Racing, Chasing, & Timing | Brad Fortney

Luke: 0:11

thanks for listening to episode 21 of season two on The "I" in Win Podcast. And welcome to today's guest, Brad Fortney, who is the district wide performance and wellness coach for Enterprise City Schools in Alabama. In addition to coaching football and track Coach Fortney works with the District six elementary, two middle school and the high school sports teams on movement and performance. And before we get talking to Coach Fortney, "I have to warn one "I do have a head cold. It was a balmy 35 degrees, but snow on the ground in Chicago this weekend. "I. "I think it's got the best of me. So if you hear any sneezing in the background, "I apologize ahead of time. But Coach Fortney, great to see you again. Thanks for coming on the "I Win Podcast.

Brad: 0:53

Hey "I, appreciate you having me, coach Mertens. people don't know like your first year at Lakes and everything like that is "I was at rival school, Antioch and you know, "I didn't even tell "I Haven't told you this though, but you know, since that one year "I did coach at lakes of your impression, even when you were gone, of what you've made on that school, that'll probably last forever. Of those coaches, that and former players is something that "I really admire and "I just very honored that you asked me to be on.

Luke: 1:20

Well thank you "I. Appreciate that. And "I know you're doing so many great things down in Alabama. I'm definitely jealous that you're down south getting experience all that nice weather. But "I wanna start with the fact that you've coached football, basketball, track. strength and conditioning. Uh, softball. You pretty much have done it all, so "I have to ask you a tough question. Okay. If you have to pick one, which one would you say is the most difficult to coach and why?

Brad: 1:46

Who?

Luke: 1:47

"I told you It's a tough one.

Brad: 1:49

probably freshman girls basketball

Luke: 1:51

Okay. All right. Why is that? the most difficult?

Brad: 1:54

when "I was at Bradford. Cause usually we weren't, varsity wasn't the best. They're, they're pretty good right now. But if. you were a freshman coming in and you knew how to dribble and shoot. You were not on the freshman team, so they got bumped up. And then you're trying to develop some skills and you know, running plays and things of that nature with kids that may not have the skills. And you're playing against other districts that have really good freshman teams and, you know, major B really, really creative on. How to kind of bridge gaps of maybe some skills that they didn't come in freshman year with because they were just going out for the team cuz their friend was there. And you get to a spot where you can't cut kids because if you cut kids you won't have enough. Or you'd be playing with only five. And it really helped to have about eight to 10 on the team so you could sub people in.

Luke: 2:41

Yeah, well, you know, football's starting to trend that way too. Less and less kids are playing youth football and they're coming out their first year and you spend the first two weeks, not "I instituting plays, but teach 'em how to put girdles and shoulder pads on and all those great things, especially those, those damn knee pads. They don't know how to put the knee pads and the slots

Brad: 3:00

And then "I try to wear,

Luke: 3:01

as they're running.

Brad: 3:02

Hey, cold day. They try to wear the blue jeans underneath it and understand like, what you wearing for, or why'd you just shove your, your cell phone in where your girdle thighs.

Luke: 3:13

Yeah. The struggles of, uh, of coaching in today's world. But "I wanna talk specifically about your job, because it's a pretty unique title and you're in charge of a lot. "I mean you're talking about nine different schools, elementary, all the way through high school and. In your words, you're teaching them how to move and you know you're working on their movement and their performance. So take us through the specifics of what your job looks like on a daily basis and what you're doing

Brad: 3:40

So what "I do on a daily basis, depending where I'm at, usually on Mondays, I'm over at the high school working with sports teams. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, "I will be a mixture of being in elementary school. "I might be at one in the morning because they're third through sixth grade is got PE starting at eight o'clock, they're done at 11. And then in the afternoon, "I might be at another, elementary school. Then I'll usually be at. Middle school once a week. There's two different ones that I'll bounce back and forth. So kinda what our big philosophy is and when I'm working on movement and speed training and things of that nature, "I look at it. There's a couple different ways, and this is kind of just the framework "I use. If we wanna improve performance, obviously we have to figure out some way to measure, so, we have free relapses at every school. We got a grant to do that. Um, it's through a DoDEA cuz 30% of our school is military. So we are able to get, timing systems at each school. But "I look at it for kids to figure out how to get full speed and sprint, uh, you have to race chase their time. Because if you're not racing, chasing their time and you're, you're not getting max effort, well, if we're not getting max effort, that stuff's not improving. So when, when I'm at an elementary school, I'll lead 'em through, you know, your basic speed drills. Like, we'll, a skip, we'll prime time, but the kids don't. In elementary school, we don't call 'em prime times. We call 'em Minecraft runs, you know, make it, make it relatable. Uh, those kids will come up with it. We'll do different jumping stuff. "I, try to make 'em feel goofy, galloping a lot. Fundamental just movements on that. But those, like if you took your high school kids right now and told 'em the Gallup, they'd look really, really funny cuz they probably haven't done it in a while. But just basic jumping movements on that. And then we figure out, like if you wanted to know right now third graders in our school district what their mouse per is, "I could tell you "I got that on spreadsheet and we're tracking that and the kids get wristbands if they're on 15 miles an hour or more, that's considered speeding in a school zone. So they're really buy into that and under. All right. I'm gonna go as fast as "I possibly can. And we, we track that through, like "I said, racing, chasing, or timing,

Luke: 5:45

And let's talk about that race. Chase and Tom "I really like that and completely agree. And what about us coaches that don't have the electrical timers, we don't have the system in place and we just have old school stopwatches, whatever. And maybe it's. Two coaches and let's just use football's example. Cause that's what "I coach, and I'm gonna be selfish for a minute. So you know, "I have 80 players out there and there's two of us with a stopwatch. Like how do you constantly get the data? Cause "I do think that engages the kids.

