This week starts the season for all of us. I don’t know about you guys but I’m ready to start coaching. below are a few items that you might find useful.
1. I said in the last newsletter that I was going to begin a blog that chronicles my 1st year of coaching the throws at (Burlington) Central High School. Well my 1st Blog is done. If you would like to read it go to: http://itccca.com/13989/2018/01/aikens-on-throws-preparing-for-the-season/ If you like it please feel free to share it via twitter or facebook.
2. From Dan McQuaid about the A-Z Throws Clinic next Sunday 1/28.
Are you a high school thrower looking to sharpen your technique for the upcoming season? Are you a throws coach looking to pick up some tips on helping your athletes sharpen their technique?
Either way, I can’t think of a better place to be on Sunday, January 28th than Wheaton North High School, new home to the A-Z Throws Clinic.
Athletes will receive expert instruction in the shot put (glide or rotational) and discus.
And unlike many throws clinics where each instructor is responsible for a couple dozen athletes, the A-Z features small group instruction. We have 15 excellent coaches with many years of experience (Jim Aikens, for example, began his stellar career teaching the rotational technique to Union soldiers using cannonballs) so every athlete will get plenty of individual attention from a knowledgeable professional.
Follow this link for info about the clinic schedule and registration.
3. All the notes from the ITCCCA Clinic are up and available on the ITCCCA Website. This is a good resource I go back to quite often.
Well, this past weekend was another successful ITCCCA Clinic. I enjoyed hearing the speakers and getting some new things to think about. If you haven’t yet check out the speakers notes go to http://itccca.com/ . I enjoyed the speakers but what I really enjoyed was seeing many of my coaching brethren and meeting new coaches. I wish I would have had more time to talk with everyone, that’s my favorite part of the clinic. The other great thing about the clinic is that it signals the beginning of the 2018 track season!!!!
A COUPLE OF ITEMS TO NOTE:
A-Z Throws Clinic at Wheaton North High School on Sunday January, 28th from 9 am to 1:30 pm. This is a great opportunity for Athletes and coaches. It is a Learn-By-Doing meet where your athletes will get a lot of throws and personalized coaching. The ratio is typically 1 coach to 5 athletes and we have coaches set aside to help explain drills and concepts to visiting coaches. It’s a great deal for $50 in advance, $60 the day of the event if spots are left. to sign up go to: http://itccca.com/13614/2017/11/a-z-throws-clinic-january-28-at-wheaton-north-high-school/
Illinois Throws Association website, you may want to check out the Illinois Throws Association website. Roger Einbecker ( Waubonsie Valley) has done a great job compiling the “All Time Top Throws” in the state of Illinois. There are clinic and education opportunities also presented on this site as well as Job Postings for throws coaches. We have also started a twitter account associated with the website, @illinois_throws if your on twitter please follow us. The entire purpose of the site and the twitter is to help promote the throws in the state of Illinois. Please contact me if you have an event yo want to promote or some other way to promote throws in Illinois.
Look for my Blog As many of you know I have retired from teaching & coaching at Fremd H.S. in Palatine, IL. I will be coaching much closer to home this year at Burlington Central High School. I am looking forward to working with a great set of coaches that are committed to excellence. The thing is they don’t exactly have a great throwing tradition there. I am excited about trying to develop one at the school and have received a lot of support form everyone at the school. The reason I tell you this is that I have been asked about doing a blog regarding the trials & tribulations of developing a throws program at a new school. I plan on putting up my workouts, technique topics, organization and anything else that you as a coach might find useful. In fact If any of you attended my presentation at the past ITCCCA clinic what I presented was my yearly plan for coaching my new set of throwers. You will be able to follow my blog through ITCCCA.COM.
USA Weightlifting High School Combine Program. This is going to be a really cool event for your kids. It takes place at West Aurora High School Field house on Saturday February 3rd, 2018 from 9 am to 5 pm. Both male and female athletes get to perform a timed 30m sprints, vertical jumps, standing broad jumps, power cleans and overhead squats. This event is going to be sweet! go to http://www.krausathleticdevelopment.com/ for details.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope it was helpful.
As Spock that great Vulcan thrower used to say, “Live Long & Throw Far“
12-25 year olds, join us at West Aurora High School (1201 West New York Street, Aurora, IL 60506) February 3rd, 2018 when USA Weightlifting and Rogue Fitness put on a weightlifting specific combine. Above are the times and minors must be accompanied by an adult. The purpose – to identify young lifters in the United States and to create awareness of Olympic weightlifting as a sport in high schools and colleges. If you have questions, please call Suzy Sanchez (contact information is within the above flyer) or call/text Tom Kraus @ 630-772-0194.
