HS Coaches: What do you say to an athlete who comes in last?

Subfive wrote:

otter wrote:

In my experience 95% of the time when a kid comes in last it is due to a lack of effort in training.

The last time I had a kid come in last place she was legally blind. She wasn't upset about her performance in the 100 meter dash and I was proud of her.

What.....that's silly, the part about "due to lack of effort"!!!! In fact, someone must be last (barring a tie).

Agreed. In fact, if you've never been blown out of the water in a race, you're probably ducking competition. If you seek out races where you'll be challenged, you'll occasionally get dusted.

When I was in high school, my coach always made a point of entering me in one or two races per season where I would be in over my head. He wanted to force me to redline so that I'd be pulled to a PR just by hanging on to the back of the pack. This was back when the NCAA still allowed high school club runners to run unattached in collegiate meets, so we'd go to a college invitational and I'd jump in an 800m or 1500m with a bunch of college and post collegiate runners whose PRs were 5 or 6 seconds faster than mine. In these races, I probably got last as often as not.

I'd put my last place 17-year-old self on the line against otter's non-last-place hard working kids any day. I'd rather compete and sometimes get smoked than stick to what's comfortable all the time.

"The kid was last and had a guy right in front of him and didn't even try to pass him at the end. NO competitiveness at all. Other races he wasn't close to anyone else.

Why was he even running CC? I don't know. He was a frustrating kid.

I know that's my fault as I should have at least found out why he was out there."

Exactly, at least try to figure out why they are out there, maybe they just want to be part of a team, but have no real desire to do any training/running. I've had plenty of those types, usually great kids, but annoying has heck when you are trying to develop a competitive team. Sometimes they are friends with the top guys/gals on the team and help with team chemistry.

I had a girl go from 32 to 28 in cross country 5k's, came to practice maybe twice a week, never ran at all before the start of her one and only season, so it was hard to say positive things as I knew she didn't really work that hard, but I figured if she ran every meet, she would at least get better from week to week.

It wasn't your day, next time stop staring at the hot girl doing her cool down and maybe you won't trip on the rail and break yer nose next time

"It's okay Justin, you raced against 39 of the other top HS boys in the nation today and got your butt kicked. You'll come back stronger and faster next year and be ready for it this time"

(one year later)

"It's alright, bad races happen. You'll keep on working harder and get on a NCAA podium contender. No way this happens to you at the college level"

"Well, that was expected."

Be Somebody wrote:

It gets easier if the individual ran a pr. You can work with that, but if he put the work and for some reason still ran slower I just try to say positive things. No need for criticism since I know for a fact that he has being working hard.

Yeah, if they run a PR, certainly mention that.

If they don't run a PR and finish last, there are three options I take:

1. If there was something good about the race (they did a good pushing the third lap in the mile, or they closed strongly), then commend them for that part of the race before mentioning how they can further improve in other areas.

2. If it was just a mediocre race all around for them, I'd just tell them to get in a good cool down. Don't say anything about the race (you don't want to commend them for doing poorly, because they'll already know they didn't run well and saying they did just diminishes your credibility).

3. If there is a consistent issue that they have had (i.e., always starting off with a 65s 400m and finishing the mile in 5:10) and they haven't learned the lesson yet but are willing to learn, mention how good pacing can lead to better results, etc.

Anything can happen. I was last when I was a freshman in hs running 6 minute miles but by the time I was a senior I was running 15:30 for 3 miles

I have seen some research recently that the compliment sandwich is not really a good idea. Instead aim for a 5:1 ratio of good to criticism.