The Track and Field Performance Podcast

Dr. Jason Ross is performance therapist, chiropractor, and strength coach with the OAC Global Running Team in Boulder, Colorado. He has almost 20 years of experience working with elite athletes and is a former member of the US Bobsled team.This conversation explores how he blends hands-on therapy with strength training to keep athletes moving well, and how he approaches rehab, load, and the coach-therapist-athlete relationship.Timestamped Topics0:12 – Introduction & Jason’s work with OAC Global, his clinic, and collaborations with ALTIS.3:44 – From football and rugby to chiropractic school and the US bobsled team10:27 – Jason’s philosophy: finding the holes and smoothing the path for the athlete12:25 – The detective work: assessing bone, soft tissue, and nerve, and why feet and ankles are the starting point17:00 – The long-term effects of surgery and why ACL athletes need to keep loading the tissue20:08 – How the OAC team is structured and how Jason splits his role between strength coach and therapist23:10 – Moving from individual programs to group strength programming by event25:10 – Spinal decompression: post-run and post-travel routines for recovery28:12 – Why recovery obsession can backfire: ice baths, anabolic windows, and the 8 out of 10 approach33:51 – Strength training for 800m to marathon runners: ballistic work, intent, and fatigue resistance39:06 – Building lumbar-pelvic control through isometrics, time under tension, and proprioception43:30 – Exercise selection: landmine RDLs, step-ups, and why barbells aren’t always the answer45:08 – “Hitting the save button”: using heavy, active loading to make passive therapy stick48:20 – Why Jason prefers exercise design over verbal cueing52:28 – Common rehab misconceptions: fear of load and the overlooked role of speed and coordination58:35 – Mindset in rehab: stacking days, small wins, and the case study of Alicia Monson’s knee recovery1:06:36 – The performance triad: how coach, therapist, and athlete communicate around injuries1:11:43 – Where to find Jason, and his performance therapy course with ALTISSupport the show

Dr. Ken Clark is a professor and coach at West Chester University where he balances teaching, sprint science research and in-person coaching with several collegiate teams including track and field. He is also widely known for his role as a biomechanics consultant for USA Track and Field's high performance sprints and hurdles program. Over the past 15 years, Ken has been at the forefront of several key published research papers relating to sprinting performance. This conversation starts by covering the current landscape around sprinting-related research before moving to how the evidence informs his coaching practice on a daily basis.Timestamped Topics:0:00 – Introduction & Ken's roles at West Chester University, USA Track and Field, and Ken Clark Speed2:09 – The origin story: how Ken's father reading a Peter Weyand paper in 2000 eventually led to Ken doing his PhD under Weyand a decade later9:09 – What we know about sprinting now: vertical ground reaction forces, ground contact times, and what separates elite sprinters from team sport athletes13:10 – The force signature: why the first half of ground contact — not the second — is where elite sprinters differentiate themselves16:14 – Thigh angular velocity and foot velocity at touchdown: extending the research chain from force to kinematics22:36 – Evolving away from a binary technical model: why Ken's thinking on front side mechanics has shifted over the past decade26:32 – Research comparing track athletes and team sport athletes: same speeds, very different movement strategies33:13 – Why technique still matters even when it doesn't predict performance — injury resilience, race sustainability, and long-term development40:07 – How Ken coaches differently across groups: fine-tuning USA Track and Field athletes vs. developing collegiate sprinters vs. team sport athletes43:16 – What Ken actually looks for at top speed: practical KPIs for ground contact, swing thigh position, and pelvic control46:17 – Wicket drills and technical buildups: how constraints-based training works across both track and team sport populations50:14 – Biomechanical facts vs. coaching cues: why it's okay to cue things that aren't technically true if they produce the right intent51:05 – Braking forces in acceleration: why they're inevitable past step three, and when they become a real problem1:03:40 – Short-to-long periodization in practice: how Ken structures fall preseason and why max velocity work comes in early1:07:00 – Capping distance to cap velocity: a simple but underused principle for load management and return to play1:13:00 – Resisted acceleration and sled coaching: hip extension, swing leg recovery, and why Ken prefers a waist harness1:16:56 – The vertical impulse problem: why the online obsession with horizontal force in acceleration ignores an essential piece of the puzzle1:23:44 – Where sprint science is heading: the need for more training studies and the untapped potential of motorized resistance and assisted sprinting technology1:27:41 – Where to find Ken: kenclarkspeed.com and @kenclarkspeed on InstagramKen's WebsiteKen's InstagramRecent Publications:Clark, K. P., Meng, C. R., Walts, C. T., Ryan, L. J., & Stearne, D. J. (2025). Angular kinematics during top speed sprinting in male intercollegiate track and field and team sport athletes. Frontiers in sports and active living, 7, 1535798. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2025.1535798Clark, K. P., Ryan, L. J., Meng, C. R., & Stearne, D. J. (2023). Horizontal Foot Speed During Submaximal and Maximal Running. Journal of human kinetics, 87, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.5114/jhk/159578Alt, T., Komnik, I., Ryan, L. J., & Clark, K. P. (2024). Top speed sprinting: Thigh angular motion and eccentric hamstring strength in faster vs. slower sprinters. Human movement science, 98, 103280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2024.103280Support the show

