High jumpers, the slower you are, the smaller/tighter your j. approach needs to be.

It’s easy if you are a coach or an athlete to watch a really experienced high jumper and then of course, try to imitate what you see that athlete doing and apply it to your own jumping style (if you are an athlete who is self-coached or a coach with athletes)

There are many events in track & field, but one of the most consistent errors I witness are novice, or even collegiate athletes who simply don’t have the speed in their approach to run the “J” as wide as a much faster, better jumper does.

Everyone, coaches and athletes alike, see seven foot high jumpers running a 15-18 foot “J” (measuring the number of feet from the standard out where they run the straight portion of their approach) and then they think they can run a 13 to 15 foot “J” on their approach. Too many slower athletes (novice male and female jumpers) and many collegiate, high school and college women make this mistake, and it is really hurting their ability to convert their horizontal speed into vertical lift.

If you want to jump higher, you have to consider tightening your “J” A LOT. If you do tighten your “J” and understand one extra concept that also needs to change (pertaining to your plant) when you tighten your “J”, you will improve your high jump height and your consistency dramatically.

When a 7 foot high jumper runs a curve 17 to 18 feet out from the standards, he needs to do this because he is moving very fast and a curve that is only 7 to 8 feet is simply too tight to allow the athlete enough lean necessary to handle the speed needed to execute a seven  foot jump. But a novice or 5’2″ collegiate heptathlete, or even a 5’9″ female high jumper, has to realize she is moving slower than a 7 foot jumper. If these jumpers approach the bar at say 1/3rd or even 1/4 the speed of an elite male jumper, they need to shorten the J curve they run accordingly.  When these slower jumpers run a curve that imitates the faster, better jumpers, they put themselves in a terrible position to jump. The wide curve opens them up too much prior to the jump, causing them to slide/travelfor  too long down the bar, never converting the little bit of forward momentum they have generated into vertical lift.

In this short article, we are talking about a wide range of athletes, both men and women, and novice, high school and collegiate jumpers. However, the biggest violators are by far the junior high novice jumpers (both boys and girls) the high school jumpers (both boys and girls) and in college (primarily women and men decathletes and heptathletes)  Really, the only jumpers that have their “J” approach down are the college men high jumpers and the elite high school men high jumpers. 

So here is what the athletes I mentioned above  need to do with their approach.  Cut your j approach from 12-14 feet that you currently erroneously use and get that  measurement down to only 6-8 feet.  Yes, 6 feet, I would even consider 8 feet too wide for most women.

The above said, if you do consider tightening your curve there is ONE concept you need to change and that is the way you plant.  When you have a more narrow J for an approach, when you plant, you need to have a VERY FAST, VERY QUICK plant that involves turning the your back to the bar VERY aggressively at the same time you plant your left take off foot. (assumes a right side approach in this example) This is also THE EXACT opposite of what you are doing when your “J” approach is too wide.  When your approach is too wide, most athletes never turn their backs on the crossbar at the plant, therefore, greatly reducing the lift you get during the plant phase of the jump.  Instead, these wide J high jumpers spend their time fixated on watching the crossbar, as they spend forever sliding down the cross bar, looking at the crossbar throughout their entire jump. This is the worst possible thing you can do when you are high jumping, but legions of high jumpers jump like this, and it is, simply…the wrong way to jump.  If you are guilty of this style of jumping, you can do SO much better, just by changing a couple of things.

When your “J” is too wide, your shoulders will be perpendicular to the crossbar, with your chest facing the one standard, and your back facing the other.  Right after you plant, your chest should be facing the spot you just started your run up from (right after you plant your take off foot) and your back should be beginning to make a complete turn so it is facing the cross bar.  I have seen many collegiate women barely expose their backs to the crossbar when they plant, simply because their “J” curve is too wide.  If a jumper tightens the curve and adds the aggressive turning of the back to the bar right when they plant their take off foot, it will allow these slower athletes to convert their forward momentum into vertical lift more effectively. ( rather than running a “J” curve that is too wide for the slow speed that they approach the bar) 

So, try this tighter curve.  And though I am talking primarily to women jumpers here, I am talking to many high school boys and college decathletes when I say, tightening your “J” will greatly improve your personal best in the high jump.  I was a 6′ 9″ high jumper as a decathlete.  I only had an 8 foot “J” from the right standard, and often, I even pushed the six to seven foot mark for my J approach.  Though I had a very fast approach, when I had wider curve, I simply slid down the bar and was unable to convert my forward momentum to vertical lift.   Most high school boys could stand to tighten their curve the way I did and I guarantee you will jump higher.  Just remember, you have to ALSO turn your back as quick as possible when you plant your take off foot, or this technique will not work.

