Speed and Success by Lukas Kamrath
One of our goals during our “year outside the box” is meeting people who think outside the box. Ryan Flaharty, the Senior Director of Athletic Performance for Nike, is one of these people and I could hardly believe my luck when I received the email saying that he was going to do a training session with me at the Nike world-headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
Ryan has trained many of the world’s leading athletes such as Serena Williams, Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson, to name few, and has been referred to as “the savant of speed.” What makes him different from the many other coaches out there? Many things. First and most notable is how knowledgeable and humble he is. It’s also clear that he truly cares about the people he works with.
His approach is really unique because his belief system is so unique. He doesn’t believe that you are either born with speed or not. Most coaches do. He believes that speed is trainable and that the training needs to be based on science and basic mechanics.
Growing up, Ryan was not the fastest kid. In fact, he told me a story about playing little league and being so slow that when he hit the ball far into the outfield, he still got thrown out before he could reach first base. With a desire to improve his speed, he started working with a track and field coach. He then began to learn that there were basic things he needed to know and do in order to run faster. Putting into practice what he learned, he became the fastest kid in school and crushed the idea that speed is innate. He then went on to play college football and even professionally for the San Francisco 49er’s … that is until his football career was unfortunately cut short by an injury.
The second key thing that Ryan shared with me that I hope to remember throughout my life is that “things don’t happen to you; they happen for you.” Meaning that if something seemingly bad happens in your life, like his injury in football, it is important to be patient because there will always be something better that will come out of it. Ryan is a great example of this because after recovering from his injury, he created a company called Prolific Athletes and has found a new and even deeper passion in teaching and training athletes.
During my training session, Ryan gave me lots of crucial advice and tips to help me become faster. I am committed to working on this during the year and in case you’re interested as well, here’s some of what he shared: 1) When you run, keep the bend in your arms at a 90 degree angle. Knees should also come up to 90 degrees. Your legs will follow your arms so focus on your arms first. 2) Bring your foot to the ground with power. The greater the force with which it hits the ground, the more it will propel you forward. 3) Lean forward when you run, like you’re looking over a cliff and when you are accelerating stay low much longer than you’d think.
He finished by saying that if you want to be the fastest you can be, you need to always run at 100%. Most athletes spend a great deal of their training conditioning. But by doing things like going for a jog, your body is not being trained to strive to achieve its maximum potential. Lastly, he gave me a great dynamic warm up that you can find here on YouTube.
My goal is to play professional soccer and Ryan gave me some key advice to take with me on and off the field. He stated, “You’re going to get cut from teams. Coaches will tell you you’re not good enough. You’ll lose championships.” He explained, if you look at things like this as being there to teach you something, that is how you will grow. Ryan believes the key to success is “grit” which is a combination of perseverance and passion. He has seen first-hand that talent will only get an athlete part way to their goals. In order to be a great athlete consistent hard work over long periods of time is the key to achieving success … and this is true in all aspects of life.
