Coaching sub-10 sprinters: What works and what doesn’t with Steve Fudge

This week’s guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast is sprint coach Steve Fudge. Steve is the head coach at his own FudgeLdnProject, having guided several British sprinters to sub 10 and sub-20-second performances and a haul of 18 international medals, including with Jonnie Peacock.

Steve started out as an intern at the University of Washington in Seattle, followed by the Sports Institute in Brisbane and Queensland Sports Institute in Adelaide. Steve is here to talk about what he knows best – the principles of sprint training. He discusses posture, what to look for as a beginner and how to use it to build acceleration. There’s insight into Steve’s day-to-day drills and exercise selection, including the ones he is starting to move away from too.

For non-sprint-based sports, such as in rugby or football, Steve also gives us his advice on how to coach sprints and acceleration in a team environment. This includes his tips for coaching larger groups of up to 25 athletes and knowing the cues to look for in their exercise selection. Additionally, there’s a section on why speed coaches can also be considered people coaches, and why they could be said to “talk too much”. For all this and much more, hit the play button now.

This week’s topics:

• How Steve started as an intern in the US and Australia
• The principles of sprint training
• Posture, and how to use it when improving acceleration
• Assistance training and the use of sleds
• Steve’s day-to-day drills and exercise selection for posture
• The drills that Steve is moving away from
• Sprint training for football, rugby and other non-sprint-based sports
• Steve’s tips for coaching larger groups of 20 or more athletes
• Why can sprint coaches can “talk too much”