TN Coaches Clinic

Jan 07, 2019

2^nd Annual

Track and Field Coaches of Tennessee

Conference and Clinic

Ok everyone, it's about time to get serious about the upcoming Track and Field season. You're probably already putting together your meet schedule and starting on conditioning for those athletes not involved in the winter sports. Or you may have already been through some of the indoor competitions as you get a head start on the spring season. Whatever the case, it's time also to think about yourself. Think about your development as a coach.

Those of you that read my previous article about the upcoming Coaches Clinic and Conference will know that the line-up is top notch and world class! Boo Schexnayder, Travis Geopfert, Andy Fry, Steve Wade and a host of other athlete/coaches, including some local experts, are on the slate to cover various Track & Field subjects.

Looking over the list of topics, it's going to be difficult to choose between all the selections. Efficient Hurdle Clearance is one of the topics that Travis Geopfert will discuss. Believe me, the more you can absorb on proper hurdle clearance, the better you will be able to identify this correctly for your athletes. I've coached hurdles for dozens of years and every time I research the topic, I learn something new that invariably will help the next athlete I coach. In my opinion, the length after the hurdle is the most important. But then, the stride length before the hurdle might be what dictates the after hurdle length. Ok, you get it, the more you can soak up, the better you are for all those different styles of athletes you will come across.

And what about when a new athlete comes up and says they want to run track but don't know what they will be good at. You can look at them and say, well, that body type usually tends to be a good 400 runners... or a good discus athlete... or.... We're all guilty of tagging some six foot seven athlete as a high jumper, but is that really the best event for them? Did Bolt do the High Jump? Ok, you get my point. What about sitting in on a session that will help you come up with testing and evaluating event placement. You'll get that at this clinic. You'll also learn about how to recover your athletes that take the sport seriously. And if you're serious about the sport, you should also be serious about the recovery!

If you are even remotely involved in training distance athletes, then the clinic session with "Building Aerobic Monsters" in the title is something you really want to see. Heck, with a title like that, who wouldn't?? Then there's sessions on the High jump, Training field event athletes, Approach in the Long and Triple, Holistic approach for the distance runner, Effective relay techniques, and so many more really strong clinic sessions.

A good handful of nationally recognized speakers is always something to look forward to. Getting to tap into some of the coaches we have in TN is also a plus. Those of you in the Large School D2 class know all too well how strong Brentwood Academy is in track and cross country, and Marshall Smith will share his knowledge about distance training at the clinic. If you've been to the Vanderbilt (now Music City Indoor), any number of Knoxville meets, then you may already be familiar with Chris Kane. Chris has been a huge part of meet management for the Knoxville Youth Athletics and will give a session on Fully Automatic Timing.

Those of you remotely interested in the multi's most likely have heard about Gary Kinder. Gary is the founder of the Kinder Foundation but before that, he was the 1988 US Olympic trials champion in the decathlon and represented the US in the Olympics. Gary is also the driving force behind this annual clinic and conference and he'll be sharing his knowledge about the pole vault this year.

Throws, long, triple, pole vault, speed development, aerobic development, recovery, hurdles, distance, training design.... There's a lot to be gained from the Friday night addresses and across all the choices you'll have to make on the Saturday sessions, as well as networking among your peer coaches!

Here is a tentative Itinerary for this year's clinic (subject to change)

Friday January 25 All Sessions@ Fleet Feet Running in Brentwood

6:00pm Introduction to Training Design - Boo Schexnayder

7:00pm VS Keynote Address - Travis Geopfert

7:45pm Kindersport presents "The Cardshark" Jason Michaels

8:15pm Fleet feet Running and Brown/Forman Coaches Social Fleet Feet Store

Saturday January 26 (All sessions @ Brentwood High School)

7:30am Toyos Clinic and FCA Breakfast of Champions

8:30am Clinic Session #1

A. Efficient Hurdle Clearance- Travis Geopfert

B. Training basics for Multi-Sport High School Discus Throwers- Steve Wade

C. Testing and Evaluating Athletes for Event Placement- Will Jay