One last word.  If you have had any lower leg injuries of any type from the knee down, don’t attempt a tight turn before being evaluated by your team trainer or medical doctor to decide if you can handle this style of jumping.  Stay with the wider turn until it is professionally determined if your injuries in your lower legs and your body can handle the added stress of a tighter J. curve approach.

I hope these ideas work for improving your high jump. Write me if you have any questions.

Thanks,

 Gary Bastien

www.youreonathletic.com – track technique for high school & junior high athletes

When I was in junior high, I was a pole vaulter and high jumper.  With great interest and passion I wanted become better at my newly chosen sport of track & field.  In the library of our junior high school I came across a book written by former American record holder in the decathlon, Ken Doherty, titled, Track & Field Omnibook.  This book gave detailed instructions of every track and field event along with simple line drawings of every sequence of every event in our sport.  If you go to Grandville Junior High School today, in Grandville Michigan, I am sure you will still find my name there, having signed out this wonderful book 20-30 times in the one year that I discovered it. 

Well, thanks to that book, it became the start and the foundation of what became the source of my college tuition scholarship when I later became a very good decathlete.

In addition to the Omnibook, my high school coach, Bill Dudas,  subscribed to publications called, Track Technique that he alway gave me access to.  These two publications lead me to being ranked as one of the top three decathletes in the United States in 1983 and upon retirement from the sport, I went on to have a lot of NCAA Division I success, coaching the throwing events and decathletes.  I now run my own speed, agility, track and sports development business in Saline, Michigan with my partner, Mark Gardner, called,  You’re On Athletic Development. www.youreonathletic.com  

I wanted to start a blog where, like the Ken Doherty book, I could provide a free space where kids could come in the same way I did and study the sport of track & field and get some answers about their technique and training

So, if anybody is out there and they want to get some advice or help, please read what I post here, or simply write me and ask any questions you might be having as it pertains to your specific track or field event.  I can help you improve your technique and you will be able to learn from my experiences as both an athlete and a coach. 

It is late tonight, so I will not yet startprinciples. 

on the blog, but this intro is a start and an invitation to you to stop in to either read what I have posted or post a question here that I hope I can answer for you.  www.youreonathletic.com

Sincerely,

Trackcoach8000

Just a post to let you know I am still here, ask away

It is September of 2014 and I just noticed I had not posted here.  I still get mail, but I need to explain why I have not visited this in a couple years.

First, You’re On Athletic co-founder and I transitioned You’re On Athletic to a 501c3 non-profit about the time I last posted.  The non profit is called the Dearborn Track Club, located in Dearborn Michigan.  I took down ALL the You’re On Athletic website, EXCEPT this HOW-Blog when we converted to the non profit.

I spent the last three years, first, workking full time as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University.  Ended up I worked for a strange fellow and I became the 8th coach (counting volunteer and part time) to resign on the guy.  I wont go into that except than to say I have been making my living with several part time coaching and other professional jobs since leaving EMU in Feb. 2012.

However, I continue to get technique questions about this site.  So, I want to let you know that I am going to check this site more and try to answer your questions.

If you want to see a total of the articles I wrote, got to the right column and look by date the posts that I made.  From here out I will post by month so I should have at least one post each month.

Since starting this blog in 2009, the norm for coaching has become using the Ipad or Kindle etc., with the coaches eye software.  I am now offering if you want me to coach you, I can do so directly now.  Simply email me the video of you and I will import your video into coaches eye and will make a thorough evaluation of what it is you are doing wrong and where you can improve.

The cost for doing is is $40.00 per evaluation.  The service includes me mailing back to you a Coaches Eye file where mark up with the pen tools what you need to correct in your technique, and any addtional correspondence necessary for you to better understand what you need to do.  This could include writing you more comments here to clarify, OR even a direct phone call.  However, for the cost, the Coaches eye would usually be enough.

If you are interested just write me here and I will get a notice you have posted in my email and I will get back to you.

 

Thanks,

 

Gary Bastien

Learning the rotational shot put technique

I don’t know why this was  not the first article I posted.  It should have been, since learning the to spin in the shot put when I was a decathlete is what enabled me to become a better shot putter, a better discus thrower and eventually led to me becoming a collegiate field event coach specializing in the throwing the events.

