Football recruits and Track

[cincibuck]

As a retired track coach (Moeller 1982 - 2000) I'm excited by what I see in the bios of the newest Buckeyes. When you see sprinters and hurdlers who finished well up in state finals you know they've got speed, explosive strength, discipline and competitive intensity. I especially love it when you see kids who ran the 300 hurdles and the open 400 (talk about a strength events!) and the hurdlers have balance and body control. Looks like an excellent group and a promising next few seasons. Could be we won't need TGJr as a DB. In fact it looks like there's going to be a real dog fight for the DB spots.

 

[rocketman]

What I've always wondering about is what kind of conditioning is required to make a track athlete's abilities translate into football? I've always had a lingering feeling that track stars (Ginn being the perfect example) who play football tend to be more injury prone, maybe because they lack the muscle mass or composition in their legs to keep all their connective tissue in one place when they take hits. This also brings back the argument of "should Ginn hit the weight room and put 15 more lbs on?"

 

[cincibuck]

I've always had a lingering feeling that track stars (Ginn being the perfect example) who play football tend to be more injury prone, maybe because they lack the muscle mass or composition in their legs to keep all their connective tissue in one place when they take hits.

Not sure what you mean here Rocket. Our sprint and middle distance athletes were on the same weight program as the football players (and frequently were football players)... except for repetitions on lower body. And they got back to the regular strength program as soon as the season was over. Look at the kids in top track programs today. You don't see anybody out there who isn't in a lifting/running program. Running is lifting your own weight on each step.
What is gained is work on balance, explosion (watch the shot and disc guys and you'll see how important balance and explosive speed are, over and above strength) along with concentration and intensely personal competition... ain't no place to hide... What I have heard from sprinters is that track is all about running straight and that they don't get to work on cutting that they need for receiver/back workouts. It's not hard to add that to a workout. We used 20 and 40 yard wind sprints constantly. Put 'em on grass and let them run short and long patterns and you'd get the same aerobic benefit.

What I would add from personal experience is that when our kids were in track season we hounded them to get into the weight shed, lift and get out. The football kids not in our program spent a lot of time playing grab ass in between lifting and didn't run in off season. It showed up when two a days began in July and August, by which time it's too late.