With comp season ramping up, most of us put real thought into the pre-race talk and the post-race debrief — and then the athlete hops in the car and the most influential conversation of the day happens without us. The car ride home shapes how young athletes remember a race more than anything we say at the track. So this season I've started coaching the parents, not just the athlete. At the start of the season I give them one question to ask on the drive: "What was the most fun part of today?" That's it. The results chat can wait until the athlete brings it up themselves. Why it works: it hands the debrief back to the athlete, keeps the emotional temperature down after a rough run, and after a great one it anchors the memory to the experience rather than the time on the clock. Most parents are genuinely relieved to get a script — they've been guessing. If you want to go one step further, pop the question in your pre-season parent email or the squad group chat so everyone's rowing the same way. What's your version — what do you tell (or wish you could tell) parents about the post-race car ride?

Quick one for the group while comp season builds — this one’s about the end of the rep, not the start of it. Deceleration is a skill, and it trains beautifully in about ten minutes a week. My go-to is build-and-brake: a 15m build to roughly 80%, then pull up inside 10m. Cues that earn their keep: chest tall, sink the hips, let the steps chatter — short, quick contacts rather than three big stomps. The main thing I’m watching for is braking on a straight leg; if the knee’s locked out, the ground wins. We pour most of our coaching hours into making athletes faster, and the ones who cut, evade and pull up well are usually the ones who’ve been shown how to put the brakes on. Sharper stops show up everywhere: cleaner change of direction, more confident finishes, and far fewer of those wobbly pull-ups after the line that make you wince from the fence. If you’ve got field or court sport athletes in your group as well as runners, this one pays off double — every cut starts with a stop. What’s your go-to for teaching athletes to pull up — a drill, a cue, or something you stumbled onto that just worked?

Following on from the wickets chat a few weeks back — here's the same principle applied to the very first step out of the start. When an athlete's first step skims low and the torso pops straight up, the fix I keep coming back to is a single mini hurdle placed right where step one lands. The task does the talking: to get over it, the knee has to drive up and through, the shin stays projected, and the body holds its angle a beat longer. No cue barrage required. The setup rule matters more than the hurdle itself: set it low enough that they clear it without thinking about it. If they're jumping it, it's too high — drop it until the movement changes but the effort doesn't. One cue max, then let the drill talk for a few reps before you say anything. It's the same idea as the wickets: build the constraint so the movement you want becomes the easiest option, and save your voice for what the drill can't fix. What's your go-to constraint for the first three steps out of the start?

Grand final day! Speed School updates and more

🏁 ONE RACE. FOUR MOMENTS. WHICH ONE IS COSTING YOU? This clip was filmed trackside at the World U20 Championships in Lima, Peru, and back home on Victorian tracks. The best young sprinters on the planet and the athletes we coach here all go through the same four moments in every race: 1️⃣ START: One breath. Ready now The race is won or lost before the gun. Calm body, sharp mind, one breath, and you go. 2️⃣ ACCELERATION: Run faster. Rise higher. Low and patient out of the blocks, pushing the ground behind you, rising gradually. Most juniors pop up too early and leave speed on the track. 3️⃣ PRESSURE: Fear > Fire. Every athlete feels the nerves in the call room. The good ones learn to turn that fear into fuel. 4️⃣ PURSUIT: Run fearless. Run true. Hold your form when it hurts. Relaxed face, tall hips, arms driving. No tightening up in the last 20. THIS RACE IS MINE. 🔥 👇 YOUR TURN: comment 01, 02, 03 or 04 with the phase you think is your weakest link (or your athlete's). I'll reply to every comment with one drill or cue you can use at your next session. Want it coached properly, in person or online? 🌐 www.power2adapt.coach 📞 Call Coach Al: +61 434 679 395 Every Athlete. Every Journey. Creates a Story.