What if your sprint program mirrored core principles observed in nature, redefined speed training methods, and shattered your previous plateaus?


Speed, and perhaps even more notably, sprint acceleration, is at the top of the list in most performance programs.  The problem is that those programs don’t typically consider:

  1. That athletes (natural problem solvers) have been sprinting and accelerating since childhood
  2. That strength and structure determine a large amount of one’s exhibited sprint technique
  3. That human beings, standing upright on two legs, need to harness rotational power to reach their explosive movement potential


Athletes are tremendous learning machines, yet that learning process is often short-changed in the speed development process.  

Most Speed Training Programs:

  • Work exclusively in a “2D” (front to back) manner while ignoring our rotational, “3D”, nature.

  • Use excessive low-level drills, instead of high-transfer sprint problem-solving (constraints)

  • Don’t consider the role that strength, ribcage motion and compression, plays in sprint technique.

  • Ignore specific muscle tensioning and plyometric adaptations while over-straining in the pursuit of general strength levels.

We see substantial rotation present in elite acceleration and sport movement, yet we rarely give it much thought in training.Athletes need a sprint acceleration program that reflects their rotational nature as human beings.   They deserve training that demands the most out of their problem-solving abilities, by prioritizing sprint constraints, over excess drill-work and “over-controlling” sprint instructions.  

They need to achieve enough general strength to easily overcome “static friction”, but they also need to keep strength and power work dialed in on the needs of athletic speed over time.

Humble Beginnings in Sprint Acceleration

I’ve long been on a journey of athletic outputs, with speed as a priority.   

From my early days sprinting 40-yard dashes with clunky thigh weights, to my 14 years coaching NCAA DI and DIII track and field, to training a wide variety and age-range of clients seeking improved sprinting and athletic movement, I’ve been obsessed with speed for a while (to put it lightly).

As much fun as it’s been, it’s been a long path of trial and error.  I’ve had early coaching successes in my 20’s, (such as a 55m dash national champion my 2nd year coaching) but I also had plenty of athletes who, as soon as I gave them common instructions to their sprint technique, would get slower. I would watch them move powerfully, yet be confused as to the actual strategies they were using to be fast, that went beyond my biomechanical knowledge at the time.  

So often, how athletes chose to move, on their own “broke the mold” of what I was accustomed to, from my traditional coaching education background, and I found myself struggling with how to move forward in their sprint development.

At the least, I had a backbone of good strength and power practices, but even those practices worked better for some athletes than others! All in all, I helped a lot of athletes improve their sprint power, but as I’ve learned and evolved my speed training process, I realize I was still leaving a lot on the table for many individuals in both the biomechanical, and related power training elements. 

Tuning into The Natural Laws of Speed

Things started to turn in my 30’s when I started my podcast and gained a tribe of mentors on the levels of biomechanics and movement, spearheaded with my mentorship under Adarian Barr.  Through years of study and careful observation, I was now starting to understand all of those sprint movement nuances I was blind to before, in both the field of play, and a weight room setting. 

This started to snowball as I started coaching youth club track, noticing the way athletes innately moved before they started getting “coached up” in everything. I also gained massive wisdom in constraint-oriented skill building through studying and conversing with the Olympic swim coaches I worked with as a strength coach.

Although this process has required me being routinely humbled by our body’s innate intelligence.  Through it all, I have seen and felt, more and more each year, the genius of the body’s problem solving ability, and furthermore, how to work with that patterning in a speed and movement program.

Joel's coaching concepts have helped Sondre Guttormsen to a collegiate record pole vault, as well smashing his previous sprint PR's with a 6.98s 60m dash.

As the last decade has unfolded, I’ve better understood key concepts in the 2D, 3D, special-strength, and skill-learning space. I am regularly helping athletes to break through speed plateaus, in a way I wouldn’t have thought possible a decade ago.  

Going through it all, my current mission is to share the defining natural principles of human movement, power production, and skill-building in a way that leads to not only greater results, but also reflects the joy of the learning process.

Introducing Sprint Acceleration Essentials: A Guide to the Natural Laws of Sport Speed and Explosive Rotational Locomotion.

Sprint Acceleration Essentials has been one of my most rewarding projects to design, because it fits a need that is so wide-spread in not only speed training, but athletic development in general.  

That need is designing a training program around our problem-solving nature and embracing both the spring-like (2D) and rotational (3D) components of our bodies.    This is not only true for sprint acceleration, but for a wide variety of athletic movements!

Keys to Explosive Sprint Ability

Athletes learn best, not by repeating rote drills, but by solving movement problems on the edge of their ability!  This goes for any sport movement, sprinting included.  

