I just found out I am coaching hurdles and jumps this year… Please help!

Look up USTFCCCA's convention symposium notes.

Thanks, will do.

Any others?

Go to the Human Kinetics website. Or just search for track and field books. If you're willing to spend a few bucks, start with a good overall guide to coaching type book. There will be chapters on each event or event group. Then you can get more detailed and technical info from there.

Do you at least have the USATF Level-1 or USTFCCCA Tech Cert already?

If not, get the USATF book, it's pretty helpful. Watch youtube videos on hurdle technique and if possible, talk in person to an experienced hurdle coach and same with jumps.

If your jumps include pv, be sure to meet with and get trained in pv. Also do the free NFHS course online for pv. Their track and field course, if you don't already have it, is good too but you have to pay for it and some areas I felt were weak. Those NFHS courses are strange: the soccer one is pretty useless, track is alright, but the basketball one will kick you butt—in a good way. It's very thorough.

High jump and pv have a high propensity for injury so good technique is imperative.

Once you've done all this, if you're at a smaller school be sure to get with your seasoned athletes in these events and work with them to use them as examples to the novice athletes. I believe very much in in-person demos of technique. Personally, I can demo most anything in hurdles, relays, or track otherwise to student athletes but cannot with throws, so I'm always keen to have a seasoned thrower around to help there. Kids need to see technique and be able to ask questions from the person demonstrating it, which isn't possible with videos.

Thanks!

Yes, some of that I have done already. I have a former hurdler and long jumper (2 dif people) I am reaching out to; fingers crossed :-)

You mentioned youtube vids... there is a lot of crap out there... is there a particular channel you recommend?

Get your USATF level 1. Be an actual track and field coach

Generic highschool coach wrote:

Get your USATF level 1. Be an actual track and field coach

Point taken :-)

Don't know of a specific channel to recommend. You'll need to watch a few and coupled with knowledge from USTFCCCA's notes you'll find good technique and the cues you need to effectively coach.

Anything with Loren Seagrave or Tony Veney is very good

can't be all that difficult if horses can learn jumps and hurdles

contact an equestrian and get some pointers

It is one thing to train your own children and start from zero and another to claim that you are a school program coach in events that you know nothing about.

School kids have a right to a proper education. It is not only that you are untrained but you appear to have little interest in these events.

This is not just about reading the books but also about doing an internship where you get to connect the points learned from the book to real life observations. In your case, you get to learn on your student athletes' skin, which makes them ... what?

In my view, if you go thru with your assignment, you are defrauding the kids.

I have sympathy for anyone being put in position of having to teach a subject they have not prepared for, and respect them for coming to the site to get help. I have seen plenty of experienced high school jumps coaches who do not know how to coach these events well - and I do believe that even a beginner can do a better job if he/she bothers to understand the biomechanics.

My first tip for an jumps coach is that in all of the jumping events the athlete should attempt to accelerate through the takeoff. The usual mistake athletes make is to speed up too early in the approach run and then slow down in order to "set up" to jump. If you get your athletes to accelerate steadily, you'll be starting off with at least even with, if not ahead of, many of your rivals.

Quite impressive advice, Mr. Florida coach!

reconsider wrote:

It is one thing to train your own children and start from zero and another to claim that you are a school program coach in events that you know nothing about.

School kids have a right to a proper education. It is not only that you are untrained but you appear to have little interest in these events.

This is not just about reading the books but also about doing an internship where you get to connect the points learned from the book to real life observations. In your case, you get to learn on your student athletes' skin, which makes them ... what?

In my view, if you go thru with your assignment, you are defrauding the kids.

I understand where you are coming from. My only response is that my interest in these events, as it pertains to my competitive nature, is inversely proportional to my experience with the events.

I have already set up a hurdles clinic and a jump clinic, each led by separate collegiate athletes in their respective events.

I intend to be damn good at this, and I appreciate the help I have already gotten so far.

I already mentioned the NFHS online classes: certainly take the track and field one if you don't have it or anything higher than it, plus the pv one which is free. They also have some on first aid and general coaching pedagogy. I don't know your coaching experience outside or track nor your experience as an athlete; I came to coaching track with a broad experience as a runner and also over a decade of experience coaching soccer, so if you have similar experience the stuff on pedagogy may not be essential but I still found it pretty helpful, but then I am not a teacher and don't have a degree in education so if you are, you probably have that stuff down anyways.

Someone mentioned Loren Seagrave's videos—he's great, he's certainly one of the authorities on track. If you're dedicated enough, you may be able to get your USATF Level-1 prior to your season starting depending on where you live. I think the USTFCCCA Tech Cert now is available as an online course although I took it as a two-day intensive seminar in person and would recommend in-person when possible anyways. The USTFCCCA convention is in like two weeks in Orlando and they'll also offer that course there, if you happen to be in Florida.

Also, check your state association specific rules on everything! They do vary, and mostly it's administrative stuff but can be essential. The NFHS now has a few courses on state association specific content too, but I know Florida's is not up and running yet, but like Virginia's is and is apparently useful.

OP, you're not defrauding anyone. You're here searching for ways to get better, and students are more impressed that you care than they are about what you know.

Not everyone can be an intern, assistant, etc...

OP seek out the other coaches in your conference and pick their brains at meets. We all do it, that's a great way to learn.

No doubt you're gonna do a great job.

Thanks guys :-)

Just to clarify, I have been coaching for 15ish years now (including sprinters and XC). I have just never coached these EVENTS before. I am really looking for info on technique more than "general coaching".

That said, I sincerely appreciate the advice on the courses. A refresher never hurt anyone.

Coach hard, gang :-)

New Events wrote:

Just to clarify, I have been coaching for 15ish years now (including sprinters and XC). I have just never coached these EVENTS before. I am really looking for info on technique more than "general coaching".

You had to ditzly "just to clarify" now. That must not have crossed your mind to be relevant information.

And, you coached sprinters in a secluded room, away from everything else, not ever hearing any chatter or making observations in passing.

Right.

Troll along now.

I don't think he's a troll and believe his motivations are honest, but gotta say: how do you coach track—sprints at that—for 15 years and be this lacking on hurdles? I've coached sprints and always we group them with hurdles and relays. Being lacking on jumps, I can totally see that though if his school has up to now had a jumps coach.