Sprints and Relays Tips and Techniques

Name: Sprints and Relays Tips and Techniques
Rating: 4.1 (7 reviews)

featuring Coach Erik Jenkins

Created bySport Videos

Last updated 10/2018

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

The student will know several of the key fundamentals needed to be successful at sprinting events and relays.
Coaches will have a wide variety of drills that they can use with their team.
Learn the fundamentals of sprinting mechanics
Create a better understanding of warm-up, starting, and finishing relays

Course content

1 section • 9 lectures • 37m total length

Introduction1:18
Introduce sprints and relays with guest all-Americans Taibu Sears and Emmanuel Dessau, a 2016 Olympian and school record holder in 50m, 200m, and 400m indoor.
Warm up drills6:35
Participate in warm up drills that prepare sprinters with tall posture and active movement, using cycles, reverse steps, karaoke, lunge sequences, and rotary ground strikes to build sprint mechanics.
4 X 100M Relay9:30
The course teaches the four-by-one hundred relay tactics: optimize legs to 100m each, set up inside-outside handoffs, run through the zone, and master blind exchanges.
4 X 400M Relay2:24
Learn effective 4x400m relay baton exchanges, including open-hand handoffs, proper grip, ready position, and safe, efficient transfer between incoming and outgoing runners.
Warm up for Short Sprints7:36
Provide a comprehensive warm-up routine for short sprints, including kneeling starts, tech runs, backward runs, accelerations, karaoke drills, kicks, and hip flexibility work to prepare speed and movement patterns.
Sprinting Mechanics5:18
This lecture teaches sprinting mechanics across diverse body types, focusing on early push, hip alignment, knee lift, and foot placement to optimize acceleration, maintenance, and deceleration.
Starting Blocks2:58
Explore starting blocks setup, block safety, and individualized block starts to optimize sprints and relays, using lane line alignment, proper hand placement, and neutral head and spine.
The finish1:58
Finish strong by running through the finish line with a focus beyond it, maintaining form and composure to avoid slowing down in the final meters.
Closing Comments0:20
Eric Jenkins, head coach at Western Kentucky University, shares takeaways from the sprint relay video to help you execute sprint relays more effectively and develop your technique.

Requirements

Previous knowledge is not required. A relay baton and a track to practice would be useful.

Description

About the program: Sprinting and relay events are usually decided by fraction of seconds. It is imperative to maximize technique and training methods to be successful. In this video, Coach Erik Jenkins shares several unique training tips, techniques and race strategies. Among the topics covered are: multiple warm up drills, the 4x100m and 4x400 relays, sprinting mechanics, starting blocks and the finish. This comprehensive program is a must-have resource for coaches and sprinters at any competitive level.

About the coach: Erik Jenkins was named head coach of both the men's and women's track and field programs at Western Kentucky University (WKU) in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 2008. He spent the previous eight years as an assistant coach in charge of sprinters, jumpers and recruiting. Jenkins and his staff have developed a knack for producing All-Americans, leading athletes to a combined 96 All-America honors. Throughout his time as the head coach at WKU, Jenkins has been voted the Coach of the Year 21 times, with three selections by his Conference USA peers. In June 2019, he became the head coach of the University of South Florida (USF) and in 2021 lead the women's 100 relay which broke the school record in 43.95 seconds.

Who this course is for:

The course is beneficial for all levels of track and field coaches and runner.