The funny thing is, I am a big guy now, you would never guess I was a decathlete that was primarily a sprinter, jumper.  When I was about 35 years old, I had a one year period where I transformed from my old skinny self into well, Fred Flintstone’s twin brother.  Though I now look like shot putter, there was a time when I was very skinny decathlete. So skinny in fact, when I went to my first NCAA national championship my freshman year, I quickly learned that 38 feet in the shot put and 120 feet in the discus was not going to cut it if I was going to perform in the decathlon on the national stage.

So the next year, I hunted down every film, that’s right film, we did not have Youtube like today, I could find of Brian Oldfield, and started to study films of discus throwers. I tried my best to see what was really going on in the ring with these athletes.  This was the start of me realizing the shot put and discus “real” events with serious technique involved that in my opinion, exceeded any event I had ever done…bar NONE. I could see in Oldfield that he was not just a big, strong man., he was an exceptional athlete.  I saw this too in the old wonderful films of Al Oerter.  Even in slow motion, I was exited to see Oldfield and Oerter were not simply strong, they were fast.

Though I was not strong at all (I did not even start weight lifting until my junior year in college) what I did have in common with these guys is I was quick and explosive.  As I watched the films over and over, I could eventually see what was wrong with my discus.  Like most novice discus throwers I would throw 15 to 20 less than my personal best.  One throw good, one throw, I fropped it like a duck, one throw out of the sector.  The most frustrating part was this…I could throw great in warm ups and God only knew what would happen once the competition started.

Then one day, after watching several films of Jay Sylvester, Oldfield, Oerter and many others I finally noticed something they did I know I was not doing.  It was this:  Whenever these guys landed in the middle of the ring, their right heel would land in the middle ring facing the throwing area.

Noticing the above is what was WRONG more than anything with the way I threw the discus.  In fact, this ONE aspect of throwing the discus or the spinning in the shot is why MOST novice throwers are all over the place and inconsistent.  This ONE THING.  In fact, one day I was coaching at Eastern Michigan University and a car pulled up to the fence near the shot area and a father and son stuck their heads from the window of the car and politely said, “We’re sorry for interrupting your practice, but my son is a shot putter and spins too. If there is one thing you could tell him to help him throw better what would it be?” No kidding, the car was still moving as they asked me this, they literally wanted some drive-by coaching.  So, with the car moving forward, I walked down the fence and said, “When you push out of the back, turn in the air and make sure your foot lands facing the throwing area.”  With that, they thanked me and drove off into the sunset.”

Switching to the spin in the shot put is much more than that bit of drive-by coaching, but I really believe that ONE THING is the most important thing to coach to a person just learning how to spin in the shot OR if you are coaching a discus thrower.  Watch 20 high school throwers who struggle and I guarantee every single one of them lands with their foot parallel to the throwing area.  This is the first concept you need to understand if you are either coaching or being taught the spin technique.  This ONE concept will make a huge difference in being on balance in the center of the ring.

I went to a coaching clinic in Dublin Ohio.  There was one session where the person presenting said, “Decathletes should not do the spin in the shot because it is inconsistent.”  That is probably the worst advice I have ever heard coming from a coach.  The quicker the athlete, all the more reason to spin.  Weighing only only 165 pound my freshman year in college, I had only one asset at my disposal to improve in the shot…my speed.  I take that back, two…coordination/body awareness.  The better the athlete, all the more reason to spin in the shot.  In fact, by the end of my career I could hit the same hole in the shot and discus because I was in control.  Many coaches, high school coaches especially claim the spin is inconsistent.  This is simply not true.  But if these coaches don’t know about the right foot landing in the center ring facing the throwing area, only then is the spin inconsistent. Also, these coaches don’t know how to start the athletes out of the back of the ring on balance and MOST important, how to teach kids to stay in the ring after they release the shot.

So really, the first lesson I want to teach you about spinning in the shot put is this…It is the MOST consistent way to throw…period.  Put out of your head anybody telling you otherwise.  Once you learn to spin, I guarantee your average throw goes up in a series of six throws versus the glide technique. WAY UP.

Now for the next lesson.  When you glide, you really don’t have control of the shot put, but because you are going in a straight line, you don’t realize you really don’t have much control of the shot.  You will only realize how little control you have of the shot put is when you try on your own to spin in the shot. If you try to hold it the way you do when you glide and you attempt a spin, the shot will pull away from your neck and go flying to the right of the sector.  Combine this poor grip/control of the shot with landing in the middle of the sector with your heel NOT facing the throwing area and the attempt to TRY the spin will be a disaster.  If you are by yourself you will say, wow, this sucks and if you are with a coach that does not know better he will say, “See, the spin is really inconsistent.” WRONG.

