The Track and Field Performance Podcast

Australia's lead High Jump coach Alex Stewart has many impressive accolades on his resume, he was the 2018 National Coach of the Year after guiding Brandon Starc to an Oceania Record of 2.36m, but perhaps his most impressive accomplishment was having two athletes (one male, one female) in the Olympic finals -- both in the High Jump. The road to the Olympics is often bumpy; Alex shares how the...

British Athletics Pole Vault coach "Scott Simpson" speaks about the factors he considers when outlining his training throughout the year. Scott provides his stable yet individualized program for Olympians like Holly Bradshaw and Harry Coppell. Scott illustrates how he assesses his athletes' current physical and technical abilities. Doing so allows him to identify the area that needs...

Coach of Irelands fastest female, Phil Healy, and 2019 All-Ireland Hurling Champions, Tipperary; Shane McCormack has 20 years of coaching experience and is an IAAF Level 4 accredited sprints and hurdles coach. Shane came on the podcast to discuss all of the moving parts within his system that has seen Phil Healy go from an International caliber athlete to World Class. Phil competed in three separa...

Track and Field coach and 2x Olympic Shot Putter Amin Nikfar is the current Throws coach at UNC-Chapel Hill. The reason I say "Track and Field coach" is because, throughout this episode, he highlights the knowledge and skills he has gained from coaching a multitude of events. A common debate is whether being an elite athlete makes a  good coach; it is a complex question however, Amin wei...

Canada's own Glenn Smith sat down with me to explain pelvic and t-spine movement as it relates to efficient upright sprint mechanics.  Coach Smith details how he observes and cues the athlete to move 'their' model in the right direction. This concept also reigns true in the long jump; the ability to apply force in the run can dictate some of the common errors at takeoff.  There is a...

Episode 12 was with throws, youth development, and coach education expert Derek Evely. Derek boasts (although you won't hear it from him) an impressive resume comprising of leadership roles in major governing bodies and global medalists in the hammer throw.  This discussion had a lot of topics showing just how much knowledge Derek has. The timestamps provided are something I intend to do from...

LSU Jumps Coach and USTFCCCA course instructor Todd Lane came on the podcast and dove deep into his prerequisites for elite high jumping: Approach, Take-off, In-Flight, and Plyometrics. More importantly, Coach Lane articulated the reality of coaching -- beyond programming. He speaks about JuVaughn Harrison's rise and the difficulties they've encountered along the way. In conjunction with...

With over 30 years of coaching experience, Benke Blomkvist has facilitated the success of household names such as Susanna Kallur and Andrew Pozzi. In this episode, he provides a well-articulated overview of his training philosophy.  Benke emphasizes the various considerations he makes daily to develop the qualities to become an elite hurdler.   It is little wonder why British athletics sourced his...

The Olympic Training Center at Chula Vista, California has been home to the best field event athletes in the US for over a decade. The host of medals and all-time best performances in the jumps has been in no short part down to the work of coach Jeremy Fischer.  After transitioning from the collegiate system to post-collegiate coaching, he realized that this setup allowed him to do what he loved b...

Furman College is widely known as one of the NCAA's dynasties for distance running. There is little wonder why that is when you have coaches as knowledgeable and passionate as Coach Chris Neal.  In this episode, Coach Neal outlines his philosophy on how he enables his athletes to optimize their performance in the long term - in long-distance running events, Support the show

Sport Ireland Institute's David Tobin conveys his approach to improving athlete's nutrition - for the benefit of their performance.  There is plenty of takeaways and scope that athletes and coaches can use to address this area to a better standard. David is a firm believer in creating sustainable habits that will last well beyond the coaching process.  Some topics include: -Athlete to Pe...

I was able to sit down with one of Britain's top triple jumpers and Managing Director of RightTracks Sports Jonathan Ilori. The former Mizzou Graduate and NCAA All-American used his experience in the NCAA to create a service that prides itself on putting athletes - on the right track. We discussed the reality/expectations of becoming an NCAA athlete as well as the misconceptions about the sys...

Experienced Sports Psychologist, Professor, and Athletics coach Dr. Cliff Mallett provides a wealth of knowledge and experience regarding athletes mental preparation. Cliff articulates his journey as a professional; emphasizing the importance of self-regulation and adopting a process-oriented approach to sports performance. Topics: -Belief Systems -Neuropsychology  -Self-Regulation -Process vs Out...

Sprint training and coaching enthusiast David Maris leverages his unique set of experiences both as an athlete, coach, and life-long learner to explore a variety of factors in prescribing sprint training.  I attempted to contribute what I had learned from having the luxury of being surrounded by well-educated and accomplished coaches. These discussions and observations allowed me to convey what co...

Jumps specialist Nick Newman: jumps and multi's coach at USC provides his philosophy and considerations for the prescription of strength training. Nick discusses the role of an enlarged impulse for all athletes and how it can complement the key components to jumping performance. Outside of USC, he works with elite-level jumpers in various parts of the world. He also is working on his second b...

Arizona State's Jumps and Multi's coach John Ellis describes how he interacts and builds relationships to get the best out of his athletes. John shares his experience at Southern Mississippi; his work there brought three first-team all-Americans during the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships back to Hattiesburg. John was also awarded southern region coach of the year by USTFC...

Bob outlines how he implements resisted sprints training for sprinters and jumpers at Loyola University Chicago. He describes the philosophies he has developed that allow him to cleverly organize different elements that encompass better-sprinting performance such as intensity, data feedback, and the technical model.  Bob is an avid writer for leading athletic performance websites such as Simplifas...