Chatter and The Art of the Sprint

I’ve just finished both of above – and both excellent books in the topics that they cover.

Chatter is all about our internal voice, how it impacts us and what we can do to influence this internal chatter. It’s really well written, with Ethan Kross using his own experiences coupled with his research and that of others to support his suggested strategies. He finishes the book with 10 pages of tips, which in isolation would be great to know – however are even more powerful when contextualised throughout the previous 160 pages. One tip I tried recently, which I loved, is using your own name when engaged in your own chatter. This allows distance as opposed to immersion – and the subsequent ability to be more reasoned and almost productive in how you think/ponder on a problem. I particularly liked these 2 passages:

The closing chapter (pre the tips) has a discussion around one of Kross’ students asking the question – “Why weren’t we taught this sooner?” and it does make me wonder why so much of today’s neuroscience / well being / nutritional advice is lacking from teaching and education in general. Whilst you could suggest that some of the advice given above is common sense, having it backed up elsewhere makes it even more persuasive and really does pose the question – why don’t we teach this stuff more explicitly to children? For me, above definitely fits into my category of creating a healthy and productive individual, however I don’t hold out hope for such work to become part of mainstream education any time soon. In light of that, I hope I can use what I have learnt for good – and the book itself becomes far more widespread.

The second book – The Science of Speed and the art of the Sprint is a superb explanation of how to run fast (and in turn how to run well, full stop.) Tom Tellez is a longstanding coach, with huge experience matched by the success many of his athletes have had. The book is clear, concise and really helpful in developing my understanding around exactly how we run, from a bio-mechanical and physical perspective. He supports this with images and drills. The key idea of force into the ground and how/ where this occurs being wonderfully explained. Alongside why forcing knee drive is a mistake. I also found below striking:

Strength training matters, but needs good form to enable you to access and apply that force.

The section on arm movement and the process from back to front / relationship with the opposite leg and how the use of the arm is integral in developing force is brilliant. If only more of this was made a lot clearer on coaching courses.

Another book to re-read in the near future.