Grand Valley State Throws & Weight training Clinic & Indoor National Discus Competition. December 16th & 17th
Grand Valley State Track & Field Camps
Elite Weight Training Seminar
Olympic Weight Lifting, Triphasic Training and Special Strength applications from USA Weight Lifting Coach Dane Miller, World Class Hammer Thrower Sean Donnelly and Olympic Shot Putter Justin Rodhe.
December 16th
Who: High School, College, Post Collegiate Athletes & Coaches Check-In: 2:45 PM Time: 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM Cost: $150 Location: Odie Weight Room/Football Stadium Limited Spots Available: First Come, First Serve.
Coaches Welcome to Register as well.
Registration inculdes 1 shirt per person and 1 meal per day.
Group Rates (3+) Available, Contact Coach Denard at denards@gvsu.edu
Grand Valley State Track & Field Camps
BIG Throws AM Clinic
The Third Annual GVSU BIG Throws Clinic will feature the same great lineup which brought in over 130 attendees a year ago; the camp will also feature an elite and open discus competition. Last year this Competition feature 2 Olympians, the NCAA Record Holder and the NACAC Champion among many other Olympic Trials/USA Competitors, NCAA All-Americans and High School State Champions from across the Midwest.
Throws will be coached By GVSU Throws Coach Sean Denard, Olympic Shot Putter Justin Rodhe, USA 3rdPlace Finisher in the Hammer and Weight Throw Sean Donnelly and Garage Strength/USA Junior Weight Lifting Coach Dane Miller, among others.
AM Clinic includes 2 one hour throwing sessions and 2 one hour classroom sessions. Events in all throwing sessions are athletes choice
December 17th
Check-In:7:30 AM – 8:00 AM Time:8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Cost: $100 Location: Kelly Family Sports Center Limited Spots Available: First Come, First Serve.
Coaches welcome to register as well.
It won’t be long until the track season starts and I wanted to let you guys know about the Throws presenters at the ITCCCA Clinic on January 5th & 6th. Pre registration ends December 29th, register before you go on holiday break!
Gia Lewis-Smallwood American Record Holder in the Discus
Olympian Gia Lewis-Smallwood is the current American record holder in the discus with a throw of 226 feet 11 inches. She is also the reigning four-time U.S. Champion in the discus. This Olympian has earned berths on four Team USA World Championship teams (Daegu, South Korea 2011, Moscow, Russia 2013, Beijing, China 2015, and London, England 2017). Gia also competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games. Unfortunately a serious injury kept her from competing in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. She also competed in the 2015 Pan-Am Games where she earned a bronze medal. We are very honored to have Gia come share her experiences and expertise with us.
Gia’s talks are titled: *Reflections of a Professional Discus Thrower
*Let’s have a Discus Discussion
Erik Johnson from ARETE THROWS NATION
Coach Johnson was an NCAA All American and a 1996 Olympic Trials Finalist in the discus. Coach Johnson has continued to compete and coach earning a Bronze medal in the 2011 World Masters Championship. Erik Johnson competed at UCLA and learned his trade under legendary coach Art Venegas. Coach Johnson is a Throws & Strength Coach Specialist, and owner of the #1 Throws Center in Orange County, CA and Phoenix, AZ- ARETE THROWS NATION. Coach Johnson has been coaching for over 20 years and during that time has successfully developed hundreds of throwers to achieve their goals: he has also coached over 88 athletes to winning League, Division, State, and National Championships, and currently coaches pro thrower, Jason Harrell, who just placed 4th at the 2016 Olympic Trials and Chase Ealey US women’s shot put.. Coach has developed the Throwing Chain Reaction™ (TCR) system of teaching the throws which involves what he calls the “Six Pillars of the Throw”. This system breaks the throws down to workable and teachable units which has proven to be very successful for Coach Johnson and hundreds of coaches around the world.
Erik talks are titled: *Three keys to Unlocking Glide Shot Potential
*Using the TCR™ for a 17 Foot Rotational Shot Put PR
*The Art of Drill Prescription & Progressions
*How the Posture Dictates the Throw: Identifying obvious Variables that prohibit improvement and big throws!
Samantha Serrano
Coach Serrano is a product of the Hoffman High School Throws machine under legendary coach Keith Peak, and later under Mary Wallace at Illinois State University where she was an All-American in the weight throw in 2000. She is a former ISU school record holder in the shot, hammer, and weight throws, and Missouri Valley Conference champion in the shotput and weight throws. This Coach Serrano’s 16th year coaching track and field at Conant High School. Her athletes have 22 state qualifying performances resulting in 7 state medals.
Coach Serrano is a big believer in muscle memory skill drills that help build specific strength for individual events. Over time, her coaching has evolved from coaching my student-athletes from part-to whole, and now coaching whole to-part. She teaches the kids what the major movements are first (what the finished product will look like), and then break down the movements into segmented skill drills to help build specific strength to improve on the whole.