In this episode, we sit down with Ross Jeffs — jumps and combined events lead coach at Aspire Academy in Qatar, and former sprints and hurdles coach with experience across the UK, Netherlands, and now the Middle East. Ross brings a deeply curious and evidence-informed approach to coaching, shaped in part by his own experiences as an athlete, working directly with coaches like Jonas Dodoo, and much more. This conversation gets into the weeds on athlete profiling, monitoring, injury prevention, and the technical nuances of the triple jump.Timestamped Topics0:00 – Introduction & Ross's coaching journey from Jersey to London to Rotterdam to Aspire Academy in Qatar3:30 – Categorizing athletes: concentric, elastic, and metabolic types across sprinting and the jumps7:14 – The metabolic athlete — backside mechanics, rhythm, and why front side cues can backfire for certain athletes12:19 – Can athletes shift along the continuum? The risks of overwriting an athlete's natural movement solution12:49 – Force plate monitoring: why relative peak power output from a shallow CMJ has become Ross's most sensitive tool for fatigue and performance prediction16:09 – How to execute the shallow CMJ correctly and why it sits between a traditional CMJ and a reactive strength test19:16 – Hamstring injury management in triple jumpers: why Ross overhauled his approach after two grade 3 injuries and what he does differently now23:04 – Why Nordics and direct eccentric loading may be adding to the problem rather than solving it in-season27:19 – Triple jump influences: Paul Weston, Keith Hurston, Jeremy Fisher, Randy Huntington, and lessons from Cuban and Eastern European methodology31:03 – The Cuban jump system: 800 contacts in a single GPP session and what modern coaches can learn from it37:40 – Structuring plyometric progressions from sand to grass to track across the training year43:03 – When to individualize: moving from general bounding skills to athlete-specific phase work closer to competition46:03 – Key differences between long jump and triple jump takeoff: why the triple jump is flat until the hop-to-step transition47:45 – The role of the free leg and why displacing well at takeoff without a strong free leg recovery creates a different problem49:41 – Pelvic posture on the runway and its influence on phase mechanics and lower back health53:18 – Solving over-rotation at landing: why blocking is often misunderstood and can make things worse59:54 – Managing fouling athletes: a sensory-based approach to steering, walking takeoff drills, and why it's a skill acquisition problem not a psychological one1:07:47 – Where to find Ross: Coach Ross Jeffs on InstagramSupport the show

Jack Green is a two-time Olympian, World and European relay medalist, European U-23 champion in the 400m hurdles, and now the lead coach for Saudi Arabia's long hurdles and sprint relay program.Jack's athletic career was shaped not only by his successes but also by his promise as an adolescent and the battles he faced thereafter. Now, channeling those difficult lessons combined with the knowledge he has gained from working with coaches like Lauren Seagrave, Jack is in an ideal position to not just develop elite athletes - but also people.Topics0:00 – Introduction & Jack's current coaching role in Saudi Arabia3:27 – A candid reflection on a stop-start career and the fall at London 20126:45 – Mental health struggles following the Olympics — depression, anxiety, and 18 months out of the sport7:34 – Rebuilding with Lauren Seagrave and self-coaching through the final years of his career10:37 – Why he retired at 28, still ranked top 10 in the world16:03 – Jack's coaching pillars: human first, seeing the individual, biomechanics, hurdling all year, and athlete independence23:02 – The coach-athlete relationship: moving from director to facilitator26:57 – What good communication actually looks like day to day38:05 – Why less can be more43:03 – Creating psychological safety and a sense of home for athletes46:48 – Meeting the athlete where they are: minimum standards, cultural awareness, and role modelling57:52 – Playing the long game and reframing what success actually means1:05:13 – Identity, fear, and how the mindset that drove early success can become a long-term limitation1:09:47 – Start Line Thinking — Jack's self-published book, available now on AmazonJack's Book: Start Line Thinking: Amazon.co.uk: Green OLY, Jack, Pindar, Joe: 9798258845047: BooksSupport the show