Brad: 6:15

if it was a thing where you're just looking, Hey, "I, just got a couple stopwatches. You might have to break them up and, uh, kind of station it a little bit of, all right, U 20. We're gonna run forties right now. Well, We got another group of 20 they might be working on starts. Well, when we work on starts, if it's me and yourself working on starts, maybe I'm a two yards behind you and I'm gonna move on your movement. Well, "I got 15 yards to chase you. And then if "I don't take you, "I gotta push up. So now that's gonna be our, you know, we're gonna chase on that, but you're gonna work on your start. I'm working on my start. See if "I can do that. And then we'll come back and do the same thing. While you might have one line doing forties. Hey, I'm gonna get a 40 in. Then you guys will rotate over to your, partner Chase for starts. and that would be a good way to just kind of funnel kids through and making sure you got times on everybody. The other one that "I like doing "I, if you have a portable scoreboard, even if you put your watch on it, like, Hey, we're gonna go a five second run, and "I might put a, at the 40, "I might put one at the 45. maybe the 50 "I mean that would be moving five seconds to cover 50 yards. That'd be, that'd be really, really impressive. But me and you could. And when the timer goes off, that's when the kids know to stop. So what I'll do is I'll start kids on a whistle and I'll end kids on the whistle. Well, when the whistle ends, who is farther? Well, "I "I might know that, Hey, "I was in front of you, or, oh, we tied, then we'd do it again. So just those would be creative ways of, Hey, we don't have technology. Hey, we're limited on what we're doing. how can we set this up and make it.

Luke: 7:46

And how often do you recommend getting times

Brad: 7:50

I like doing it at least weekly. So my big thing is "I, like it's tough right now. Prior to this year, "I would've said, Monday's our best day to get data. And "I "I still think it is, but we've had an increasing role of kids doing seven on seven. So their Saturdays, they're Sundays are eating up. So they'll come in Mondays and we'll either do forties flying tens, which we're trying to get the top miles per hour. We'll do a 10 yard start, a 20 yard start, depending on what if "I know a lot of kids were a coach. "I was at this camp. Hey, we played 10 games this weekend. "I did a a u this Cause we have a lot of multi-sport athletes. "I might go, okay, we're gonna go 10 yard start today, and "I might time those because even when a kid's not a hundred. we can get a 10 yard start in and it'll still be pretty close when you start pushing it out. Out of the acceleration phase to more max velocity, where they're top on speed, I'll usually give, and kids have been pretty good about being honest, not right away, cuz sometimes they're, they're cut it, which is okay. Um, where I'd be like, Hey, if you're not feeling it today, you don't have to run your. And they'll be like, oh, I'll still run. And then you watch 'em run and they look terrible and they'll be like, why are you running? Well, mcg groin was really hurting then I'm really tired. But "I just wanted to get a time. It's like, whoa, we can't get your max time when you're tired and it's gonna set us up for injury. So our kids, it, it's taking a little bit of process, but like if a kid doesn't run a 40 tomorrow, I, I'm not upset about it because "I got em for 52 weeks outta the year. So is tomorrow's Monday really gonna ruin the rest of. Not necessarily, but if "I know if he's gonna be fresher for next Monday, like, okay, we'll be better timing that. But those times also help me and the coaches to see like, all right, if Coach Mertens is usually running four six and he comes in running on 4 8 5 today, what do we have to do throughout the week to make sure he's the best by Friday? Maybe that's a conversation. That's your "I test. "I pass. We passed that. But like, okay, you're a little slower today. Hey. You feeling good? Yeah, I'm feeling good. did you sleep well last night? No, I'm coming off two hours of sleep. Well now use that conversation for the kid to dictate, like, all right, so if we're, 0.2, five tens off, you're 40 because you're only two hours of sleep. If we at least get seven hours, you're gonna be right where you need. and now that's having more, more relatable to the kid instead of you telling, you gotta sleep more, we're not sleeping enough. "I can even go down into the conversation of nutrition, Hey, have you had "I? Didn't need anything this morning. Well, why not? Oh, "I woke up late. Or, oh, "I didn't have any water. And then just, those are really relatable guiding points that will help kids make it more relatable and important of like, all right, my performance isn't just dictated. "I, "I, "I gotta given abilities. But what I'm putting in my body, how am "I taking care of my body? What am "I treating it? And those take a lot of words outta my mouth for them to get it to realize like, oh, this stuff matters.

Luke: 10:39

And we're gonna talk about that nutrition piece a little bit later. "I have to point out, you, you "I know you're speaking hypothetically, but you know, subconsciously you said Coach Merton's 4.6 "I. Like that, that's, that,

Brad: 10:51

"I. "I.

Luke: 10:52

better than the five two "I was running. So I'll take it. Uh, let's go back to that piece of. You know, some days you're at the elementary school, sometimes you're at the middle school, some charge at the high school. So the days you're not there, are you still providing programming for the coaches, the strength coaches to PE teachers that they're still kind of, have your vision or is just the days you're there, how does, how does that work?

