Increase Speed enabling:
- Greater acceleration (start) out of the blocks
- Greater stride length and stride frequency
- Greater sprinting and long distance endurance
Increase Total Body Strength enabling:
- Farther Throws
- Longer and Higher Jumping
- Greater Force Production improving stride length
- Greater chance of avoiding injury
Track & Field Team Training Testimonials
Coach Wood has brought our speed and strength training to the next level. Coach Wood has worked with our sprinters and jumpers for two years and he brings to the table every day professionalism, enthusiasm, and expertise. Being a former Division 1 Track coach and Track athlete, I enjoy seeing my athletes being trained and treated like D1 or Pro athletes by Coach Wood and they respond. Whats great about Track and Field is that times don’t lie and we have been getting faster all season accountable to Coach Wood’s involvement and efforts.”
–Mike Theuerkauf Head Coach, NVRHS @ Demarest Track & Field, Cross Country
There are four criteria that I use to measure track coaches. The first and most basic is professionalism, broadly defined as the maturity and responsibility needed to be a minimally effective high school coach. Brandon Wood scores high in this area: he came to our practices on time, generally for more days than he was required, as a part-time coach on our staff; he came to motivated to work and not to socialize; and, though he was loved by our athletes, he clearly understood that his role was to help our athletes reach their potential and not to acquire a group of high school friends. The second criterion is knowledge. A coach with professionalism is useful as an extension of other, more experienced coaches, but lacks the background knowledge to script his own practices or competently address the more technical points of coaching track and field. Once again, Brandon Wood succeeded: he was far more than just an extra thumb on a stopwatch. In particular, Brandons understanding of running form and developing explosive quickness far surpassed that of any other coach on our staff, many of whom have coached for years. Further, Brandon was able to explain this expertise and, more often than not, demonstrate it clearly to our athletes. Coaches knowledgeable in running technique, particularly young ones, are not all that common, and Brandon was a particularly valuable asset to our team. The third measurement, passion, is a bit more intangible than the previous two. Though difficult to articulate, it seems to be an amalgam of intensity (not simply going through the motions in practice, for example, but making the workouts seem vital), charisma (a magnetism that extends beyond simply false optimism and flattery), and a willingness to coach everyone rather than either cherry-picking the studs or embracing the low pressure of the non-varsity athletes. Brandon cheered and cajoled like a maniac at even the easy practices, and, more importantly, he gained the respect of our athletes without pandering to them. Further, though I usually only gave Brandon the opportunity to work with our top-level varsity athletes, I often found Brandon working with freshman and our weaker athletes on his own. The final criterion is utility: did he fit a need on our team? Did he blend in well with the rest of our coaching staff? More plainly, did he solve problems or create them? Brandon Wood was incredibly useful. Anyone whos met him knows he is a very personable guy, and the other coaches genuinely enjoyed his presence. Better yet, his knowledge of technique not only filled a crucial void on our staff, but his workouts benefited the performances of all of our athletes, from sprinters to distance runners to jumpers to hurdlers to throwers. And the results speak for themselves: both our boys and girls programs finished ranked in the top 10 in Bergen County (The boys were #4, the girls were #10). I know Parisis was only looking for a short sentence or two, and not this long essay, so let me sum it up simply: Brandon Wood is a superb coach and a crucial part of the success of Demarest Track.”
–Kevin Walter Track Coach, Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest