The Les Spellman Podcast Importance of Early Acceleration & Coaching Team Sports with Dan Pfaff
Apr 4, 2023
Dan Pfaff, elite sprint and high-performance coach who trained Olympians and NFL stars, shares his approach to speed. He discusses early acceleration, microdosing max-velocity work, resisted runs and the force-velocity tradeoff. He also covers integrating speed into team schedules and managing player stress and recovery.
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Fence-Side Learning Changed A Coach
- Les drove from California/Arizona and stood on the fence to watch Dan coach when he couldn't afford the apprentice program.
- That single experience changed Les Spellman's coaching career and communication style.
Horizontal Teams Beat Siloed Experts
- High-performance teams must be horizontal and integrated rather than siloed and top-down.
- Dan Pfaff warns that specialists who don't understand sport demands or teamwork will fight with one arm tied behind them.
Domain Experience Matters
- Many speed coaches enter sports without sport-specific experience, which can lead to inappropriate training choices.
- Dan Pfaff highlights hockey dry-land examples where lack of domain knowledge causes more harm than good.