A x 100m Relays for School and Club pen sucny Danis the Athletics Director of Westfields Sports in Sydney's South West which is Australia’s first sports school. In 2008 Westfields was awarded the ‘Sport and Youth Trophy’ by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) for its contribution to the Olympic Games, No institution in Australia had ever won this award and Westfields was honoured for developing 10 Olympians since the ‘sports school was opened in 1990. Dan has coached numerous national champions and a handful of international athletes in his 38 years at the school. Boasting a small but successful senior athletics club administered by the schoo!, current elfte athletes include Dani Samuels, Fabrice Lapierre, Hayley Butler, Matt Outzen, Kurt Jenner and Daniel Small — ail of whom have represented ‘Australa). Dan has extensive experience in coaching and managing relay teams to state and national level and presents the following insight into the relays at school and club level. From the outset | have to be honest and admit that | both love and hate relays. Love, for the obvious reasons that relays often bring out performances way above expectations of athletes and they offer team values which are not otherwise common in a sport of individual pursuits. Hate, because it is often impossible to get all your team together at any one time for ‘raining — “Johnny is away sick today”, “Sally strained her calf at training lastnight”, or *Jason is on detention”. itis indeed a rare occasion all will be available when training is called Then on race day there will be the inevitable injury, lines or family issue and a last minute replacement is required. Or the worst scenario, when you have to withdraw the team on race day because less than four are available. So as many times as the above scenarios have happened to me over the years, nevertheless the ‘love’ still outweighs the ‘hate’ and successful relay teams are amongst my fondest memories. Naming the squad can often cause controversy. But not as much as athletes being relegated to reserve just before race day. We all know how this can create heartache even at the top of our sport. Many an athlete and their family members have paid a fortune to travel overseas to be part ofthe national team only to find on the day they are not running. This will ‘sometimes occur when it is apparent that a reserve member of the squad is running faster 100m times. Arguably this may be appropriate at such levels, but | overcome this problem by keeping the team ‘as is’ from time of selection until race day. The team is selected intially rom best legal 100m times leading up to selection with priority given to times performed most recently. Once the top four are named they are only replaced if injured or otherwise unavailable. My reasoning is simple: sure, the reserve may be running faster times after selection but one has to remember that relays often bring out super performances from those who are not necessarily the quickest. Besides | am a firm believer in athletics being an objective sport where athletes are selected on performance, and if the members of the team know what the selection criteria is, then team unity is best served by the stability of the team remaining unchanged as opposed to someone making a subjective decision at the last minute. The reserve knows they are on standby and will only run if the there is an issue. All team members know this and there is no need for team members “talking behind each other's backs” and all the other lobbying and intrigue that can otherwise take place when a coach/manager employs subjectivity Ey ar Sse ‘are best determined by the running characteristics of the athletes and not their 100m times (as is sometimes the case with inexperienced coaches). Specifically, the 2nd and 3rd legs are the longest with a maximum of 130m to run as measured from the beginning of the acceleration zone to the end of the next exchange zone. The 1st leg Is the shortest with a maximum of 110m to run, while the 4th leg is next with a set distance of 120m from the beginning of the acceleration zone to the finish line. Therefore 2nd and 3rd legs are suited to athletes who can hold their speed over distances longer than 100m (typically suited to 200m runners). However the 3rd leg is on the bend so this position will usually go to your better bend runner. The 4th leg is next longest and whilst it suits a pure 100m sprinter some consideration should be given to its length of 120m. The ‘st leg must be good out of Modern Pthlete + Cone Vol So Mo» Oe 2012the blocks and is also suited to a pure 100m sprinter, but once ‘again bend running is crucial The above variables are typically the Key factors that will determine athlete positioning. There is no doubt one coach may come up with a different outcome to another coach given the same choice of athletes. This will sometimes occur where characteristics of athletes are similar. For example some athletes are known to run better from behind (catch-up), while ‘others