Sprint Acceleration Essentials Will Help You:

  • Understand key concepts of movement and skill development (such as timing, gravitation, and “hardware”) that are critical, not only to acceleration, but a wide range of athletic abilities

  • Learn critical concepts of “constraint based” speed training from both a linear “2D” and rotational “3D” emphasis, in a way that naturally maximizes the role of the hips and ribcage

  • Understand how torque, and the lever action used in sprint acceleration can fit with resisted sprints, general, and specific strength/power training methods

Sprint Acceleration Essentials has 4 Primary Modules

Module 1: Key Principles of Locomotion and Explosive Movement

• Start with first principles of skill learning and the role that one’s individual strength, structure and compressive qualities play in defining sprint ability and technique

• Observe locomotion more effectively by understanding the key principles of timing, rotation and synchronization with gravity

Module 2: “2D” Sprint Acceleration Mechanics and Training

• Build on the base of movement “first principles” with the key phases of early, and sustained sprint acceleration

• Using these principles, build out highly effective sprint constraints that maximize natural lever systems, while avoiding common coaching pitfalls

Module 3: “3D” Sprint Acceleration Mechanics and Training

• Identify key rotational concepts, constraints and exercises, in acceleration

• Understand why good rotational ability can not only help one’s acceleration, but also make a better overall athlete

• See the critical basis of the “polyarticular” model of locomotion in sprint acceleration vs. the more popular “spring mass” model

Module 4: Strength and Plyometric Training for Explosive Acceleration

• Know the role of general strength in sprint acceleration, and learn key exercise adaptations to maximize specific outputs

What you’ll get in Sprint Acceleration Essentials

  • 4 Modules highlighting synergistic features of sprint acceleration, human locomotion, strength and skill development

  • Section quizzes

  • 2 free bonus interviews and presentations with game-speed experts

  • A 14-day no-questions-asked return policy

Bonus Material: Interviews with Field Leaders on Reactive Speed Training, Problem Solving and Game Speed Adaptations

Not only will you get the primary modules of the Sprint Acceleration Essentials with this purchase, but you’ll also get nearly 2 hours of awesome bonus interview material that furthers your speed training knowledge, into the critical realms of game-speed, and reactive athleticism.

Bonus Interview #1: Austin Jochum on “A Problem-Solving Approach to Speed Training”

  • Reasons why it is critical to use movement problems alongside, and woven into one’s speed training.
  • Problem solving sprint acceleration methods.
  • Problem solving maximal velocity methods.
  • Context driven speed training (game-based constraints).
  • What to truly value in a sports performance program.

Bonus Interview #2: Jamie Smith on “Sticky” Speed Solutions: Drill Less, Learn More

  • Key concepts in manipulating speed training tasks and checking critical motor learning boxes.
  • Improving “sticky speed” via situations of “drop-in, chase, chaotic, obstacles, sensory, and unfavorable."
  • How to optimize the learner-centered nature of speed training in a total performance program.


Pricing Options

Don’t miss out on this chance to gain a deep understanding of not only sprint acceleration, but key movement principles related to athletic torque production, lever systems, and constraint-based skill development.  

I guarantee you won’t see athletic movement the same way after taking this course, and your training results will speak to your new lens of the athlete development process.  

Results of My Sprint Training Methods with Clients

“We have been working with Joel for the past three years, and it has been a huge success. In my younger years, I was never considered a fast athlete, with my 100m personal best at 17 years old standing at a mere 12.50 seconds. However, since training with Joel, I have become one of the fastest pole vaulters in the world. This winter, I ran the 60m in 6.98s, and reached a top speed of 9.8m/s on the pole vault runway. ”

Sondre Guttormsen

“Since working with Joel and getting farther and farther away from the typical "robotic, drill-centered" approach to speed; I am running faster and better at 30 than I was in college and in my early 20's. I have improved my 20-yard dash time by well over .3s and my 40-yard dash time well over .4-5s, even seeing a 4.6 for the first time ever! Joel's approach to speed training, the lens in which he views biomechanics/locomotion and motor learning is fascinating. The most powerful "drills" that Joel's system provides are: embodiment of the process, having meaning during every training session, and ACTUALLY learning how to move better. Through Joel's work, I have had the best performance gains I have ever had!”

Trevor Harris

“Working with Joel, I developed my athleticism and force production on the track. Over the past year, I have won three NCAA DIII National Titles and two runner-up finishes. I also broke the Indoor 60-meter hurdles DIII National Record (8.33) and I hold the top 5 fastest all-conditions times in the DIII 100 meter hurdles. But besides hurdling, I became a much faster sprinter. Over the summer, a focus was on acceleration-based workouts, and what a game-changer that was! I dropped half a second in the 100m dash (11.71), and .4 in the 60m (7.66). I had a great time working with and learning from Joel, as well””

Birgen Nelson

Don’t forget, Sprint Acceleration Essentials is completely risk free!

To help take any stress out of having “Sprint Acceleration Essentials” on your human performance learning list, I am giving you a no-questions-asked, 100% money back guarantee.

Go through the Sprint Acceleration Essentials course and bonus material, and if you didn’t love the course, and aren’t satisfied with your purchase, send me an email letting me know within 14 days of your purchase, and I’ll give you an immediate refund, no questions asked, and no hard feelings.  I’m devoted to your growth in athletic development, so if Sprint Acceleration Essentials isn’t what you are looking for, then I want you to be able to use that money elsewhere! 

