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Sprint sensation Lachlan Kennedy has revealed he is closing in on developing the “secret formula” that will cement his legacy in Australian sport.
But according to one coaching expert, developing that formula will be an ongoing challenge.
Australian athletics is in a period of strength and anticipation, with Kennedy and fellow speed demon Gout Gout providing hope that elusive Olympic glory nears.
Gout will not be joining Kennedy for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which launches on July 23, having withdrawn for the under-20s World Championships before suffering a hamstring tear.
But Kennedy teased he was finding the routine balance that would inspire sustained success.
“Every athlete is teetering on that line of pushing it to try and get the most out of training sessions, but you don’t want to injure yourself. Every year, every session, I’m learning a bit more about where that line is,” Kennedy said.
“I’m getting closer and closer to that secret formula – the perfect recipe for success. I’m by no means done, I’m going to keep going and keep pushing to get even faster.”
That secret formula is a delicate balance, according to coaching expert Cliff Mallett.
Now a professor of sport psychology and coaching at the University of Queensland, Mallett’s coaching career included mentoring Australia’s 4x400m (silver medal) and 4x100m (finalists) relay teams at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Given the importance of a fast start, Mallett said a sprinter’s constant focus will be on how they burst from the blocks – increasing the distance they cover out of that from 10 metres, to 20, to 30, and ensuring it became a habit.
He said training was about quality over quantity, with preparations to hit top speed typically occurring across six weeks.
“People get caught up in reaction time, it’s actually movement time that’s more important, which is how much force you can produce whilst you’re on the blocks, and how far you can snap forward in the first step because the first step dictates the second step and so on,” Mallett said.
“Sprinting is a neural activity – it’s about sending messages to the various muscle groups that you want to be firing off and in sequence.
“The focus is on high-quality work and repetition because you’re trying to get a muscle memory habit of how you fire off from the brain to the right muscle groups.
“In a speed session, if your next rep’s not going to be faster than the previous rep, you don’t do it because it’s no longer a speed session, it’s actually endurance.”
Gym work will typically focus on core stability and power – trying to get an “explosion” out of the ankle, knee and hip joints, utilising exercises such as hang cleans, power cleans and snatches, as well as developing core stability.
Recovery times, Mallett said, could often be a week after more intense training blocks.
“If sprinters get fatigued their body doesn’t cope with trying to maintain a really tall posture, they might start firing off the hamstrings before the glutes, and that causes hamstring tears,” Mallett said.
“What you’re trying to do in sprinting is making sure you’ve recovered sufficiently to do a high-quality session that primes you to perform at the end of that week.
“When you’re doing speed work, the body is being damaged, and it’s during recovery the body is allowed to not only recover, but adapt to the training from the day before, so that hopefully you get to an elevated state down the track.”
Kennedy became just the second Australian to eclipse the 100-metre 10-second barrier at the Australian Athletics Championships (running 9.96 twice), with Gout claiming the world under-20s 200-metre record (19.67).
Their surging profiles come with expectations to thrive.
“When you’ve got all this hype around you, there can be a bit of pressure to succeed,” Kennedy said.
“Pressure’s a privilege, it’s good that you’ve got people behind you wanting you to succeed. When people are disappointed it sucks, but it also means people are invested in your success.”
Developing that strength of mind is key.
Given the fickle nature of the sport, where athletes can be cut the morning of competition, contingencies – such as event simulations – needed to be put in place while travelling the globe.
However, once an event was assured, Mallett stressed “emotional regulation” by both athlete and coach was critical.
He described emotions as “contagious” – a coach’s mood becomes reflected when their prodigy sits alone for the 45 minutes before a race.
“If you haven’t helped them to deal with the shenanigans that goes on in the call room, everything you’ve done just comes unstuck,” Mallett said.
The way athletes handle nerves and emotions goes from the pre-race stage to when they step up to the blocks, and impacts how successfully they race.
“The paradox in sprinting is you want to be explosive, but you have to be fluid. What differentiates sprinters sometimes at the Olympics is because it’s more pressure they’re more likely to tense up, and when you tense up it impacts both stride length and stride frequency,” Mallett said.
“It’s the habits you’re trying to create, and the mindset you’re trying to create when you do train, that replicates what’s going to happen in a competition.”
Mallett believes athletes in individual events – such as sprinting – would be among those with the most profound knowledge of how their body works.
“If you run a PB, your body is now in a different space – it’s likely to require you to have a longer recovery period before you can go again,” Mallett said.
“This is where you rely heavily on the athlete, and your job as a coach is to help the athlete to learn about their body because only they can describe how they’re feeling.
“You’re always monitoring how they’re feeling and how they’re body is feeling – I need to help you to know your body because they will feel what you can’t see.”
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