A practical session outlining how, when and why to develop junior high school student sprint technique.  Outside of those who participate in junior athletics, opportunities for children and adolescents to develop their sprint ability are often minimal. The session aims to address this by offering a simple session to develop adolescent sprint technique in an engaging way. We cover the basics of sprint technique and the outcomes of poor/ good sprint technique, as well as how to identify and correct poor technique using coaching cues and activities.

The session also contains a component on developing agility skill. Especially engaging for students who play team sports, we explore the different agility ‘moves’ and how to perform them with accuracy and timing.

This session is appropriate for all year levels, but is primarily aimed towards year 7 level. Using a combination of sprint drills and games, the aim is to educate students on correct technique and its benefits, as well as draw self-awareness to individual ability. Includes progressions that can be easily implemented for use with older year levels.

Approx. 1.5 hours

Session outline:
Warm up: primer activity and physical preparation. (20mins).
Activity 1: Wall drills – developing posture and leg action (10mins).
Activity 2: Tic-tac-toe – A game to promote knee drive (20mins).
Activity 3: arm action practice (10mins).
Activity 4: Agility – the four techniques of evasion (15mins).
Activity 5: Additional activities for variety and progression (10mins).
Knowledge check and debrief (5mins).