Brad: 11:16

So that's been great. "I every PE coach in our, District and our sports coaches have been very open minded and very willing. Just because when you sit back and you watch kids running and you're getting max effort out of 'em, and it's like, wait, you didn't tell 'em anything? It's like, no. Yeah, you line 'em up, you let 'em go and let kids be kids. Cause they're competitive mostly in nature. And if you got a kid who's not competitive, if you're looking on sports realm, is that gonna help you on a Friday night? No "I, you could say like, well, he's got all the potential ability, but when you peel it back, are they gonna help you on a Friday night? And maybe not, not, uh, the cream's gonna rise to the top. So really what my job looks like when I'm at the elementary school is, you know, a lot of people have, you know, instructional coaches for math, literacy and numeracy. So math and English. Well, what district has a instructional coach for physical movement and. It's not out there. So our superintendent, Greg, fought at the time he is retired now, kind of came up with that, this position in mind of like, Hey, you could do this stuff and help almost be an instructional coach with all the PE teachers and you know, the, the sports coaches. so at the elementary school, "I might be leading the class one. "I "I might come in and be like, Hey, let's support this because all right, they're thinking, let's split it in half. I'll do this. You can do that. Or you know, I'll sit back and merit. So maybe at 8:00 AM at one of the elementary schools I'm leading, the first class "I might be sixth graders. Well, the second class "I might still lead, and it could be third graders. The third class, which would be fifth graders, "I, might, do a supporting role to get the teacher comfortable and by the, you know, fourth class, I'll kind of sit back, let the teacher roll it and get them comfortable in it, which I've, I've found with speeds a simple thing to do, getting kids racing, chasing their timing, simple to do. And once teachers or coaches feel comfortable in it, they'll roll. So "I just don't roll out the less pen, but they'll be like, okay, yeah, we could do this next week when you're not here. Oh, the kids wanna do it Friday. We did it Monday, but you know, we do free day Friday and the kids want to clip up and figure out what their miles per hour are. So "I don't have to be there for, and it's kind of just integrated. So it's been really nice. It happens at the middle school too, where I'm, we're at the point now where I'll show 'em some new exercises or new drills or like, Hey, have you tried this with the hoops? Or hey, have you tried this with the cones? Or let's, uh, do flag tag or just some kind of creative drills. We're getting kids moving and they'll run it and be like, oh yeah, we can keep doing this. And same thing happens with, uh, our sports teams Here is like, I'll "I keep trying to integrate a little something new for 'em just cuz it gives coaches a little more, options and menu stuff on the menu to choose from. Instead of like, all right, we're running over hurdles for. 27th time this month, and then the kids just go through the motions on it. And if we're going through the motions, we're not getting better.

Luke: 14:09

And the other thing that's fascinating to me with your position is how to differentiate between elementary all the way through high school, but yet at the same time, "I bet there's a lot of universal training principles. Okay, so let's talk about the universal piece. What are just some universal training principles that you're instituting regardless of it's a fifth grader or a 12th?

Brad: 14:32

So just our basic speed drills of skipping, hopping, jumping, like, uh, he buck kicks, bounds. Those are pretty universal. And I'll tell you what, the elementary kids pick it up a lot easier than your. 10th grader or 11th grader or 12th grader. "I always look like an elementary kid, especially you're looking se second, third, fourth, fifth, even sixth grade. They're kind of like new Play-Doh. You take 'em right out the box like you can shape it and everything. Middle schoolers, the Play-Doh has been played with a little bit, but it's still pretty fresh. freshmen, it's starting to get a little bit hard, but like. Sophomores, juniors and seniors, it's like, okay, someone left the lid open for a couple days. Now we can reshape it, putting a little water on there. But, usually it takes a little bit more time and a lot of more fundamental drills for our older kids than it would necessarily for our younger kids because "I think they adapt. They aren't get adapt pretty well. more like a, a sponge to, hey, try this and this, and they haven't picked up a lot of bad habits, or some of that stuff doesn't have to be rewired of, you know, bad habits for, 5, 6, 7 years of movement.

Luke: 15:41

And another thing with the high school versus the younger kids is I'm assuming, and maybe I'm wrong, that there might be some high school kids that are a little resistant to actually having to move and do things. Uh, so what do you do with the kids that don't wanna put forth effort?

Brad: 15:59

Usually what it will do on that of if we have a new resistance on it, "I, try to keep everything game-based as much as possible, so, the timing helps and it, it's not just because you ran a four six and "I ran a five flat. Oh, you're faster than me. The nice thing about timing is like, okay, if I'm a five flat and next week "I run a 4 49, guess who's super excited even though you ran a four six again "I am "I, just beat my best. And then you can start building that intrinsic motivation of like, if you go hard and do these things, you'll get. Well, if the kid's like, ah, this is bs, kind of, and you know, everyone's got those kids in your program, then you set 'em up in situations to try to be successful, or that's just where we chase or we race on stuff and put a little skin in the game. It's like if a kid loses in a racer, chase usually put one pushup in it. It's not enough to, uh, impact any kind of performance. But it's enough for, like, if you beat, if you beat me for four sprints and at the end of it "I got four pushups, you're probably drawing in my air while I'm ripping out my pushups.

Luke: 17:05

Oh yeah, for

Brad: 17:05

And, and "I mean, it's just creates a really good environment for kids to be successful. "I mean our best story is, and this is not fast at all, when he was a freshman, he ran 10 miles an hour, which is not fast. uh, that kid, he just hit 13 the other day and it's like he's a junior and it's like, man, you've gained three miles an hour. It's like no one has done that so far. Made that kind of games and it's still not our fa like yeah, obviously not our fastest kid, but like the excitement you see outta his face is the same excitement you'd, we'd, you'd see out of our star running back face when he gets an. And that "I, just giving them time and instant feedback, which kids get outta, you're looking social media and Snapchat and things like that. Were always instant gratification. That's where the timing has come in so much cuz it's instant feedback and giving 'em a purpose on it, which hasn't, since doing that stuff, "I haven't found a lot of resistance because you all, without that, "I could tell 'em, be like, oh you gotta run through here hard. But they don't have a measurement and guide in it. And with using miles per hour, that gives kids. "I "I. The understanding of like something relatable. Like if "I were to say like, oh, you ran a 1 0 3. Well, what's that mean? I'm a track guy and sometimes like "I can't fabricate that right now. right? But if "I tell 'em like, Hey, you just went 21 miles an hour. Oh, that, that's pretty fast, isn't it? It's like, yeah, that's pretty fast. Hey, you just went 12 miles an hour or 12.1 miles an hour. Oh, okay. Oh, "I just went 12 two. Oh, "I just ran. so that elementary kid in third grade can understand it and so could the kid who's a senior. It just makes that relatable to what we're doing training wise.