On the grip, I teach, “It takes three”  This means, you have to hold the shot with three thing, 1. your collar bone (clavicle) 2. your jaw 3. your hand.  Many gliders only hold with the hand and the pressure against their neck.  I you do this and try to spin you WILL lose the shot put off your neck as soon as you start to spin toward the throwing area.  In fact, the first thing I teach is to have you hold with the three above points, and then have you run a figure 8 pattern, or to simply try to run forward with the shot under your chin.  If the shot put bounces around, you are not using all three of the pressure points above.  If you correct the way you hold, the shot will not bounce.  Once you have control you are ready to get in the ring.

Next, you can get in the ring, but you will not be in the typical starting position, you will start by learning to do the South African drill across the ring.  This is where it will all begin to make sense to you.  Most novice spin athletes THINK the drive across the ring is very straight, but it is not. In fact, if you imagine looking down at the ring from the top of a ladder, the path you jump across the ring is very diagonal and resembles a reverse number 7.  Assuming in these examples 12 noon in the ring is the middle of the ring and 1 pm is to the right of center and 11 am is the left of the circle. You will want to your left foot (right hand thrower) in the sector at about 10:30 on the sector when you start your South African drill.  You will be jumping across the ring in the direction of about 5pm in the ring.  I will stop here now that you know the direction you will be leaping.

I stopped because the next BIG error most novice athletes make when they throw the discus or the shot put happens when you leap across the ring.  Novice athletes don’t cover enough ground across the ring.  YOU HAVE TO LEAP PAST THE CENTER OF THE RING WHEN YOU PUSH OUT OF THE BACK. Novice athletes take a tiny spin across the ring.  But just like the Ron Popeel ads, “But that’s not all!” Novice athletes try to spin on the ground rather than rotate their heel in the air SO WHEN THEY LAND the heel is facing the throwing area.  THESE TWO ERRORS ARE WHY PEOPLE FAIL TO THROW THE SHOT CORRECTLY IN THE SPIN.

So the first order of business is to teach the South African drill so the athlete jumps across the center of the ring, AND they rotate the heel in the air. (this is what rotates the hips…by focusing on the heel, everything else will fall into place…hips turned) You will have to do what I call, JUMPING THE LOG too.

When you do the South African drill you have to imagine there is a log laying across the center of the ring (tips log at 9am and 3 pm that is about four inches high.)  By doing this, it will get you landing past the center of the ring and allow for the height and time to get your heel turned so it lands facing the throwing area.

This is how you learn to throw the shot with the spin.  Really., it is all about starting to learn to do this South African drill until you can land past the center of the ring with your heel facing the throwing area.  DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING ANYTHING ELSE RELATED TO THE SPIN technique UNTIL YOU CAN THROW FURTHER WITH THIS DRILL THAN YOUR PERSONAL BEST WITH THE GLIDE.  For some athletes, it will happen immediately, some will struggle for weeks for some reason.  I know this… the better the athlete, the quicker this will come to them.  Why? Because the shot put, just like the pole vault, long jump, high jump, hurdles which are all skill events that require athleticism, has so little to do with what most coaches think is the biggest asset for the shot put…size and strength. The shot put is as complex as teaching a hurdler. The better the athlete the quicker he or she will pick this up.  This is why I believe Oldfield was so good., he was fast, agile and had the proprioception (awareness of his body in space) of hurdler, or pole vaulter.

There are several other things to learn before advancing to the back of the ring.  But I am going to stop here for anybody that wants to learn the spin technique for the shot put.  I guarantee if you learn how to throw far with just this South African drill, you will surpass your current personal record in the glide.  Get to this point with this drill, and then go to the continued article I will write titled, “Now that you know how to Spin, from the South African Drill… (as of 8/24 this is not written yet)

Boyne Country Cross Country Camp

Up Boyne Mountain Ski Hill

To ALL the GREAT young men who joined Coaches Mark, Gordie and myself, we had a BLAST! We were SO fortunate to have such a sane group of guys who made the camp such a JOY to be at. I hope what you got out of the camp is: It takes passion for your sport to be successful…When looking at great runners ask yourself, “Why not me?” It CAN be you. It takes an understanding of the history of other great runners to see many of them started out with a DESIRE to be great, and often started as pretty average runners. I was one of those athletes. Billy Mills started out the same way, cut from his freshman cross country team…imagine that! Add heart with desire to succeed and combine that with the passion (the love of the sport you are doing) and anybody can be VERY successful. I believe EVERY person at our camp has the physical skills to become great if you do the work and have passion, desire and heart. EVERYBODY. I would not be able to say that if we had a camp of 50-100 kids. It just so happens the guys that came ALL have the physical tools to be great. I believe this. 

