Developing an Eye for Assessing Speed
Coaches who understand positional and biomechanical landmarks can quickly assess effectiveness of athletic movement. Lee will breakdown important landmarks coaches should identify during linear acceleration, lateral acceleration, retreating skills, shuffling and crossovers, and change of direction. He will briefly touch on landmarks for max velocity to help coaches assess mechanics.Lee Taft, known to most simple as “The Speed Guy”, is internationally known as one of the premier speed and movement coaches. He is the owner of LeeTaft.com and over the last 30 years he has devoted most of his time in-the-trenches, training multi-directional speed to all ages and ability. 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. Since 1989, Lee has taught foundation movement to beginning youngsters and helped young amateur athletes to professional athletes become quicker, faster, and stronger. Lee’s entire philosophy is based off one of his most notable quotes, “Learning athletic movement correctly from the start is the foundation for athletic success.”
With the release of Ground Breaking Athletic Movement in 2003, Lee revolutionized the fitness industry with his movement techniques for multi-directional speed. His innovated approach to training has impacted how athletic movement speed is taught. Lee brought to light the importance and fine points of the “Plyo Step”, “Hip Turn”, “Directional Crossover Step” and athletic stance. According to Lee, “Speed and agility done right is about making sure we marry the natural movements athletes have with effective and efficient body control to maximize speed and quickness”. Lee has presented to hundreds of sports performance events across the world and frequently presents his workshops and clinics, as well. He has produced numerous multi-directional speed and movement training instructional videos. In addition, he has contributed to the sports performance field with the creation of the National Sports Performance Association Speed and Agility Coach certification (CSAC).
Lee earned his BS degree in Physical Education from SUNY Cortland and his MS degree in Sports Coaching from United States Sports Academy. He holds certifications with the National Strength and Condition Association (CSCS), USA Weight Lifting Sports Performance Coach, Gray Institute for Functional Transformation Fellowship of Applied Functional Science (FAFs), and National Sports Performance Association Certified Weightlifting Performance Coach (CWPC)