Luke: 18:43

are you posting data? "I? You know, a lot of people have. Ideologies on what to do. Like some think it's a bad idea to post kids' data on, on walls, or it's, you know, what if some see it as a great thing, cuz it creates that competitive spirit. are you making data publicly known and kids could see in the class where they rank? Or what are you

Brad: 19:04

Yeah, so for the high school and middle school, we're, that's another dimension of my job. We are a team builder across the board. So we're gonna track data. You know, we have PowerSchool for academics. The sell for the district was, well, what can we do athletically that would track kids for, you know, six years? So we're using Team Builder on that, which I'll pull up charts of football only I'll do athletes throughout the whole entire district of if we got. Their measurements on it. At the elementary schools, each teacher has taken a little bit different approach, but like if a kid hits 15 miles an hour, they got their name up on the board. They got nice little charts and up there that kids can see. Or who's the top in the class, who's the top 10 list? Who that? It's a little bit different at each, school because of what they wanna do or put up there, but they've been able to publish that. We have a running club that happens in the morning. At each elementary school, so it, which tracks kids mileage, which that stuff's posted too, and the kids can see throughout the district on it, like who's got the most mileage in. so that's gotten pretty competitive for, you know, helping improve, just overall fitness and having kids. "I have a little bit of a sense urgency. "I like, oh, "I need to get more lapsing cuz "I got "I can close up, close in on the guy and it's even ranked by class that way. So like second grade could look at, oh, we got it collectively for the second graders. We have 45 miles in last week. Well third graders got 50. Oh, we gotta get more than 50 this week. So that might need a couple more laps in the morning or at gym class when they're warming up.

Luke: 20:35

Well, "I think what you're doing and what your district is doing is, it's outstanding. "I, mean "I, "I. Think more schools need to do this. before we hit record, "I told you "I really believe that. Just overall fitness and, and health and the weight room. And these are just areas that "I, "I feel like we are devaluing in our educational system. And "I would argue that there's some of the most important things that we should be doing because they're not getting it anywhere else. They're just not right. It's just, it's not a priority. So we need to prioritize "I, think we need to intentionally teach students about living a healthy life. "I think that's one of the, the best things we can do for them. And "I do believe it's every bit as important as math and science and reading and writing "I really, truly do. So, with that said, and, and I'm assuming you are in agreement with me, that an overall healthy lifestyle is going to lead to enhancements in all of their life's endeavors, including academics, you'll see an improvement. Right. And when their, when their health improves, their academics will.

Brad: 21:38

Oh, a hundred, a hundred thousand percent. So, and here's a cool thing that we've been looking at, at even elementary schools, is that running club happens before school. usually like 7 15, 7 45. School starts at eight o'clock, and they'll do that twice a week. Well, when we have statewide testing, they'll actually run running club in the morning. And we've been looking at data of just even behavior in the c. Of days that we have running club offered and days when running club isn't offered. Um, just "I improvement on behavior, but also kids' attentiveness in the classroom on days that they have running club. Teachers have noticed drastically on days when they don't have running club. So getting up and just moving is so vital because in Alabama. year round, PEs required in elementary and middle school, and then it kind of falls off in high school. So if you're not in a team sport you just have to take one year, one semester of PE and then that meets your qualifications on it. But we've done a good job and there's a initiative through, organization called Heal. It's called Healthy Eating Active Lifestyle, where we've integrated some of the programs. it's just your icebreakers in the morning of understanding what heart rate is and how we tie that into the lesson, or making smart choices and eating right. And they actually have calendars that get sent home to the kids every month. So "I look at October and they have a healthy ingredient, for a healthy meal to be made. But then different options throughout the month of. Giving ideas for exercise and movement and different tips that each kid in our, elementary school gets sent home on that.

Luke: 23:19

Let's keep talking about this nutritional piece because it, fascinating to me that we all acknowledge. And we explain to our athletes that it's an area that will completely change their performance, but yet a lot of 'em aren't meeting the demands of it. They're not stepping up to the plate, they're not owning their nutritional needs. So with that said, how do you get athletes to invest more in their nutrition? Because you could get 'em in the weight room, you could get 'em out there running, like you said, they, they care about that. How fast "I run today, how much did "I lift? we can't, well, "I shouldn't say we can't. It's very difficult to get them as invested into what they're fueling their bodies with any help in that

Brad: 24:01

Yeah. Okay. So, and that gets back to how do "I make that relatable, which what has seemed to help, and like, I'll give you an example. That was a bad example, "I It made me think like, oh crap. So "I had a girl sprinter. She's pretty good. I was just chucking on her lunch one day I was like, oh, whatcha are you eating today? And opened, there's six honey buns in there. "I was like, oh, all right, honey bun. And And she was laughing and she tried blaming it on the boy next to her "I, even know her name was on the lunch. Well, and "I was like, Hey, you know, that's fine. "I like, we got a big workout today, but like, we gotta start making smarter choices. Turns out that's kind of like the only thing she had at home So then when "I checked in with her two weeks later, "I was like, what are you having for lunch? Oh, "I don't eat anymore. "I go What? She goes, well, that one day that, you know, you saw me with all those honey buns, like "I know "I have to eat better, but we don't have anything better. So "I just don't eat. you know, that kind of made me take a step back of it's easy to point out and acknowledge like, we can't have that. But how do we set 'em up for success, for smart choices and decisions and, you know, what's available in the lunchroom. We have a program down in Alabama where, you know, breakfast is provided at the school. either, they have to pay for or for free and reduced, you get it. Same thing for lunch, but after school meals, which considered the dinner. That is a free program. So that's been a non-negotiable, especially for our track kids. Which one? That girl is, um, like, Hey, you're gonna go get that, and then you're gonna come down to practice. And that has helped her out tremendously of All right. What's, what's good choices that "I can make outta that and. going through the lunch menu and being like, Hey, they're offering this, this, this. If we're looking performance wise, what do we wanna do on that? if you're gonna get crushed in workout today, yeah, it's okay to have. Like we need some kind of sugars and fats back in you. But the biggest thing that I've found that helps the most get kids to understand, especially in the dog days of summer when it's hot and I'm not eating well, "I as like weighing in daily and showing the importance of our body weight. Getting back to where it needs to be, what are the steps that we need to take through the hydration portion? Just the food portion and trying to get that back so and "I know that's very tough to do on girl side. And yes, "I, we don't do that on the girl side, but "I, football wise, we, we weigh those kids in daily and then kind of look at and lead those dis discussions of like, Hey, what are we having? Or Hey, "I, need you guys to try to get extra protein today? And then we can question 'em out. Um, ask 'em about like, Hey, what extra protein did you get today? Hey, well, coach "I, uh, ended up getting beef jerky here. It's like, perfect. But making those conscious efforts make it relatable and not just something of like, you gotta have your meats, you gotta have your cheeses, you gotta have X, Y, and Z. that has helped kind of bridge that gap for them to make better decisions