Joel Smith signature

PS: Creating this course has been a rewarding experience, as I see daily, the power of the athlete’s problem-solving ability as multiplier of coaching creativity.  The combination of observational skill, along with a problem-solving mentality, helps us better build out relevant constraints, have meaningful training conversations, and ultimately, allow individual athleticism to shine through it all.  The model is true for human movement, and for life itself.  The more we can truly challenge ourselves in problem solving, the more we learn and grow on a variety of levels.  I hope you can make the investment, and join me on this rewarding journey. 

Pricing

More Reviews

Ryne Beck

5 star rating

“I wish I knew more about the rotational aspect of sprinting in school. I feel like this course has filled those gaps. Looking at sprinting in a 3D aspect is a game changer for me!”

“I wish I knew more about the rotational aspect of sprinting in school. I feel like this course has filled those gaps. Looking at sprinting in a 3D aspect is a game changer for me!”

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Dario Saisan

5 star rating

“Joel did it again with this one! Being able to learn from Joel's 20 years of experience and everything that he has come up with for that silly of a price is UNREAL. Like you could really spend 10-15 years training your coaches eye, coming up with ...”

→Read More

“Joel did it again with this one! Being able to learn from Joel's 20 years of experience and everything that he has come up with for that silly of a price is UNREAL. Like you could really spend 10-15 years training your coaches eye, coming up with constraints and understanding what biomechanical actions matter for elastic sprinting ability while going through trial & error OR you can just take a shortcut, eliminate the error and learn it within a week from Joel. Again, I highly recommend this to anyone interested in speed training. If you don't adopt these principles & take this information served to you on a silver plate you're honestly wasting time.”

→Read Less

Michael Blaylock

5 star rating

“Joel has a tremendous knowledge base on Sprinting. His ability to deliver content might be one of the best in the business. His Sprint Essentials Course is thorough look at the running cycle. The way he presents his materials gives trainers a g...”

→Read More

“Joel has a tremendous knowledge base on Sprinting. His ability to deliver content might be one of the best in the business. His Sprint Essentials Course is thorough look at the running cycle. The way he presents his materials gives trainers a great lens in what to look for and how to improve each area. So many gems within this course and the materials are applicable immediately. Highly recommend to trainers and runners that want to improve their running skills and get faster. ”

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Tyler Liesch

5 star rating

“I’ve been fortunate to know Joel for a few years now. Through getting to pick his brain in person and from listening to his podcast, he has always made me think more, and think differently as a coach. This course was no different. It’s not a cooki...”

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“I’ve been fortunate to know Joel for a few years now. Through getting to pick his brain in person and from listening to his podcast, he has always made me think more, and think differently as a coach. This course was no different. It’s not a cookie cutter course that tells you to do XYZ with your athletes. It challenges you to think more about why someone moves the way they do and what drills and exercises might help that person enhance their movement qualities. Overall I would 100% recommend this course to anyone in the S&C / Performance world. This course will challenge and help any coach who is looking to improve their craft and thinking skills. ”

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Jeremy Vickery

5 star rating

“Most online resources I've seen approach acceleration development by teaching which shapes *to put athletes in*, which power qualities or muscle groups need to be developed with resistance training, or which pieces of equipment to buy (sleds, 1080...”

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“Most online resources I've seen approach acceleration development by teaching which shapes *to put athletes in*, which power qualities or muscle groups need to be developed with resistance training, or which pieces of equipment to buy (sleds, 1080, etc.). These are all fine recommendations, but what happens when you're dealing with an advanced athlete: one who has already done 10 years of trying all that stuff, and they aren't getting faster? Or what happens when an athlete just can't get what you are trying to say? Sprint Acceleration Essentials grounds acceleration training philosophy into two main frameworks: Differential Learning and Constraints-Lead Learning. By changing the acceleration programming process into one of allowing athletes to find their own internal awareness of the solutions to acceleration problems, they can come away with something that outlasts the coach: the ability to accelerate with high quality in a variety of circumstances (race day, practice, in soccer, etc.). Anecdotally; as a Master's sprinter who also trains athletes, I use a lot of the recommendations in this course to reliably improve acceleration for my athletes, and have improved my own acceleration dramatically using the principles in this course. For example, my own time to 30 meters improved by about 0.2s within a few sessions, most of which came in the first 10 meters, after implementing some of the training in this course. The reason is simple: this course teaches the coach how to facilitate *the athlete* to own their own quality acceleration, while other courses I have seen typically emphasize training elements to dictate to athletes in the hopes that they listen and get better, which doesn't seem to work well in the long run, in my opinion.”

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At EveryMeal

5 star rating

“The course was well laid out and presented what I needed to know concisely but thoroughly. I would highly recommend it.”

“The course was well laid out and presented what I needed to know concisely but thoroughly. I would highly recommend it.”

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William Pogel

5 star rating

“2nd course I have taken from Coach Smith. Both are informative, well organized, and are applicable to coaching at the high school level. Overviews include detailed discussions cover a broad array of topics, include video analysis, and workout prog...”

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“2nd course I have taken from Coach Smith. Both are informative, well organized, and are applicable to coaching at the high school level. Overviews include detailed discussions cover a broad array of topics, include video analysis, and workout programming. I would love to see a course covering sprint mechanics for upright running and more sport specific programming. This was worth both my time and money. ”

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