The Fives

Speed, Strength, Skill, Stamina and Suppleness. Each of these categories need to be addressed when considering the training and periodization for athletes. In my most recent discussion with fellow coach, Mary Stoll, we discussed these five aspects. As I was reading through what Dan Pfaff had to say today I realized that I share his philosophy about coaching.

A Point of Emphasis

The point that Mary and I struck on during our conversation was how do you decide what out of the five categories gets the most attention? Obviously skill acquisition is a big one but more importantly you have to examine your athletes to determine where they are weakest. This is the easiest way to determine what your focus for each training cycle should be. Early in the year my focus will be on skill acquisition and strength/power. I then might move toward the acquisition of Stamina. Later in the year the focus of my cycle will move to Speed and Suppleness. The important thing to understand is that at no time during the year am I disregarding any one of the five different categories. I am merely changing my emphasis.

Paul Brozik - A Case Study

Earlier I blogged about learning to sprint. If we apply the principles of training each of the five categories we realize that sprint technique falls under the Skill category. I have been guilty of over looking and disregarding these different aspects as a coach and looking back I realize how important it is to include all five. For example, when discussing the explanation for Paul Broziks apparent improvement in long jump from 24' to a State and School record 25'2", Colte Haines made the comment that Paul credited his diverse training as a decathlete to his success. In the years prior Paul trained as a jumper. The difference in the volume and intensity of the workouts in previous years was substantial. Stair runs were replaced with intense interval training sessions supplimented with heavier lifts. In years prior Paul would have never run more than 150m in a workout, in the year where he experienced the dramatic increase in his long jump his workouts were often comprised of a mix of distances from 600m on down.

I can only surmise from this that Paul derived an overall increase in ability because of the increased attention to other aspects required to be a successful decathlete. It is likely that the increased attention to Strength and Stamina enabled him to jump farther. I will try to get the video of his 25'2" jump at Kansas up.