All three of us coaches have a genuine interest in kids, this is why we coach. I hope you could tell this about us. I feel I made some really great new friends with all of you and am looking forward to coming to your meets and cheering you on.

Please make sure to keep doing those band exercises for the hips and the ball exercises on the ground for your shins, and feet., they will strengthen the fascia in your feet and prevent achelles and heel injuries as well. (even improve your balance) Do ice baths after workouts (full submersion in a tall bucket from the knees down) it will go a LONG way in preventing injuries as you increase your mileage.

Coach Gordie was right on to add the repeat intervals. These faster workouts will keep you from falling into one speed on your long, slow runs. I am not saying you should reduce your mileage, I am just saying you NEED to do these faster paced workouts twice every 10 days at least in order make your race pace feel less taxing. If you keep these speed workouts in, the first 1/3rd of your race will feel like a jog (serious…it will feel easy) but you will find you are actually running faster than if you simply rely on the over distance. I am not saying to reduce the overdistance, but you have realize six 800s at sub six-minute pace will feel like going on a slower 10 mile run if you want to account for it on paper measured as distance.

We’ve gotten some feedback from parents and they said you all had a great time and we had the right combination of fun, relaxation and rest…the VERY goal we set out for when we planned the camp.

Thank God we had  coach Gordie there or I’d a turned you down another couple a wrong turns. I can be airhead sometimes, but I try my best to do that only on Thursdays. :0)

Again, we’re VERY excited for your cross season and I am looking forward to some great improvements. I know we got in a great week of training and you have a great foundation to start your cross season! 

Coach Gary Bastien, (for Mark and Gordie too!)

Nathan & Christian

Great meeting you both today. I know we identified some techinique glitches in your running gate a Mark & I will be able to help you in the coming weeks. 

Below are the times we got you at for the testing.
Christian
40 yd. :1.)5.56  2.5.56
25 yd.  3.81
15 yd. 2.47
Shuttle: 27.00

Nathan
40 yd. :1.)5.62 & 5.72
25 yd.  3.97
15 yd. 2.62
Shuttle:30.31

Note on Shuttle it was from the hurdle line, then 15 yard mark to first hurdle, second and came back and then to third and came.  (15, 25, 35)

I could see improvement in your form by the end of the first session.  You need to improve your conditioning as well and we will work on that as well.

Great job yesterday,

Mark & Gary

traverse city throwers

Hey everyone,

I wanted to tell you guys I was thrilled with the results you had in both practice and the recent meet.  Too often high schools kids kind of go through the motions.  To have all of you show up, especially early on a Saturday morning AND on Prom night was very impressive.  90 percent of success IS often pretty simple, just show up., you would be surprised at how many good athletes I have seen fall by the wayside just because they don’t.

It was great to see Steven got a new pr., as well as Connor.  T.J., we all know you can throw further, but 122 is at least a representative or your skill level and not a 102 duffer.  When I was a decathlete I would call having a throw 10 feet from my pr (practice pr or meet) pretty good.  Lauren, I was sorry to hear you got the three fouler.  I was surprised too because you pretty much throw right down the center., but dog poop happens once in a while. (I should a done a drive by coaching)  Andy, don’t get too down about the bad last performance.  Like you, I used to really tail off at the end of the year in high school.  For me, I just seemed to have an inability to hold my early season training for the duration of the season.  This may have been the case with you. Also, athletes do go into what I will call, “A batting slump” For some it is just confidence, others fatigue.  I had one my senior year in high school.  I was pole vaulting 14’4″ at the time suddenly I could not even go 13.  I still have no reason as to why.  I decided I would lick it by vaulting all weekend.  I went out and sucked terribly the next week.  Then I took a week off, then boom, 14’6″ again and never vaulted int the 13’s again.  You looked like a man in a slump.  Step back a while, talk with Don about your summer training and nutrition and especially how it can coincide with your football goals.  You have too many good things going for your technique to be concerned that somehow you are losing what you accomplished earlier in the year.  I know the feeling of a slump, you’re flat, your baffled and you’re weaker than usual. Some time away from throwing will do you good. Concentrate on building the base of fitness for next year.

Again, a HUGE hurrah to Steven. Being able to finish out your senior season with a p.r. is just great! Though you are throwing about 10 feet less than practice, 132 is a big personal record AND meet conditions and relaxation are not the same as in practice. , so a pr is pr, is pr.  What more can you ask?

