#17 Lee Taft – The Speed Guy
THE DAVID GREY REHAB PODCAST
Admiration for a Teacher-Turned-Coach and the Importance of Clear Communication in Gymnastics
The speakers discuss their admiration for Dan, a good guy with integrity, and highlight how he and other coaches started as teachers and worked their way up. They emphasize the importance of clear communication in coaching, particularly in gymnastics.
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What are the best ways to train athletes for speed and agility? In this episode of the David Grey Rehab Podcast, I welcome Lee Taft, aka “The Speed Guy”, who is one of the top athletic movement specialists in the world. Lee has spent much of this career teaching his multi-directional speed methods to top performance coaches and fitness professionals all over the world. Today, he’s here to share his expert insights with you!
Tune in as we talk about training for multi-directional speed, shifting from a drill mindset to a skill mindset for more successful training outcomes, how to use Lee’s Reactive Tier System to change movement and agility patterns, and more!
You’ll learn the 7 movement patterns he identifies and uses in coaching and training for speed, how to reintroduce speed and agility to both healthy and rehabbing athletes, and the powerful benefits of back peddling and backwards running/jogging.
“Human development is self-organization… I’m a fan of self-organization, but within correcting the self because if that self isn’t a strong fixture, we’ve got to correct it so that… self-organization actually means more.” – Lee Taft
Episode Timeline | What You’ll Learn:
00:14 – Introducing Lee Taft & The topics of today’s episode
06:10 – How do you learn and grow as a coach? Has teaching physical education helped you as a trainer?
12:24 – A day in the life of Lee & Why he posts controversial content on social media
17:51 – Lee’s approach to training athletes & Should we separate the sport from strength training?
22:08 – The 7 Movement Patterns & How to introduce them to athletes and integrate them into your training program
32:50 – Why self-organization and self-correction is important for athletes
36:21 – The Reactive Tier System: How do you change movement and agility patterns in a way that doesn’t mess up the athlete’s performance?
42:07 – The physics behind multi-directional speed
43:39 – Preparing athletes for speed training with functional flexibility through strength
45:40 – Using the Reactive Tier System for athlete rehabilitation
50:34 – The logistics of training for speed and agility
57:48 – The benefits of back peddling and backwards running and jogging
1:05:26 – Which 3 people would you bring to a deserted island?
“I’m big on improving the greater good. I think we’ve got to improve it for athletes to grow, to develop, but not make parents go bankrupt…” – Lee Taft
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Resources Mentioned:
Learn more about The 7-Patterns
Lee Taft, known to most simply as “The Speed Guy”, is highly respected as one of the top athletic movement specialists in the world. In the last 30 years, he has devoted the majority of his time training multi-directional speed to all ages and abilities. He has spent much of this time teaching his multi-directional speed methods to top performance coaches and fitness professionals all over the world. Lee has also dedicated countless hours mentoring up and coming sports performance trainers, many who have gone into the profession and made a big impact themselves. In addition, Lee has written several eBooks specifically on movement techniques and speed development.
Connect with Lee Taft:
Meet Lee over on his his website
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