Customer Reviews

Track & Field: The East German Textbook

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East Germany is gone, but their best coaches left a legacy of groundbreaking ideas and methods for training and racing in in this manual. Very thorough, covering jumps, javelin and shot put as well as running events. An important addition to everyone's track and field library.

An excellent read full of good information. Whether there is a drug taint to some of the information given it is hard to tell but nonetheless it is still a good text that most coaches will find informative and useful.

This is a very broad introduction into the East German system of training T&F events. Of course, the text is rather old, so some of the information may be outdated. It does not cover the flop style in the high jump, or the rotational style in the shot put. Of course, East German shot putters exclusively used the glide technique anyway, so this is not a major flaw. Also, the chapter on hammer throwing describes the old dragging technique rather than the modern pushing style.

Still, the book gives an overview of training in all T&F events from training for young beginners to the mature elite athlete. This gives the reader an excellent overview of training and ideology in East German track and field, a system that created a lot of great athletes. The price they paid may however have been too high, because despite that the book states that training track and field contributes to the people's general health, this may not have been the main goal of the system.

The book needs to be read critically, because it is also a piece of propaganda, but it should still be read! There's a lot of valuable material for the serious and curious coach and athlete.

One of the finest publications for any coach young or old in track and field and cross country. Fundamentals and training of all events from the beginning to the elite athlete. This is my third purchase of this text, newer publications. I have one of the original ones. We may not agree with some of the philosophies of the social teachings but the coaching and technical knowledge is excellent.
I have had some experience personally with some of the former East German teaching and this text is a necessity for a coaches library.