I know Grand Rapids is a long way away for you guys, but if any of you can make it down to cheer on Connor it will be worth the trip.  He has a good game face temperament and should perform to his highest potential.  I am predicting at least the school record but would not be surprised by a 163-165.  Even a 173-175 with a good stiff quartering wind.  When I was throwing about 162-3. I threw on a windy quartering wind day and 175 plus happened.(several times)  Though he has never hit this in practice, combine a good wind with some State meet adrenalin and he will throw 175. Yep, that means a possible state champion.  He is throwing technically well enough now (no more dive bomber discus throws) that 175 IS possible.  Ah, the state meet…where rest meets adrenalin and stuff happens you never expect…and this is why I love to coach the throws. It is rare to coach a 6’8″ high jumper and then, bang…he jumps 7’3″.  But in the javelin and the discus, the right conditions can bring huge gains.  Connor has the technique to ride the winds to a big p.r.  I smell a school record, and some state funded hardware.  Connor, you’re pretty stinking good. 

Thanks again everybody to listening so well and taking pride and having a passion for what you are doing. I want to close with this. Some of you are closing out your high school athletic careers. I am often asked what it was like to compete against some guys that were Olympians.  When asked this, I tell them I rarely find myself telling stories about Olympians, but more often stories about team mates of mine who were not conference champions.   These guys came to practice each day and they worked toward their goals with the same seriousness and dedication as people like myself who were training on the national level. I was never that impressed with the Olympians, because many were SO out of the box talented, that I BET, in their entire career, they rarely lost a single race.  So,whenever I would see an Olympian perform I would say to myself, “Wow, they are really something…or…that was a pretty jump, or run or throw.”  The storiesI  find myself telling are of people who were on the team that were always there, each day, chipping away at their own track & field goals, learning the craft of the discus, the high jump, etc.  These team mates might not pick up the paper and ever read a headline about what they were building (a better performance) BUT the work ethic they got from the track & field experience is EXACTLY THE SAME as the Olympian or conference champion who does get the newspaper ink.  This is the great thing about our sport.  When you “hang up your spikes” you take with you the PROCESS of first observing the event you choose, next having the desire to do it,  next studying the sport, followed by mastering it.  Simply by putting out your best to attain your best, you accomplish the SAME work ethic and life lessons as those who attain the elite distances in your event. 

When I am coaching, I see the same desire to improve in the eyes of person trying to learn to throw 95 feet to improve him or herself  from a 74 foot pr as I do from a person trying to improve from 165 to 190.  What both do to get there in many instances,  is no less intense in training or time invested.  In fact, I went to college with a decathlete who trained 4 years to score 1 point in the conference meet. (he never scored in a dual meet either) I know for a fact he trained as hard as I did.  The day he scored that one point, he was no less estatic than I was the day I finally qualified for the Olympic trials.  Why? Because the learning process and workload was the same.  The work ethic that comes from striving four years toward his personal goals and my work ethic developed striving for my personal goals were the same.  As time passes, distances, times run, become of less importance but the work ethic learned is what we take with us.  The real value of what we do in sport is what sport does to us. Sport transforms us.  We won’t settle to spectate, we participate. We won’t jump at the first solution to a problem because we’ve learned to first study, then experiment, then hone and refine the subject at hand.  We learn to recognize fatigue as something you fight past until the job is done.  We learn staying calm when the pressure is on pays bigger dividends in the end. When our backs are right against the wall, we see it as an opportunity to succeed and more often than not, do our very best work in spite of it all.

I am so impressed with this Traverse City group.  Each of you have really, really invested a lot into mastering your event. Whether you have thrown 100 feet or 200 feet in the discus or 33 or 44 in the shot, the work ethic and process of mastering these very difficult skills WILL carry over into the next part of your life… College, then your  first job…in what we call the real world.  These new goals and endevors will require the stamina, work ethic and goal setting skills you learned while on the track team.  Each one of you have approached your throwing goals with impressive dedication and seriousness and as a coach, I know you will take the lessons and tools learned at T.C. west track team and use them on the next stages of your lives.

Thanks for letting me be a part of your success!

Gary Bastien

Emerald & the Joiners

It was great meeting all of you at the track the other night and seeing the support you give Emerald.