David Kerin is a former collegiate coach, USA Track and Field national team administrator, and performance consultant. David brings a refreshingly unconventional lens to some of the sport's most persistent challenges. His articles on '2D, 2.5, 3D Coaching' and 'Fixing the Right Problem' and most recently, developing a provisional patent for an innovative movement analysis system shows that he has never stopped asking the questions others overlook. Topics0:00 – Introduction — David's background as a collegiate coach, USA Track & Field national team development administrator, and current consultant working across multiple sports5:10 – Why Biomechanics? — What drew David deeper into the science of movement, why track and field's objectivity makes it the perfect laboratory, and the mentors who helped shape his thinking8:00 – Fixing the Right Problem — Why the flaw you see is never the root cause, and how to work backward through a performance sequence to find the real breakdown point13:00 – The High Jump Curve Problem — Why athletes drift instead of committing to the curve, the "lean is a byproduct" principle, and how poor curve mechanics have quietly reshaped the event17:00 – 2D Thinking vs. 3D Reality — Why coaches and scientists analyzing three-dimensional movement through a two-dimensional lens creates critical blind spots, and David's concept of "2.5D" as a practical stepping stone22:00 – The Third Dimension in Sprinting — Why foot orientation and lateral placement are being overlooked in sprint analysis, even at the elite level26:10 – US Athlete Development — The structural tensions in NCAA track and field, the cost of prioritizing recruitment over development, and how USA Track & Field's Talent Protection Program tried to bridge the post-collegiate gap38:25 – Whole, Part, and When to Intervene — When to isolate components vs. train the whole event, why stabilization matters more than early adaptation, and the danger of over-coaching innate movement patterns47:00 – Start Point Geometry in High Jump — The counterintuitive truth about why a tighter start point along the bar axis makes curve mechanics worse, not better51:27 – Dick Fosbury and a 50-Year Stagnation — Why Fosbury's 1968 technique still benchmarks elite collegiate high jumping today, and why high jumpers sustain career-ending injuries at a far greater rate than pole vaulters57:00 – Body Type, Force, and Career Longevity — What Jonathan Edwards, Mutaz Barshim, and Sotomayor reveal about the relationship between mass, force application, and how long a body can sustain elite performance1:03:12 – How to Reach David — David's open-source approach to mentorship and how coaches and athletes can get in touchContact David: [email protected] the show

Angus Ross is the Strength and Conditioning and Power Physiology Lead with High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ), working with elite track & field athletes and multiple Olympic sports across lead coaching, s&c, and sport science. He is also a three-time Winter Olympian in bobsleigh and the full-time coach of New Zealand 60 m record holder Tiaan Whelpton.His PhD focused on sprint performance and tapering, complemented by many peer-reviewed publications on topics including eccentric strength training and acceleration biomechanics.In this episode, we dive into athlete profiling, training elastic vs muscular qualities, eccentric loading, and the art of individualising strength work for sprinters and jumpers.Topics / Timestamps:0:00 Angus’ background (PhD, high performance sport, Olympic experience)3:05 Athlete profiling: vertical jump, drop jumps, optimal cadence & fiber type links5:50 Training strengths vs weaknesses — what actually moves the needle10:30 Case study: developing extreme power in sprinters16:00 Force expression vs elastic efficiency in acceleration26:30 Integrating S&C within a technical coaching framework29:00 Pairing speed & strength — when to combine or separate sessions34:00 Eccentric training: benefits, risks, and long-latency adaptations42:50 How to program eccentric work without compromising speed49:00 “How much strength is enough?” for elite sprinters57:00 Isometrics, sarcomeres in series & speed development1:05:20 Communication, trust & the evolving role of the coachAngus's Research: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Angus-RossSupport the show

Dr. Christopher Stanley (CMPC) is a sport and performance psychology professor at the University of Western States, former Lead Sport Psychologist for USA Track & Field across the Tokyo–Paris Olympic cycle, and the Atlanta Track Club Elite.In this episode, Chris illustrates how coaches can implement mental skills training in track & field without adding extra time—covering practical tools for confidence, focus, and performance under pressure. In addition, the relational aspect of coaching is discussed throughout the conversation; Chris provides practical tips on how to improve communication and trust in coach-athlete dynamics. He is also the author of Right from the Start: Mental Performance Skills for Youth and Adolescent Athletes. Topics / Timestamps: 0:00 Chris’ background + USATF/Olympic experience 3:55 Selling sport psych to coaches + creating buy-in 8:20 Event-specific mental skills (sprints vs jumps vs distance) 14:20 The coach effect: demeanor, prompts, and regulation 21:40 Why “focus” and “wake up” cues often fail 30:10 Mental performance at the Olympics & World Champs 39:30 Breathwork, pressure, and physiological regulation 46:10 Self-talk, imagery, and quick redirection strategies 51:10 Rapport, autonomy, and motivation frameworks 57:30 Chris’ book + practical resources for coachesSupport the show

