It's even got food in it ...

DISC will reopen this weekend (maybe Thursday night for Northcote racing?) - some trivia :

While it was closed we (me and some volunteer helpers) sanded the red line almost entirely off, and then the lines (black and red) were repainted with a matt acrylic paint, not the slippery gloss that it was. The duckboards are still slippery as is the blue line, but the red and black are a lot better.

We've sanded and filled a lot of divots, Hilton and I did the filling, myself, with Jayne and Nic did the sanding and a lot of vacuuming.

We've been busy!
(it still leaks ... but in different places ...)

Our DISC Sunday sessions start again this Sunday.  w00 h00!

A brief point on my philosophy.  Starting with something general :

If you do what everyone else does, you will never do better than them.

Caveat, genetic freaks will float to the top, sometimes coaches ride on the coat-tails of these freaks and take the credit for them, or use their success as proof that they know what they're doing, but the freaks will prosper almost no matter what, sometimes the freaks think how they did things was the only way, or the best way, and MAYBE it was, but they can't know that for sure, unless they have identical twins or clones to compare to, and that stuff went out with Nazi Germany ...

So?

Sometimes I discuss things that are challenging to many who sprint, coach sprint, or generally watch sprint.  By challenging I mean different to what they do, or did, or think should be done in the preparation of sprinters.

I don't always implement what I discuss, this blog, and the book, are to a certain extent my musings as much as any sort of a "fact" or prescription.  There isn't a "right" way to prepare sprinters, if there was, there'd be no room for improvement, everyone would be at the same level and things would stagnate, the guys with the right mix of ACTN3 would win all the time and things would be very boring.  For what it's worth I have very little scope to implement much anyway, I don't write much of the programmes for the Victorian sprint group, I did have the responsibility (overseen by Hilts) to program for most of last year's J17's, but I didn't do anything too whacky, and certainly nothing Hilts didn't approve of.  I help Hilton by riding the motorbike, carrying heavy things and generally getting underfoot, I don't lay any claim to being responsible for any part of his programme and I don't take any credit for his successes.

Martin Barras was very different to Gary West (in both incarnations), as was Charlie Walsh, as is Hilton, Sean Eadie, David Short, John Beasley, Clay Worthington and David Willmott, over the ditch Hamish Ferguson has something interesting to say which is quite challenging.  They all have different methods, different uses of track, road and gym work.  This is good - it means that hopefully different riders can have a chance to shop around to find the right coach for them.  As an assistant to Hilts I know a fair bit about his program, but not all of it and certainly I don't have his intuition or decades of experience but I am learning a lot from the old master. I've had a lot of time to spend with Sean over the last couple of years and a little bit with Clay and Shorty, I've peered under the covers of their programmes too.  We discuss, sometimes quite passionately, our ideas about training (that's what happens when a bunch of sprint coaches get together, we argue, discuss and rant, and it's great!). it's all different.  We're all trying to improve on what has been done in the past, not just repeat it because that's how it's always been done or that's what everyone else is doing.

One thing is for sure, everyone's always trying new things, because if we don't, we don't go any faster.

No fights, which was good!

Anyway .. Brian Harwood fed me a Dorothy Dixer, to which I replied, or at least the gist of my reply was :

"If a kid wants to specialise, or anyone, for that matter, let them.  Sprint, hills, TTs, whatever - let them make their own choices and try to provide pathways to support those choices."

Not everyone agrees, that's fine.  This is a big world and it would be very boring if we all agreed.  BUT we have to disagree without being disagreeable.

I'd like to thank, in particular, Rob Montheath who stepped into the club secretary role and did it for four years at Blackburn.  It's a monster job and Rob did it very well, thank you Rob.

Check this out :

http://paleo.com.au/

worth a poke around at least.