Just like Don said, Emerald is very quick and explosive, the two most important attributes of a great shot put or discus thrower.  You have done well with getting her some help with the YMCA person and the other woman who helped her recently. Unlike many high school throwers I have worked with, Emerald actually does many things VERY well. The most crucial being, she has full control of the shot put in the way she holds it and the position of her right arm at release.  This is why she steps up and throws right through the sweet spot of the shot with a perfect 37 degree trajectory.

I feel she is too low right now out of the back, but to change that three days before the state meet will throw her feel and timing all off.  The biggest change to help her by saturday is making sure that right foot is actively turning in the air AND she steps in the direction of the throw with her left foot right before she blocks.  Having shown her the double reverse and how the straight left leg is used to assist in keeping her in the ring, she can now really come across the ring with everything she has confident she has the tools to keep her in the ring at the end of her throw.  She picked this up well and with a little work she did on it today she will be able to use this on Saturday too.  Don’t forget even a little step 3-4 inches in the direction of the toss will literally go a long way.  Don’t forget to do what worked for you, waiting in the front of the ring before turning to release. (keeping the left arm wrapped about the body) Place something behind the ring on the ground to look at and that will naturally keep that left arm from drifting forward too soon. (because you want to land with it wrapped behind and around you.) 

The discus is actually pretty good.  She just has to turn the foot in the air so the heel is facing the throwing area AND again, stepping just a bit forward rather than placing it down behind you will get the discus going further.  (part of the reason you throw out of the right sector is because that left foot gets behind your right foot and it makes you off-balance and you then throw out of the right sector.)

I will be at the Division I meet.  I have one high jumper, two sprinters I worked on starts with and then you and another discus thrower from Traverse City, and watching some relays and hurdle races my business partner works with.  As long as the high jumper (she needs the most help) is not jumping when you are throwing I should be available to help you during the meet. (but with your coaches blessing and I will tell your coach if I see if something that will help you and then have her tell you…this is more legal and it eliminates too many cooks in the kitchen and people in your face)

Write me back her or call me and let me know how practice when today with that reverse practice.  Don’t do anything at all tomorrow.  (even if you see other kids at the meet throwing on Friday…let them…they will be toast on Saturday.  There is nothing anybody can do on Friday that will help them on Saturday in the meet. (you could get injured even., strains and pains can happen anytime, so why risk it? 

Again, thanks for having me up and letting be part of your State meet experience and improvement.  I hope you will consider throwing with us this summer on our summer You’re On Athletic team. I am building an additional web page this weekend about the process and the details to sign up for the USATF and AAU state, regional and national competitions. 

Gary 734-904-9857

Logan, good luck and great practice Wednesday night

Hi Logan,
Great meeting you and your mom out in Cass City.  M-81 is certainly one of the prettiest drives in the state. 

We got a lot accomplished during the session.  Adding those two steps is really going to help you at the meet on Saturday.  Make sure you take your cell phone to the meet at Comstock Park so you have your mid mark, your distance from the standard mark, and start mark all with you. 

Considering you are playing softball and just kind of adding on the high jump AND you are only a sophomore, you are really doing a GREAT job.  I know you don’t have access to much coaching, but you have a lot on natural ability so you have a great start in  the high jump. 

Now you have some of the tools (concepts) like 1,) keeping your left shoulder higher and really leaning into the curve, 2.) knowing to point your take off foot to the back corner of the pit, AND turn your back.  Adding the two steps is bringing you faster AND because you can handle the lean, once you release the lean and convert to vertical lift…boom…there you go, right to a new personal and school record. If you have an on day, I could see you going 5’4.  I checked the website (michigan high school athletic association (mhsaa.com)  for Division III entries and you’re poised to win the state meet if you have another good jump.  Don’t run or jump or anything tomorrow., just rest. 

Give me a call after you jump and let me know how you did, I am confident you will do well. 

Looking forward to working with you more this summer.  See if your good pole vaulter wants to join our summer team along with you.  I was a 16’5″ pole vaulter and I really teach that event well too.  Both of you are on track to jump much higher and I would love to continue to help you reach your goals.  If you get up to 5’7″ and she to 12’0 by your senior year, you both will be having college schools contact you for scholarships to compete at a university.   

Thanks again for having me up to help you and tell your mom I enjoyed our talk after practice too.

Gary

To Shelby

Hey Shelby,

First, thanks for showing up in such cold weather this morning. One of the most important keys to success is simply, showing up. 

I was real pleased with what we identified this morning.  You are one of those athletes that are goofy footed. ( it just means you sometimes are left footed and some times right footed.  Identifying this for you was a great start to evaluate how you should go about hurdling.