This episode brings together three coaches with documented success coaching the 400 meters and 4×400 m relay within the NCAA system.Ernie Clark, the Head Coach for sprints, hurdles, and jumps at Northern Arizona University, previously coached at San José State and Ashland University. He has guided athletes such as Trevor Bassitt, Myles Pringle, and Jeremiah Walker to 45-second performances, while also producing multiple school and conference record holders in the 400 m. Most recently, Clark led the NAU women’s 4×400 m relay to the NCAA Championships, where they ran a school and conference record of 3:31.28.Bob Thurnhoffer, the first-ever guest on the podcast, continues to expand an already accomplished résumé. Now an Assistant Coach at the University of Louisville, he coached Synclair Savage to the NCAA Outdoor Championship title in the women’s long jump this past season. During his two seasons at the University of New Mexico, Thurnhoffer coached Rivaldo Leacock and Jovahn Williamson to NCAA final appearances in the 400 m hurdles and 400 m, respectively, while also guiding Jevon O’Bryant and Brodie Young to multiple 45-second performances, culminating in his men’s 4×400 m relay reaching the NCAA final.Jason Wakenight, Assistant Coach at the University of Iowa and a previous guest (Episode 22), has built one of the strongest reputations in the NCAA for developing elite 400–800 m training groups. During his time at Iowa he has coached two 44-second performers (Jenoah McKiver and Mar'yea Harris), six athletes under 45 seconds (2020 Big Ten athlete of the year, Wayne Lawrence Jr), and four 4×400 m relay teams under 3:01. In 2025, Wakenight led the Iowa men’s and women’s 4×400 m relay teams to 4th- and 6th-place finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. On the women’s side, Iowa broke both the indoor and outdoor school records last season, highlighted by a 3:26.90 outdoor performance in the 4×400 m relay. The Iowa men’s 4×400 m relay has reached the NCAA Outdoor final in five of the last eight championships and won seven of the last ten Big Ten outdoor titles.Topics:What truly defines elite 400 m training for men and womenSpeed vs. special endurance and how to allocate training emphasisTraining the first 300 m versus the final 100 m of the raceRace modeling, split targets, and velocity managementDeveloping quarter-milers from different athlete profilesBuilding championship-ready 4×400 m relay teamsManaging volume and intensity across long seasonsConfidence, belief systems, and execution under fatigueApologies for the audio/connection difficulties within this episode. Support the show

Craig Pickering – former Olympic sprinter, Winter Olympian in bobsleigh, sport scientist, and now Director of Performance Sustainability at Athletics Australia – joins the show to unpack what it takes to build a world-class sprint and relay system. He shares insights on athlete transitions, skill acquisition, and the systems driving Australia’s sprint resurgence.We explore his journey from elite athlete to high-performance leader, how Australia has built depth and buy-in across its relay program, and why “training in chaos” has become central to his coaching philosophy. Craig also speaks on data-driven decision making, performance support, and the innovation shaping the next era of Australian athletics.Topics:0:02 – Craig’s journey from elite athlete to high-performance leader5:25 – Injury setbacks, transitions, and entering the sport science world9:27 – Moving to Australia & shaping Athletics Australia’s performance pathway10:39 – Why Australian men’s sprinting is rising13:51 – Building relay culture, buy-in, and structuring effective camps24:10 – Relay coaching philosophy & the value of training under chaos35:17 – Skill acquisition, decision-making & performance under pressure40:50 – The evolving role of the modern coach and performance support51:28 – Pathways Transition Program & developing future athletes52:52 – Research, innovation & the next frontier for Australian athleticsSupport the show

Marco Airale has been one of the fastest-rising elite sprint coaches of the past five years — and one of the youngest — guiding athletes like Reece Prescod, Andre De Grasse, Daryll Neita, Amy Hunt and others to fast times and global medals. With a background in physiotherapy and osteopathy, Marco blends therapy and coaching to maximise performance and keep athletes healthy. In this conversation, we discuss:Balancing step length and step frequency for each athleteUsing intensive tempo to build fitness and resilienceManaging training load and recovery across the seasonThe role of warm-ups in preparing sprinters for peak performanceCoaching sprinters, hurdlers, and relay athletes at the elite levelBuilding and leading an international training group in ItalyPreparing athletes for multiple rounds at major championshipsFollow Marco on Instagram: coach_air_Support the show