Samantha’s talk is titled: Specific Strength Skills Drills for the H.S. Thrower
Jim Aikens
Coach Aikens has been coaching the throws since 1984. He has been the head coach at William Fremd High School in Palatine, Illinois since 1990. During this time Jim’s throwers have won four state championships and 16 other state medals. Jim has served as the director of Junior Athletics for USA Track & Field in the state of Illinois and holds USA Track & Field Level 1 and Level 2 certification. He is a Level One USATF Lead Instructor and is a USATF Nationally Certified Official in the throws. He has also served as President for the Illinois Track and Cross-Country Coaches Association and is a member of their Hall of Fame. Jim is currently the Illinois representative for the National Throws Coaches Association. Many of his throwers have earned conference, sectional, state, and national honors. Coach Aikens teams have won eight conference championships, sectional championships, and four top 8 finishes at the Illinois state meet. Coach Aikens has published several articles about the Throws and training for the throws and is a much sought after speaking clinician. Jim is also the author of the Championship Video Throws series.
Jim’s talk is titled: Planning & Organizing your Throws Practices for Beginning Coaches
A few years ago, I had a quick, tough, undersized (5’9″, 160 lbs) thrower named Branden Miller. I was very proud of Branden when he threw 47′ with the 12 lb shot and 157′ with the 1.6k discus his senior year of high school. After all, he was undersized.
He then moved on to Carthage College and in four years of throwing for Jeff Rebholz he reached 54’7″ with the 16 lb shot, 163′ with the 2k disc, 189′ with the hammer, and 168′ with the javelin. Apparently Jeff did not notice that Branden was too small to throw those distances.
Jeff moved on to Towson University last fall, and he is currently working on converting one of his glide shot putters to the rotational style.
On August 3rd, at 6:00pm central time, he will share his strategy for helping that athlete develop solid rotational technique.
This webinar is free. Jeff will field questions throughout.
I invite you to set aside the time to attend. Jeff is a great young coach, and anyone who trains rotational putters at any level will benefit from interacting with him.
Anyone watching the NCAA championships last weekend could not be blamed for thinking that glide shot putting in this country has gone the way of the western roll high jump technique.
Never heard of the western roll? My point exactly.
It is extinct, like the dodo bird.
But glide shot technique is not going anywhere. It is still be a very effective technique for high school putters, and for certain kids it is absolutely the best technique.
If you are interested in coaching the glide effectively, I invite you to sign up for a free webinar that I will be holding on Sunday, June 25th at 4:00 central time. You can register for the webinar here:
In that webinar, I will go over the fundamentals of effective gliding and explain a drill sequence that I have developed during my 25 years of coaching the throws at Wheaton North High School.
This will be a live presentation lasting approximately one hour, and attendees will be able to submit questions throughout.
If you have any questions about how this whole thing will work, please contact me at daniel.mcquaid@cusd200.org
I trust you had a good Christmas & New Year’s. As we both know the season will be here soon. I wanted to remind you we are having the A-Z Throwers Clinic at Harper College in Palatine, IL. On Sunday, January 22nd from 9 am to 3 pm. We again have a great coach to thrower ratio and some amazing coaches coming to help work the clinic. Please talk to your throwers and have them sign up early. (coaches can also come to the clinic)
1.Illinois Track & Cross Country Coaches Association clinic (ITCCCA) on January 13th in the PM & January 14th.Mike Turk from University of Illinois & Gia Smallwood (US American record holder in the discus) are featured speakers Friday night along with Matt Martin from Edwardsville. On Saturday Mac Wilkins is doing sessions on discus, shot and training. Matt is also speaking again on Saturday. Its going to be a great clinic with a lot of good info. For more information go to: http://itccca.com/january-clinic/
2. Throws Coaches & Athletes, many of you have been asking me about this years A-Z Clinic. The A-Z Throwers Learn-By-Doing clinic has been going strong for well over a decade now. Sunday January 22nd from 9 – 3 pm is when this year’s edition will take place at Harper College in Palatine, IL. We look forward to seeing you and your throwers there. As always we have a very low athlete to coach ratio (usually 4 athletes to 1 coach). Some of the best throws coaches in Illinois are coming to help work the clinic this year. Also, this year we have online registration which should make signing up for the clinic much easier. https://quikpayasp.com/harpercollege/commerce_manager/payer.do?orderType=WHP%20-%20Throwers%20ClinicsSee the attached flyer for complete information (athletes must fill out the waiver and bring it with them). Please spread the word.
4. This weekend is the “Gold Medal Throwers Camp” sponsored by the National Throws Coaches Association. This camp is held in Portage, Indiana at Portage high school’s excellent indoor facility. There are some great coaches working this clinic as well. This clinic is for athletes and coaches. For more information go to:http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07edhkuvb40284aa2a&llr=jtmbowbab
Promoting the education and development of throwers and coaches in Illinois
