Dennis Mitchell gave a presentation at the VS Athletics clinic on a rest day during the US Olympic trials. The presentation was filmed, but I don’t know when the film will be available. Here are a few of the topics he discussed.
1. Athlete should be comfortable in the blocks.
2. Hands should be very quick out of the blocks.
3. Position of the hips are important during the first 8-10 steps.
4. They filmed every sprint during practice this year.
5. Integrated electronic timing into their training this year.
Regarding electronic timing, I have been corresponding with approximately fifty elite track and field coaches and athletes for the past year who have added electronic timing to their training, including sprints, hurdles, and jumps. There are two major approaches to who gets the timing data: a) coach keeps all the times and may share some information with the athlete, and b) athlete has immediate access to all the times. Mitchell has been using the latter approach.
Best,
Christopher