PaceSetter Book

Speed Activities 6

The young athletes should be organised in groups of four or five, to perform a series of reaction tests. When the ‘on your marks’ command is given the young athlete adopts one of the following starting positions as instructed by the coach: Lying on back - head near start line Lying on front - head near start line Sat down holding knees - back to start line Box position - back to start line Box position - head near start line On the ‘go’ command, the young athletes must get up from the specified position and run as fast as they can a distance of approximately 10–20 metres. For all of the tests, the coach should be positioned in front and to one side of the start line to shout the commands. 6.3.3.4 Understanding the Starter Understanding the role and responsibilities of the starter is an important consideration for a sprinter. The starter calls the young athletes to their marks on the command 'on your marks'. At this stage the Starter's Assistant quickly checks that the young athletes are in the correct position with their fingers and toes behind the starting line. All the young athletes must be stationary before the starter will give the next command 'set'. Again the starter will wait for all the young athletes to be stationary before firing the gun. If there is any fidgeting in either the 'on your marks' or 'set' positions, the starter may ask the young athletes to stand up before beginning the starting procedure again. WEB COPY ©EVEQUE WEB COPY ©EVEQUE 5

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