Track and Field training and education articles from the Texas Sports Academy coaches and athletes who live it.
Beginners usually want the vault to look more advanced before they can control it. The run, grip, and plant fundamentals, the four-stage straight-pole progression, when the pole should actually start bending, and the safety checks that come before every vault.
Aug 24, 2026
You don't need to show up to freshman track already knowing your event or your best time. What the first two weeks of practice actually look like, how JV and varsity placement works, what the first meet feels like, and how to balance track with schoolwork.
Aug 24, 2026
A distance runner fuels differently from a sprinter or a thrower, and a growing body has demands training doesn't pause for. How high school track and field athletes should eat each day, fuel around school and practice, plan meet-day nutrition, and recognize the warning signs of underfueling.
Aug 24, 2026
Hurdling is a rhythm event, not sprinting with obstacles in the way. Official high school hurdle heights and spacing, how the 3-step rhythm works, what the lead leg and trail leg each do, and the drills that build real technique in a first season.
Aug 24, 2026
The triple jump is one continuous movement divided into three deliberate phases: the hop, the step, and the jump. What each phase does, how the event differs from the long jump, what phase ratios reveal, and the staged progression beginners should follow.
Aug 24, 2026
Relay races are often decided inside the exchange zone. The rules that make a handoff legal, how the blind 4x100 exchange and the visual 4x400 exchange actually work, and how to fix the timing and target-hand problems that cost teams races.
Aug 24, 2026
The 400m is one lap divided into four deliberate segments, and the race goes to whoever slows down the least. What each segment demands, why the 200m split is the most honest number in the race, and how to build a race plan before stepping on the track.
Aug 24, 2026
Overuse injuries are a persistent problem in high school track and field. How to recognize shin splints, jumper's knee, hamstring strains, and heat illness early — and what to do when the signs appear.
Aug 13, 2026
An 11.1 in the boys' 100m may make one Division I recruiting board and miss another. How to read published track and field recruiting standards against real rosters, and what coaches check before an offer.
Aug 13, 2026
Most new athletes call themselves sprinters. A veteran coach explains how warm-ups, time trials, and the first meets reveal each athlete's real event profile across sprints, hurdles, jumps, throws, and distance.
Aug 13, 2026