Too much shoe not enough skin.Last night on ABC Evening news there was an interesting piece on barefoot running. It featured biomechanics expert Dr Irene Davis of the University of Delaware. The thesis of the program that as I interpreted it was that that running shoes have gotten too high tech. They have taken away form the feel for the ground. They have shut down the muscles of the foot by not a [...]

I just finished an excellent book that I highly recommend, Running – Biomechanics and Exercise Physiology Applied in Practice by Frans Bosch and Ronald Klomp for further information go to http://www.elsevierhealth.com. I will talk more about the book in another post.The following quote from their book substantiates the negative effect of the use of the hamstring curl. Bosch and Klomp state: “ [...]

Baton Rouge, LA- Today was Smoot's last split session. The main objectives today were to continue technical development of acceleration skills, determine Smoot's acceleration curve, and work on power clean technique. Here's what I had Smoot do for the first session: Short Warmup ADynamic Flexibility: MerrillSprint Development: Pai Mei (2 x 30m)Hurdle Mobility: Skill (1 x 8H)Biomechanical Analys [...]

Baton Rouge, LA- Smoot's flight arrived in to N.O. this morning andafter a quick look around the town that made Fat Tuesday famous, weheaded back to Baton Rouge. After settling in, we headed out to thetrack for some training and testing. I took Smoot through my warmupprotocol and then ran him through a couple more tests. Because of someequipment limitations in the testing that was done earlier in [...]

Harrisonburg, VA- Nothing much to report here. As I mentioned in the previous entry I wanted Smoot to do a second round on some of the tests so I could get a better idea of what he was capable of. If logistically possible, I like to do quite a few tests, sometimes even repeating the same tests, so I am able to get both accurate and reliable test results that reflect what the athlete's capabilitie [...]

Harrisonburg, VA- I was in Harrisonburg to teach at the Level 2 & 3USATF Coaches Education schools and it occured to me that Smoot livedrelatively close. I asked him to come down to James Madison Universitywhere the school was being held so that we could do some pre-testingbefore he visited Baton Rouge. With all of my clients, I like to dosome pre-testing to determine their strengths and weaknesse [...]

Six Months Ago...Smoot Carter contacted my company, Human Performance Consulting about6 months ago requesting a biomechanical analysis of his runningmechanics. While this is a fairly common request, what made hissituation unique was the fact that he was a baseball player who had agenuine interest in speed development and training. Most of our clientsseeking a sprint analysis are track and field at [...]

Harrisonburg, VA-I leave for this year's Annual USATF Coaches Education school tomorrow. I'll beteaching the Level 1 and 2 biomechanics which is something I always lookforward to. What I'm really excited about though is this year's Level 3 speakerlineup. For those unfamiliar with the USATF's Coaches Education program, itcurrently exists as a 3-tier system with Level 1 and 2 being the track an [...]

Carson, CA- Another great meet. This is how track and field needsto be in the United States if it's ever going to take off.Felix blazing the 200mThe meet was well marketed and supported. The athlete's andathlete support were treated like celebrities and the accommodationswere very nice. The meet organization was top-notch and theperformances were great too. Jeremy Wariner looked overpowering in [...]