are knovin to run better while in front and others will produce amazing efforts with the finish line insight, There is ‘one other variable | often consider that you won't find in any ‘manual. Ifyou are in a situation where one ofthe legs s injured ‘and you need to replace them with a runner not so familiar with the team, you might want to consider placing them in the ‘st or 4th leg, even if it means moving one of the regulars to the vacant position. My reasoning is if the substitute runner is somewhat nervous or unsure, itis best placing them 1st or 4th because those legs technically carry less responsibility. Silly you might say? Well consider this; 1st leg only gives the baton and 4th leg only receives the baton, whilst 2nd or 3rd have to both give and receive the baton, meaning the chances of making an error are literally halved. At school and club level | find this tactic works very well in relieving the lesser experienced substitute of too many responsibilities, CWC Even though there are three acceptable methods of exchanging the baton from incoming to outgoing runners, itis generally accepted that only one of them is the most efficient and safest. The upward pass is rarely used anymore asithas the following issues. Firstly the outgoing runner recelves the wrong end of the baton and even ifthe outgoing runner's hand positioning is altered to receive the correct end of the baton, the result is an ‘awkward positioning ofthe hand which is difficult to maintain, However the worst aspectis the risk ofthe baton being kicked by the swinging leg ofthe outgoing runner because during the upward swing of the baton it comes from a lovr position and ‘swings through the space of the outgoing runners leg coming through the ‘recovery position’ ‘The downward pass was the next best option and it avoided the risk of kicking the baton. However because the outgoing runner's hand is low and the baton is traversing from a high to low position during the handover there was a tendency to swing and miss the target. ‘The push pass became a logical evolution from the downward pass. The difference being the baton is pushed forward into a highly positioned hand of the outgoing runner at shoulder height (with thumb pointing down) and at right angles to the lane but slightly backwards. The baton is pushed into the hand with the baton vertical during the exchange. This is the most ‘commonly used and most efficient method. The incoming runner should be fully conscious of and well rehearsed in the following responsibilities: 1. Run on the correct side of the lane: 1st and 3rd leg on the left (inside of lane) and 2nd and 4th on the right (outside of lane). Called ‘lane discipline’, this allows for the baton ‘to remain in the centre of the lane during the exchange and avoids collision between the incoming and outgoing runners. 2. Be aware of the lane markings and exchange zone, and ‘accordingly be prepared to call out an emergency code if it is apparent the outgoing runner has mistimed the take-off and there is risk of overrunning the exchange zone. 3. Call for the outgoing runner to raise the hand for the exchange. 4, Race the outgoing runner through the exchange zone. 5. Stay in lane until all traffic has passed, ‘The incoming runner should be fully conscious of and well rehearsed in the following responsibilities: 1, Place the check mark (supolied tape) and clear the lane of previously used check marks. 2. Stand in waiting on the correct side of the lane: rd leg ‘on the left (inside of lane) and 2nd and 4th on the right {outside of lane). 3. Remain calm and eyes focused on your incoming runner only. Be conscious of where your incoming runner is in ‘elation to the check mark. As the incoming runner reaches the check mark take off immediately and accelerate comfortably looking forwards. 4, Try to run awray from the incoming runner (they will catch you providing no errors have occurred). 5. Raise the hand into the exchange position as soon as the incoming runner calls. The call code should be unique to your team (not “hand” as most teams wil use this and the outgoing runner may be cued by an incoming runner from another team) The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th runners have the responsibilty of ‘measuring out the point at which the check mark tape will be placed. The most commonly used method is to ‘heel-to-toe’ step out the distance from the beginning of the acceleration zone. About 26 steps will work for most athletes. This can be adjusted according to the two individual runners exchanging the baton. The 2nd and 4th runners should place the tape on the inner side of the lane (left) and the 3rd runner should placethe tape on the outer side of the lane (right). This allows the ‘outgoing runner to spot the tape without turning their body too far. The 26 step method allows the baton to be exchanged just past the centre of the 20 metre exchange zone. If the outgoing runner receives it too early then simply add an extra step to 27 of 28. If the baton is received