Luke: 26:42

the one thing you referenced was about how affordable eating healthy is. And it's, it really frustrates me that we preach how important it is, but yet it's not accessible to every kid. With the example that you gave, uh, a few minutes ago and "I, "I see the exact same thing where I'm at and kids just kind of have to eat sometimes. What's affordable and what's affordable in this country is the dollar menu at McDonald's. So trying to, to make that all work. But, What would you say is the biggest change that young athletes can make right now and it's an easy change that will improve their overall? Nutrition and ultimate performance in sport.

Brad: 27:24

I. Trying to think of "I. "I got two in my, here's the two in my head, and one is people be like, well, that's not eating. "I would say the hydration aspect. "I is huge on that. and everybody's like, oh, drink water, drink water, drink water. Which yes, you need to drink water, but it's also, they need to have the, the food to absorb that water. So yes, you wanna try to get in your at least a hundred ounces of water back in your body and flushing through the system on that. But to go hand foot with that, even though I'm drinking water and I'm not, I'm not sleeping more than five hours if you do anything, is try to get that extra hour of sleep starting right now with that. but those would be "I Think the easiest. for kids to do is to get a water bottle, a reusable one, and drink at least that four times a day. Cuz that should get you dependent on, you know, the 20, 30 ounces that will get you there a hundred ounces and whatever you're sleeping right now will get an extra hour

Luke: 28:16

yeah, that sleep piece is really frustrating. our strength coach at our school is always talking to our players about that because they're always, and our parents are always asking, Hey, what do you think about this protein that I'm gonna buy? And what do you think about the, and he's like, you want the greatest enhancer of performance? And it's free and we all have it, but we all neglect it. And you know, you see the science and we could do a whole episode because we're in high schools and we see what's happening and these kids are like, they're zombies throughout the day. and then they, uh, you know, have a couple energies and energy drinks and do it all over again. You know, so, but let's not go down that rabbit hole yet, but let's stay with health and fitness because the other thing, "I know that "I have seen it firsthand, and I'm sure you have as. Is as kids start to become more fit and believe more in their healthiness, that it ultimately leads to confidence. And again, when they're confident in that room, may it's the weight room, for example. They're not being confident in other rooms like the math class. It's unbelievable how it all ties together. So how do you build confidence through your training regime? Because "I think that's so important to keep 'em coming.

Brad: 29:30

Well, "I "I think kids realizing where they're at and kind of obviously knowing some of their numbers, but realizing that they are making improvements on it. The, the speed side of things when we're measuring it is a really easy to show a kid like. Hey "I, remember when he used to run that 7, 8 40 and now we're down to six nine and the kid's like, yeah. And it's like, hey, you're working your tail off and that's why you made that much game. And then for me to call that kid out in front of like the whole team "I, like, guess who's dropped it, darn near second in their 40. Like, that doesn't, that doesn't happen in like two years, let alone we're. you know, six months and the kids get excited for it. But you look at a kid who might not produce it all on a Friday night, but we've used training and showing hard work pays off by. appreciating and, and highlighting and showcasing that of like, yeah, your, your hard work's working and that transfers over to what they're doing to have confidence with that. I've always said that, um, even for our best kids, "I had a state champ "I the last two years and the hundred for girls is like happy and healthy as a and confident person is the best. So "I think all that ties in together, you know, if they're understanding that what I'm. Working out wise, "I like, Hey, I'm making progress in here. Oh my gosh, look how much stronger "I am because we're tracking numbers on it. Oh, "I. "I. Feel better moving cuz I'm faster. Oh my flexibility's better. just showing like, Hey, you're happy. Yep. Oh, we're healthy right now. Yeah. And it's like you're confident. Yes. It's like you're untouchable. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. And "I always think if you can get kids with confidence, like there's no limit on 'em. It's usually. You know, Steve Jones has a good book, uh, the Twin Thieves, the Fear of Judgment and Fear of Failure. That always kind of cripples kids of always worrying about that, but it's alright, we're gonna build you confident where hey, you guys should kinda feel like you're bulletproof and then you just watch that kind of blossom and you help support it. And "I think recognizing. all those little wins as a coach for those individual kids just helps that confidence be even bigger. And it doesn't have to be your best kid. Doesn't have to be your worst kid, but being aware of when that's happening and being able to point that out, "I, just think it keeps pushing kids in the right direction for that.

Luke: 31:44

Yeah, and "I think those little wins are the coolest parts of coaching. And what keeps me coming back and energize each and every day to celebrate those little wins. And you know, everybody has them. It's our job to find 'em. It's our job to make sure that we are. Noticing those kids and notice 'em public "I, it, it does matter. so "I "I completely agree with, with that philosophy. "I also agree with the philosophy of teaching speed. You know, there's some people "I it is gotten better, but, you know, 15 years ago people thought you can't make people faster. We all know that's not true. So Give us some free hacks to teaching speed. Like what are some important fundamental steps that coaches need to do regardless of sport, to teach speed to their athletes?

