- John Cortese

Just as I thought there was absolutely no hope for me in athletics, it all changed as I entered middle school. I was a 12 year old kid and just entering the time we all know and love known as puberty. All of a sudden I got taller, noticed some muscles growing, and other changes probably not appropriate to mention for this blog haha. I can remember absolutely LOVING P.E. when most of the kids would despise it or simply not dress up and take the poor grade. I was very competitive and took most of the activities as a challenge. I was not the fastest sprinter around (so I thought) but could run a pretty decent mile for a 12 year old. I think my best time at that age was 6:45 or so, and was able to do 10 pull ups, 25-30 push ups, climb rope, etc. All from years of playing on the playground, climbing trees, jumping up and off of objects, etc. Lesson #1- BE ACTIVE AS A YOUNG CHILD. The benefits of simply playing are unparalleled and am so glad I am not a young kid growing up in this day where playing video games is cooler than playing outside for a few hours.

There were various school sports offered for us to participate in, including soccer, basketball, and track and field. Soccer and basketball did not appeal to me, so I went with track. I had never ran track before, so the first week was simply trying out every event to see what we liked best. I can remember to this day trying out the long jump. I sprinted down the runway as fast as I could and jumped. The head coach at the time, Mrs. Neuman, commented to me “I see we have another sprinter!” And ever since then, I didn’t look back. All I needed was that one person to believe in me and have the confidence in my abilities.

Both my twin brother and I ended up being some of the fastest kids on the team, even coming close to beating the 8th graders (that was a BIG deal). He ended up being an excellent 100/200 sprinter, winning every race that year, winning the league championship 100m and 200m dash (I think there were 10 schools in our league) and breaking the school record in the 7th grade 100m and 200m dash, both which I still think stand today 12 years later. I ended up placing 4th in the 200m league championship meet and 5th in the 100m league championship. We also took the 7th grade 4x100m and 4x400m relays that year; needless to say, this was something I was not used to – winning!

8th grade was a different story. I started to enjoy working out, and my parents bought us some equipment for the garage to work out with; not that we had any idea what we were doing, but it was still fun to compete with each other. Most of the time a typical “workout” consisted of curls, bench press, leg extensions, and push ups and pull ups. All other forms of working out consisted of P.E. at school or goofing around with friends.

8th grade was the first year I was allowed to play football, and that was an experience in itself. I don’t remember much from that year, but I know it was a tough one. Most of the kids on the team had played for years, but all I had going for me was that I was faster than most of them (FINALLY).  I think we won 1 game that season. So much for winning there haha, but the 8th grade track season would be a MUCH different story.

I ended up switching over to the 200m and 400m dash; I never lost 1 400m race that season and even broke the school record 3 or 4 times, including winning the league championship 400m dash in a time of 56.5 seconds and placing 3rd in the 200m dash in a time of 25.2 seconds. My brother went on to win the 200m dash again and remained undefeated for 2 years in the event, again breaking the 8th grade boys 200m record and placed 2nd in the 100m dash in a photo finish. We also broke the school and league record in the 4x400m relay and broke the school record in the 4x100m relay.

Needless to say, that was a very very successful year of athletics for me and my brother. This was a great time for me, and finally started to feel like I found a home with football and track.

Stay tuned for Part 4 in the next few days! This is ONLY the beginning of a wild ride!

See ya,

John Cortese BS, YFS

A fast  and powerful sprint start is essential for all athletes who hope to run a faster 40 yard dash, steal more bases, or win a state championship sprint race. Most team sport athletes are tested in a distance over 30-60 yards, so you would bet that training them to get very good at sprint starts would be top priority… Right?

I would hope so! By simply following a few simple cues, learning how to get set up properly, feeling and seeing how it’s like to be in the right start position, and a couple other cues, you’ll be on your way to faster sprints in no time.

Watch the video below to see a great sprint start from Asafa Powell, one of the fastest men on the planet today who shows great starting mechanics.

Now, after watching that, a couple things stand out to me. I’ll make it as simple as possible as to not bore ya to tears with biomechanics and stuff like that, but here we go.

-He fires out forward from his start, not up. Try to pause the video exactly at 45 seconds and notice his body is in a straight line from his rear leg all the way to his head. This is the full extension of the rear leg we want.

-He’s very aggressive with his arm drive. Coming out of a sprint start, think quick and fast with the lead arm (same side as front leg in a sprint start).

-The rear leg clears fast and low. In otherwords, the rear foot doesn’t need to be pulled up aggressively; just focus on fast and low clearance to the track while using aggressive arm drive.. Which leads me to my next point..

-Stay relaxed! The start should be very aggressive, but the body operates best and most efficiently at 9/10th’s effort. Trying to muscle out a sprint will exert energy quickly and cause you to tighten up; which will cause you to lose sprint form and mobility, and possibly costing you a slower time or losing an important race. To quote the great sprint coach Bud Winter “Go Faster, but Run Looser”. Maintain composure and remain relaxed; let the hands, jaw, and face remain relaxed and loose. Once you tighten up, the race might as well be over..

Try these out next time you run some sprints!

See ya,

John Cortese