too late then reduce by one step to 25 or 24. It should be noted the above check mark setting works for well trained teams where the outgoing runner takes off vigorously. In the case of lesser experienced teams or teams where training opportunities are limited, | personally will use ‘a modified version. With my year 7 teams (12-13 year olds) | ‘get the outgoing runner to stand approximately in the centre ‘of the acceleration zone (slightly closer to the exchange zone ‘than the acceleration line). They find this spot by walking normal steps between beginning of exchange zone to the acceleration line; it usually takes about 12 walking steps. They halve the number of steps and walk back and then place their tape on the track to mark the spot where they will stand. The outgoing runner will now use the acceleration line as the check mark, This works well for novice teams whose runners are less than dynamic and the exchange wil still be just past the centre of the exchange zone. eT SLES ‘Some of the training drills | ike include: ‘© The usual practice changes from 1stto 2nd, 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th, However itis important to occasionally make the runners swap positions and get used to the possibility the team may need to be changed on the day of competition. Exchanging ‘st to 2nd alongside 3rd to 4th in adjacent lanes. This has the effect of running half of your relay ‘team against the other half simulating exchanges under pressure ‘© Hand-offs are @ good way to warm up. Give the team a baton and simulate changing as they jog around the track, Each runner is positioned two arm lengths from each other in single file, staggered left and right of each other and the baton is passed from back to front using the correct assigned calling code (usually their name). ‘© Outgoing runner standing with wrong foot forward. 2nd and 4th should have right foot forward and 3rd should have left foot forward. This prevents the body from having to over-twist to see the incoming runner and check mark © Outgoing runner taking off too soon. Overcome by regular ccheck mark practice. ‘© Outgoing runner looking back after take off. Must learn to ‘ust the incoming runner will catch them and once again this overcome by practice. 10 Incoming runner tempted to call to the outgoing runner when to take off. This is singularly the most misused aspect ‘amongst inexperienced teams. The simple logic behind this error is as follows: the incoming runner is sprinting at full speed and is not capable of making an accurate judgement with ‘their view of everything a blur as it flashes past them’ and therefore unable to spot the check mark or even judge the closing distance between them and the outgoing runner. The outgoing runner is stationary and watching, and therefore in a better position to make the Judgement of when to take off. The solution is to insist ‘the incoming runner has only one verbal command to raise the hand (or the emergency code). 2nd leg running out of their lane after the exchange. This occurs particularly where teams are allocated inside lanes and the 2nd runner has to follow the lane which unexpectedly curves to the left during or after the exchange, ‘at leg runner on the blocks assuming the baton may not touch the track in front of the starting line. This rule was abolished by the IAAF back in the early 90's but Is stil ‘thought by many to be in use, Have you ever tried to 90 into the set position and keep the baton off the ground. tis ‘almost impossible and was an absurd rule in its day. Incoming runner reaching and pointing the baton horizontally forward, This has the effect of ‘stabbing the hand’ of the outgoing runner. It should be reinforced that ‘the change is a push (not a reach) and the call for the outgoing runner to raise the hand is only executed when the free space is correct (about 2 metres). Make sure the baton is pushed vertically into the hand. 2nd leg runner not being aware of the curve towards the fend of their run. Particularly in outer lanes the outgoing runner will be 20 30 metres around the bend. There is a ‘tendency for the inexperienced incoming runner to assume their race is over at the end of the back straight. If the incoming runner misses getting the baton into the hhand on the first attempt, there is usually a tendency for the outgoing runner to start reaching around for the baton. This presents a moving target and makes a second attempt even more difficult, The outgoing runner needs to remain calm and leave the hand in the correct position for the second attempt. The incoming runner letting go of the baton before the ‘outgoing runner takes it from him. The incoming runner needs to feel the baton being grasped and taken from ‘them before they let go. Not picking up the baton after it has been dropped. | can clearly remember a Youth National Championships where my boys U18 NSW team were so far ahead when they dropped the baton they would have still won at least the silver medal had they the opportunity to pick it up and