Brad: 32:29

"I "I. Think you gotta make it purposeful and meaningful that you need to go full speed in something or no speed. Like even when I'm demoing something. "I "I might have a kid walk through it, but then I'll be like, all right, go max. Give all your effort you have because "I, here's how "I "I view speed for most kids. Uh, it's a little different now that three year, well, you know, going into year three of how we do stuff in the district, so it's, kids are farther along than I've ever had before at a younger age. And "I feel like I'm in uncharge of waters, but, I "I feel like if you watch a three-year-old, four-year-old, probably when your kids were a little run around, like you'd have to tell 'em to stop running. Well somewhere, when they start sports, all of a sudden them freely running as fast as they can, a governor gets put on because when you have to run, it's for conditioning.

Luke: 33:19

Right, for

Brad: 33:20

if fast kids know how to fake it, your Joey try hards will try hard, and your slow kids are gonna get yelled at for going too slow and they're gonna. Well, all of a sudden that governor's put on and kids just know like, all right, "I, gotta save myself, save myself, save myself. To really unlock that, I think you gotta go full speed or no speed, because we could go through speed drills and you'll watch some kids just kind of go through the motions. Well, that's not gonna change, that's not gonna re hardwire any kinda movement pattern or sprinting. So that could be even the way you attack high needs. Like, Hey, we need to go. Hard for five yards, 10 yards as fast as you can, a lot of steps because if they're just going through it because, oh, we need to warmed up like it, it doesn't benefit anybody in that. so that'd be my, one of the things that "I try to do. So like even when we're ascap, we wanna be aggressive or hard on that. Once you feel like kids are really good at a certain movement, if it's high knees, if it's a skips, "I will, change their upper. Position. So hands go on the hips, they could hug themselves arms out because it puts your body at different balances. So it makes it adapt differently. So when they go back to just running regularly, they'll have a change cuz it challenges the body. "I might tell 'em to look to the left or the right while we're doing some of those drills. And the reason why "I think that carries over a lot, besides being running a hundred on the. No sports gonna be straight ahead like that. And then when 33% of the game for football is you're looking in one direction, your body's moving in the other direction, we should probably tie that into our everyday movements and drills. So that would be a easy thing to do. And you'll watch kids be like, Hey, look to the left and skip Who look coordinated would go super uncoordinated. But that's a really good thing, and don't freak out as a coach. Be like, oh my gosh, that looks bad. Everybody stop. Let 'em organically figure that out because the body's gonna figure out the best way to move in the most efficient way once we got the governor off. So those are some easy, like "I, like changing that stuff up and challenging the kids, even if it's like, okay, we're always gonna do this warmup or these drills. That's a quick fix. keep challenging body and making it progress through there. And so those are a couple things "I like doing for speed. Another thing for speed is like what we talked earlier, like race or chase "I. Think just putting kids in those situations and depending on what you're doing, helps take that governor off and keeps that governor off and keeps kind of pushing that needle forward to getting Max suffered out of him.

Luke: 35:50

The thing "I struggle with is volume you know, "I tell my kids you have to run fast to get fast. You wanna get faster, you have to run fast, which is essentially what you're talking about as well. And "I, "I do the same things with the race to chase the time as we discussed. "I "I don't understand the volume, so help out novices like myself on how we could monitor the volume. Cause "I know once the volume gets to be too much, now you're no longer speed training.

Brad: 36:16

Okay, so the way "I look at it, if your timing stuff, um, there's a bunch of different research out there. DB Hammer did a lot like a 95 thing. 95% what? Your drop off. So let's say that we're running forties, you're running 46. Actually, let's just make it easy cuz "I, I'll, I'll say, let's say "I. Run a five flat. All right, we're gonna run another one. "I run a five flat. All right, my next one, "I run. A five three "I would stop because "I 5.25 would be that 95% threshold. So we'd auto-regulate that. So the way "I look at it is "I like to plant the seed slowly, water the garden, knowing. Hey, when we're in the off season, we're not playing a football game until August. So "I don't need 'em in tiptop shape today. So let's say "I run a 40. Next time I'm up is about four or five minutes around. Another one on that third one, "I fall off. We're done. Let's say if "I could handle the third one, well maybe instead of having five minutes rest in between, Hey, I'm gonna give you three minutes. So now we're doing those three sprints with less rest and the time the season comes, I'm just gonna pull the rest throughout the off-season on it. and "I really kind of just dictated by that when you're racing and chasing, "I usually go by how the volume of the kids and why "I say that, cuz you know your skill guys are gonna talk crap the whole time. And usually your old lineman will talk crap to your D lineman if you got 'em competing. So, the way "I "I look at my mind is if you go pull off huddle tape, how many plays per series do you do? Okay, we average 5.5 on offense and 5.8 on defense. Okay? Let's just say easily. six plays, a series. All right? There's gonna be 45 seconds in between. So if I'm doing some kind of agility or racing or, or chasing, all right, maybe we will every 45 seconds "I have to go. We're gonna do a six play drive. So that'd be kind of my standard. That could be something as easy as like me and you just going against pro agility against each other. Cause All right, that takes under five seconds. I'm back up in 45. We'll figure out there. if I'm doing something a little bit longer, like a straight on 40 or a 50 "I might give full recovery in between that if we're starting today in, you know, in. Full recovery would be is they said every 10 yards. You need about a minute. if you wanna do a 50. All right, gimme five minutes and then "I could probably hit that same time again throughout the off season. I'm just gonna pull back the rest time cuz that will stack my sprints and we can get more of those in. So "I kind of got it like that and "I slowly bring it along. Cause "I never wanna "I, don't wanna flood the garden right away cause. "I feel. If you flood the garden right away, your skill guys will put a governor on, and that's the last guy. You wanna flood the garden because that's the guys you don't want cramping up on Friday night. So if we don't flood the garden with 'em and can get max effort out of 'em, we're working on speed and agility and game stuff that'll transfer over to practice and their efforts on there. Not putting cruise control. And then you're not worried about them being out series of, oh man, why is he shutting down? Oh, "I need him two ways. How are we gonna be able to judge all this?

