Archives for July 2018

July 31, 2018

Trusting the Athlete

For coaches, the temptation to be too hands-on on race day is very real. It’s a temptation I’ve learned to avoid over the years. At USATF Junior Olympic Nationals this past weekend in Greensboro, NC, a younger coach asked me if, after all these years, I still get nervous when my athletes compete. I laughed and answered “I sure do. The day I no longer get nervous prior to an athlete’s big race is the day I need to stop coaching.” But at the same time, I don’t want to pass on any nervous energy to my athlete. I want my athlete to know that I care, that I’m in it to win it as much as he or she is, but I don’t want him or her feeling that I doubt his or her abilities to come through on the big stage. I want to exude confidence, and I want that confidence to be real.

At this year’s nationals, I had four hurdlers competing – all of whom I coach privately. And because so much of coaching is about relationship building, a coach’s emotional investment in an athlete’s success can be very intense. The more we get to know these athletes as people, and the more we find ourselves growing as individuals as a result of our relationships with our athletes, the more we care about them, and the more we want to see them succeed. read more

July 20, 2018

Hello hurdle coaches everywhere!

Coach Hector Cotto and I are pleased to announce that we will be conductiong our first-ever Team Steve Hurdle Coaches’ Clinic this coming fall.

It will take place at the same place as our first two camps for athletes – the JDL Fast Track in Winston Salem, NC, on Saturday October 13, from 9am – 4pm. At the coaches’ clinic, I will be giving hurdle coaches the opportunity to learn the methods I’ve used in coaching some of the best hurdlers to come out of the state of North Carolina over the past 20 years or so, including current 100h world record Keni Harrison. For more details and to register for the clinic, follow this link at Coach Cotto’s sprinthurdles website: https://go.sprinthurdles.com/team-steve-speed-hurdle-camp.

My goal for this clinic is for coaches to be able to coach these methods to their athletes – methods that I am convinced will lead to consistent success and significant improvement regardless of the athlete’s talent level. The concept is simple: the less effort you can put into getting over the hurdles, the more effort you can put into getting down the track. At the clinic, I will be breaking down the ways I use to make hurdling easy and efficient for the athlete. read more

July 19, 2018

Time for an Update!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post, so it’s time for an update. Since my last post, I’ve done a third Team Steve Speed & Hurdle Camp. This one – the third one – took place on the weekend of June 9-10 at Woodlawn School in Mooresville, NC. While we didn’t have as many athletes as we did at the first two camps, the quality of the work was at an all-time high. Despite the 90-degree temperatures, we were able to pack a lot of drilling, block work, and long-hurdle work into those days. Thanks to coaches Hector Cotto, Kevin  Howell, and Garrison Rountree for their invaluable assistance and instruction. There are plenty of photos from the camp, which can be found here on the hurdlesfirst facebook page.

Meanwhile, I’ve been coaching all summer long, and have four hurdlers who will be competing at the USAT Junior Olympic Nationals, which will take place less than two hours from where I live, at NC A&T University in Greensboro, NC. If you’ll be there, I’ll see you there. read more