hand flat. And I'm always sending my
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  runners to the inside of the outgoing runner so they can see
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  the hand and push the hand, see the hand, push the hand.
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  You have to create that target so that the outgoing person can
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  take, receive, switch and go. Incoming runners must run
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  through the exchange zone. Excuse me, exchange zone.
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  Outgoing runner accelerates gradually.
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  One of the hardest things in the sport or in 4 by 4 is to measure
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  that speed up. A lot of times you will see
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  people leave real early and have the slam on the brakes to wait
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  for the person. You have to work on that
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  dynamic. You cannot just send them out
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  there and say, all right, put your hand up and just go one.
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  You probably won't have people on the wrong side of the lane if
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  you don't practice it. And again, you're going to send
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  them out on a death March because if I've run 395 meters,
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  some dude takes off, you know, hauling and I got another
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  whatever to try to catch them. It's failure written all over
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  there. So you need to work on that.
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  Order tips for 4 by 4 starter, strong start, control pace.
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  I want a steady person on the first leg period.
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  Give me a steady person and I fall by 4 That won the national
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  title. We actually had a young man who
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  split 44 seconds at pen relays, but he's also a four and a
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  hurdler. But he's all guts and glory.
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  He was hurt in the in the national championship, but he
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  just when you looked at it, you say who was the guy that's just
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  going to get it done? And he was a guy he actually let
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  off from 46 high kid was certainly capable of running 46
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  low of 45 at the hole, but I knew he was going to be steady.
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  The brake runner, our brake runner, we look for a person who
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  has 200m foot speed, but they also have closing strength.
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  Your second leg, again, they have to get to the brake.
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  If you don't have a bully that's willing to get to the brake and
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  you're behind and the reality is the good ones will never come
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  back to you and big meets, the good ones will never come back
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  to you. So you have to be there.
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  Third, I've got grinder, a reliable person on the a
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  reliable person under pressure. The third leg again is a person
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  we're going to set up and hope they have space.
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  And if they don't have space, are they a person that can put
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  you in a position that your ankle leg has a fear shot?
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  To be successful, they don't have to be a hero, but they have
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  to be fair. At third leg, the anchor, the
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  anchor has to be somebody who was measured, measured.
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  You don't want them to go out with too much aggression, but it
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  also has to be a person that thinks it understands where they
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  are in space at any given time. We were blessed this year to
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  look at contrast, we going up to Penn Relays twice and got beat
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  by Arizona State and Texas A&L. We had the same anchor.
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  We learned the hard way of measuring our approach.
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  We get to the national championship.
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  It was quite honestly basically the same race except our anchor
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  leg was more measured this time and was able to make a a good
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  effort out of it. He's actually sitting in the
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  back of the room, so I'll give him his props this time.
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  But the kid is tough and that's what you got to have at that
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  level. Rolling on over.
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  We've got drills, run through exchanges.
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  Again, you want to practice relays, you'll practice 100.
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  You place block, stars, hurdles, all these things.
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  But why would you not practice relays?
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  It's an event. People just think you line
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  people up and it just happens by osmosis.
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  It does not practice the relays. We do 4 by 151 simulations with
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  full recovery. We can do 4 by ones.
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  We'll do 50M run insurance for four by four.
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  It really just depends on what we're doing.
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  There have been years I would actually go run 4 by fours for
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  practice and we just run repeat efforts of four by fours just so
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  we're working on batons, practice integration.
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  You can do baton work two or three times a week, depends on
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  where we are. By the time we get to the end of
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  the week, we're only doing it once and we will tie in 4 by 1
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  and 4 by 4, work all in the same day and then do a running
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  exercise after that. One to two reps per week of full
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  exchange simulation. That's one way to do it.
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  And then obviously film review. The people need to see what
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  they're doing. A lot of times you get more
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  veteran runners, you can have conversations, they can pick up
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  on a lot of the queues. Then some of them you have you
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  just got to show them over and over again because they just do
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  not get it. So film review is a big thing.
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  All right, your coaching queues for the four by one fast out
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  hand high trusted pass. What I mean by that is if you're
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  working on 4 by 1, especially if you're going live, they need to
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  understand you got to do it right.
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  A lot of people want to wait to meet time like, oh, I'm a go
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  now. No, I can't measure it out if
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  you don't go now. So we want to work on that heart
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  fun with four by one intensity, intensity, intensity 4 by 4, see
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  the target, stay smooth, finish the hand off and then both for
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  precision beat speed, smoothness wins relays.
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  What I will tell you the things again I look for is personnel
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  over personal best. Do not get hung up on what a
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  person has run in their open events because that does not
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  mean they need to be on your relays and then relays require
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  all of us to succeed and for you to execute competitively.
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  Now you can keep that, do whatever you want with it.
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  This past year we ran 38 O five in the four by one with a bunch
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  of people people have never heard of except for maybe our
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  anchor leg and that's because he run 995 the year before that and
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  then our 4x4 ran 3 flat with a bunch of guys who earned their
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  respect so. Hey gang, Mike Cunningham here.
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  Hey, I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Guild 1918
• 18:55
  Project series. It's really my mission, my
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  passion to bring you massive amounts of value and I hope this
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  one hit the mark. The Gill 1918 Project is really
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  dependent on you if for you to build your own episode, to hear
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  your voice, to have your voice heard you have something to say
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  and teach other coaches out there.
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  So please get a hold of me, e-mail, text message, Twitter,
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  Hope you enjoy today, they will see you tomorrow.