Luke: 39:21

So you have me on everything, but there's one thing that makes me a little. "I don't know. A little jumpy. And this is the practice with tempo in me. Uh, the, the five minute break. And first of all, "I agree with you. "I, read the science too, "I agree with you. Tell me what you're doing during that five minute break because the o c D in me sees kids given wet willies or just like, Hey, stop it. Or, you know, what, what are they doing in those five?

Brad: 39:49

So are we looking training wise or are we looking practice wise?

Luke: 39:52

I'm talking right now for, like, for me, again, I'm being selfish. My off-season training we're, we're doing speed training and "I have to give them that five minute, four minute whatever rest, what they should be doing there in that time.

Brad: 40:04

let's say you got a group of 20 running forties and you're the only guy with stopwatch, "I going back like, Hey, you're gonna run your 40. Yes "I want you walking to the back of the line as you're just clicking the, the next time they get back up to the front of the line to run the next one, it's gonna be about four or five minutes. So they stay in line, they breathe, they might be talking whatever, and it's like, Hey, make sure you guys are paying attention, getting ready, uh, just setting it up like that. And you don't have to worry about like, okay, we got everybody sprint, because if you want to and when you need that long, Is when you're timing and you're working on max velocity and max speed on that. So that could be anything, like 10 yards would be a minute, but you could break that into like, Hey, you're gonna go hard for 10. It should take you to the 30th. Slow down. Alright, you're gonna walk back. Once we get back, we're right back up. That builds it in without wondering like, no, just stand there for a little bit and then we'll come back. building that stuff in will help with it. I'll also have 'em do like, Hey, you're gonna run well when we're done with that. Okay? We're gonna do some kind of prehab. So that could be like, Hey, "I, need you over there. We're gonna work our, our shoulder mobility. Anything like that. Uh, hey, you're gonna do some ankle mobility before your next run. Oh, you're gonna hold some isometric. So "I need you to go right ankle "I need to go left ankle. Okay, we're gonna hold that. Um, the easiest way for kids. Sometimes it's, Hey, your mouth is gonna be shut and "I. You're gonna take 10 breaths on your right foot up a high on your right toe. alright, you're gonna do it on your left toe. If you look at like Cal Spring ankles, those would be good things to do. And if you tell a kid to breathe through his nose, his mouth gotta be shut. And the only thing be concentrated on is breathing, so you shouldn't hear anything down there

Luke: 41:40

Yeah. Right.

Brad: 41:41

So that would help with like, oh my gosh, there's, there's too much rest time or anything, but just plugging in some of those things of non speed stuff or, Hey, you're gonna run your 40. All right. You can do your hurdle and mobility right here, and then when you're done with that, we're right back in line. Those would be really good things to plug in there that it's not all right, we're just making 'em tired or wasting time to make 'em tired. Like there's some, a lot of beneficial things that we, we could do in between those that won't impact their, their sprint on that or their max effort.

Luke: 42:13

Yeah, "I like those ideas for sure, because idle hands with high school kids, you know what happens. that's definitely the way "I like to think is let's get two things done at once. And "I really like that idea of incorporating like the prehab stuff is great.

Brad: 42:26

"I mean even. I'm just throwing out saying out loud. "I mean if "I know "I just got done sprinting. Okay. What's something up top that "I could do? Okay, we're gonna do tennis ball catches. Hey, we're gonna go 20 each side. All right. You're back in line like. "I would keep "I busy. Okay. Now we're working on our hand eye coordination, which is pretty "I for the game of football or whatever, you know, sport we're doing. So we're working on that skill. Well, it's tied into everything else we're doing. It's just segmenting out that way and the kids can just kind of filter through, uh, you know, if you're by yourself and individually and you got a bunch of kids, it, it would help out on that.

Luke: 43:00

So now we're gonna go full circle and go back to. Talk about other sports. You've, coached 'em all, you've played multiple sports. What are your thoughts on multi-sport athletes? Uh, do, do you recommend it? Do you think it's important? It's, all over Twitter these days and everybody has their opinions. We're seeing less and less kids play multiple sports. It's becoming a more specialized industry. What are your thoughts?