For now starting without blocks is your best bet so you develop a sense of how you need to leap from the start rather than jua stepping out.  We worked on getting lift from your left arm by driving it up only slightly, followed by immediately driving it back down. 

Your count to the first hurdle is 8 steps (foot strikes, not strides) You start with your left foot foward…8 strikes later this will put your right foot coming up to the first hurdle.  Once you clear the hurdle, your right foot lands on the ground then you count 1-5 so when you come to the second hurdle, your left foot will clear hurdle.  When the foot lands, that will be  the first count of 1-5 until you reach the second hurdle.  Your 5th strike on the ground will be your right foot and you will put your left foot up to clear the hurdle. From this hurdle out you will continue todo  this for the rest of the hurdle race. 

Once you get more confident, you will continue to work on attacking the hurdle low, and as you clear the hurdle you will raise your upper body to pull the trail leg through. Make sure you bring the trail leg in front of your body after each hurdle.  As you attack with each lead leg, make sure the opposite arm of the lead leg is reaching for the box on the hurdle. Break at the waist, followed by popping up the upper body to start the trail leg getting pulled under your arm. 

You will get stronger as you run more.  Running 3-5 150 dashes in practice will improve your strength.  Once you are stronger run the first three hurdles in three strides (4 foot strikes) followed by alternating your lead leg. 

Call me anytime if you have any questions.  See you next Saturday or Sunday.

Coach Gary Bastien

To Andy and Steven in Traverse City

Great working with you two in the shot put and discus last weekend. Man, is your snow deep up there!!! You are the discus throwing Nanooks of the North. 

First, you are BOTH very talented.  My son Steven is 16 and a very good track athlete, but right now he STILL would rather spend his Saturdays hanging out and playing video games.  You both have the MOST important element of success and that is simply…TO SHOW UP. Considering where you were at last year, Coach Bailey has done a very good job in getting to where you are right now. We both trained together in college and so we coach in a very similar fashion, which is, making sure the athletes know WHY they do what they do at each phase of the throw.  Simplifing concepts with terms like, “jumping the log” and “hamburgering the heel” are ways to get athletes to get to where they want to go with their technique much quicker.

You both already have down the crucial concepts that mess up athletes when they are trying to learn the shot put and discus and shot. You both also have a VERY solid body sense and timing across the ring in both events as well.

Driving back it dawned on me that we may have not emphasized the importance of what happens after you turn out of the back of the ring.  After you turn and you have your left arm facing the throwing area and your right right leg back (the high wire balancing stick phase of the throw) make sure of the following in the discus: RELAX THE LEFT ARM MORE (AT THE VERY LEAST)  and preferably, ACTIVELY wrap and throw the LEFT arm toward the throwing area. (like we discussed in the shot put indoors) When we went out in the parking lot to throw, you both kind of ARTIFICIALLY kept that left arm TOO long, rigid and straight. (you brought the left arm with you TOO much on the second, more circular part of the throw)

I will discuss this with Don so we’re clear on what I mean.  Also, call me anytime if you have any questions.  734-904-9857.

Again, you both are big, FAST and Don will continue to work on your technique. With work, better weather to throw outside and continued work with Coach Bailey, you BOTH should be shoot for that 150 mark. 

I don’t know what your collegiate throwing goals and educational plans are, but if you are considering throwing in college and you might be looking for a smaller college to attend, Larry Levine, the coach at Ferris State would be a great choice to consider.  Ferris is a great place to throw if you are in the 150-160 range by the end of this year.  He is an outstanding coach in all throwing events,  especially good at teaching novice hammer throwers. He worked for several years as the throwing coach at Central Michigan University and he had a huge group of freshman throwers who came in over the last two years and they ALL were MAC level 170 foot throwers in the hammer and in the indoor weight.

Keep up the good work guys.  I’m looking forward to following your success.

Melissa

Hey melissa,

Great meeting and working with you the other night.  I am very excited about the fact that you are what is called, a speed jumper.  You really caught on quickly to what we went over.  I am not going to rush right into this, but I will eventually add two more steps to your approach in time and you will some very good results. 

You have a great attitude and very, very good potential to be able to jump in the 5’8″ height by the end of your senior year.  Both you and Oliva should both shoot for breaking your school record as well. 

Your distance from the right standard is 9’5″ and you are 41 feet back. You had a couple jumps there were you were a good 5 inches over the bar that was set at 5 feet. 

I hope you both fared well in the conference game the other night.  I’d a been there but had a medical procedure the next morning that required me staying home the night before. 

Start thinking about how great you can be in this sport.  You have much to look forward to.

Gary