Brad: 43:25

I. Think for multi-sport athletes to work. it's gotta be kid-centered. And that's where the coaches need to be kid-centered on it because you could say, Hey, "I want multi-sport guys as a football coach. "I could say, "I want my kids out for track. But if "I were to say, Hey, "I want you out for track, but "I need you on the field every day throwing, um, you need to be doing X, Y, and Z and be showing up beforehand, after hand, all that kind of stuff. "I don't know how that message looks of, Hey, "I want you to do multi-sport, but you need to be doing this otherwise. "I. "I do think that kids only have so much in 'em and you start burning the candle at both ends, that leads to injury. "I do think there's a lot of opportunities out there for kids. I'm not saying they're great opportunities, but if "I wanted to go play on a seven on seven league today, like some team would pick me up if "I wanna play aau, tomorrow morning, like yeah, "I would have something. Oh, there's another camp, or invite or showcase. "I mean. you could just type in Google and you could find something for every day of the week. So the kids being kid centered and what "I say by that is like, so we have a good number of basketball football players who play basketball that also do track well in Alabama, you in your off season for football, you get 10 weeks that you get two hours a week that you could do football skill stuff. Well, "I do understand for kids to be better at. their skills. Gotta get better. You get better at football by playing football. We gotta work on our skill of football. "I do understand for basketball to be better at basketball. It doesn't ma like, yes, the weight room matters. speed matters. All that explosiveness matters. But if "I can't shoot a basketball, doesn't matter. Not at all. So that skill has to work. But for our balancing act right now that we have for our kids, Like Monday "I know that "I can get after it with our track kids Well, Tuesday I could do recovery with them out on the track, which I'll do a couple things. We'll we'll tie in there for isometrics movement, hurdle mobility. But you know what? Also really good like sub max recovery stuff. going catching balls, working on football stuff. So football will actually use their one hour for their 10 weeks on Tuesdays. We work that out as coaches. Wednesday "I know, Hey, "I could get after you a little bit with speed stuff, so we'll do some speed stuff. Well, basketball after school on Thursdays, because it'd be kind of more of a preme recovery like "I don't need much. Kids will go shoot hoops for 45 minutes and then they'll come out for track work handoffs, block. then we gotta meet on Friday. "I think that way is like best case scenario on it. and "I, "I give a lot of credit to all our coaches that have been like, yeah, let's, let's do what's best for kid. Oh, you gotta, you got this going on. Okay, we'll adjust that. And "I think if you're in a situation, yes, that is hugely ideal and "I think that's kid keeping kids centered. But I've been in other situations where coaches have had their guards up and not trust you. "I been like, well, "I, it's about the program. It's about the program. Well, the program's nothing without kids. I, try to make sure that "I want kids to have opportunities. "I want kids to be able to say like, Hey, "I did this and understand that "I. No "I. I'm gonna put 'em in a rock and a hard spot and "I, "I get it. That sometimes maybe you has to get to that point, but if you can work it out, coaches beforehand and kind of see like, Hey, what works best for this? Hey, this is what I'm thinking. Like, Hey, we need to get this through. Like spring football starts with us the week that we have sectionals for track. Well, our kids were already told if you make sectionals for track and. "I "I said it was, Hey, you guys won't, you'll be at spring ball practice after track, but like you're not putting the pads on and if you make it a state, we'll get you after that and we'll be fine. You can still play in the spring game and like our baseball players right now are fully in baseball and you know, they're lifting and doing that stuff with the baseball program, but they're not expecting and "I be at football. And we're a huge school. 2200 "I, don't know how many big school programs, um, enough coaches are able to put their egos down. "I "I "I Trust one another. But "I "I think that, yeah, "I "I promote the heck outta multi-sport athletes because "I think if it's able to happen with the coaches and the setup "I, think "I. It's best case scenario for em.

Luke: 47:44

well "I agree with you and you know, the one thing "I think about is. Is, it's the kids' experience. It's not our experience. And I. See See way too many coaches make it about them and "I get it. "I li "I. Live the life. There's a ton of pressure to win. plus you want to win, you put in so much work to win and a kid being in there you feel like is going to detract from your ability to do those things. But we have to keep it, as you said, kid centered and remember we've had our four years of high school, this is their trip to navigate and we need to get out of the way sometimes and it's our job to make it all work. And if we don't, then "I don't think we're doing a a great job of living up to that title of coach in my.

Brad: 48:28

and you know, the kids will, uh, gravitate to what they, like or don't like or will be honest with it and it's not holding grudges against it. Cuz at the end of the day, "I, you know, "I think the main reason you get into coaching is to give back and build relationships. And you have good experiences and you want, or maybe you didn't have a good experience, but you want to give good experiences. And, you know, it's not about what they do for you, but it's about who they are and how you can help with. And, you know, a hundred percent of, uh, what you said is like, you know, sometimes coaches make it about themselves, but I mean and the grand scheme of thing, and that's what "I said earlier, like, is running a 40 tomorrow morning gonna make or break a kid for next season? Not really in the performance phase, but just knowing that. Hey, "I, care about 'em and we're gonna do what's best for you. And not like, oh, "I don't care if, yeah, you had to do that this weekend for another sport, like you're still gonna do this. "I, "I, just "I, don't know how you can continue to be successful year in and year out doing that to kids and "I. Think there's, you're gonna have a greater impact by being able to keep them. First thing "I mind.

Luke: 49:33

That's a perfect way to wrap up. What was an awesome episode? "I could talk to you for hours on this, especially the speed. Part "I mean "I. "I. Just, there's so much that I'm intrigued with, being a football coach has turned into a game of speed and "I think it's something that's really untapped and misunderstood and something that I'm trying to continue to learn about. So, thanks for sharing that knowledge with us and look forward to continuing to talk more with you about how we can properly teach speed in the mechanics and how to measure volume and all these things. "I reference that, that I'm still.

Brad: 50:08

it's a endless cycle of, you know, continuing to evolve and see what works and getting feedback and I'm just enjoying the ride. And "I really appreciate you having me on here.

Luke: 50:17

And "I. In closing, give our listeners just one great resource that you recommend in the area of performance and, uh, fitness training.

Brad: 50:30

"I "I would say it would change my like whole lines of looking at a sports performance lens, um, on things was the track and football consortium. "I started going there about seven years ago and just that changed how "I viewed speed and looked at speed and they have. A lot of stuff online, a lot of different videos, and they've had a lot of outside the box thinkers of what's, Hey, traditionally we've always done this and "I it has really helped me kind of evolve and continue to evolve of, you know, what's best practice and what's helps out and what's, measuring what matters and kind of keep moving the needle in the right direction to make the kids who are in front of you better. So that, that's been a, a huge resource that "I would, uh, recommend to.

Luke: 51:15

Well thanks for sharing that and you too are a great resource and to our listeners, "I will have Coach Forney's email address, so feel free to reach out to him cuz as you could tell from this episode, he is a wealth of knowledge and very passionate in this area. Uh, of coaching. So feel free to, and I'm speaking for you right now, "I. Hope you don't mind. But feel free to reach out to Coach Ney if you're interested in learning a little bit more about, uh, his program and how to properly teach speed as well. And with that coach, thanks again for being on the "I win this afternoon.

Brad: 51:45

Thank you.