Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - EL820: Unleash Your Speed

Course Details

Do you need to support your dog more? Are you ready to finish your courses strong? Do you need more handling options? It’s all just within your reach but alas … you need a little more speed.

During the next six weeks, you will asked to dedicate 30-40 minutes of your time two to three times a week. You will also need to perform daily mobility exercises lasting 3-6 minutes. Our goal is to improve your speed so you can confidently step to the line, so to speak.

This is a "couch to 5 km" equivalent course that is geared towards beginner and intermediate levels, including beginners with no prior experience. As a working student, you can submit videos for feedback, which will be kind, supportive, effective, and encouraging. The community values compassion and support, and Liz ensures that everyone is taken care of.

Unleash Your Speed patterns and reinforces proper sprinting mechanics, then takes these improved mechanics to the field where you will build speed. You also have essential bodyweight strength work, specifically for sprinting, to help you build speed even faster.

Agility handlers need to move fast, and keep that speed with an arm extended which is a totally different thing! The course will teach you how to build, and maintain, speed with an arm extended. An ability that can’t be understated. Through this course, you will develop greater stamina and resilience to keep up with your dog, leading to improved scores and overall success in your performance.

As humans, we tend to move slower as we go through life. Continuing to expose ourselves to fast movements helps our bodies age more gracefully and helps a lot with tripping and loss of balance.

By incorporating mobility work into your routine, you can not only become a more skilled handler but also prevent injuries and recover more quickly. Improved mobility is often the key component that many handlers overlook, but trust me, it can greatly enhance your daily well-being as a handler and as a human. Psst … YOU are more than half the team.

But it's not just about building speed - mental toughness, confidence and focus are essential for success in dog sports. Working through the achievable challenges in the course will teach you to maintain focus during competitions and overcome obstacles.

This course will take your handling to the next level. Join me and let’s start your journey to becoming a stronger handler!

Teaching Approach

The class is mostly taught through videos with minimal written lectures. Lectures are released at the start of each week. Your new workout will build on the mechanics and skills acquired from the previous week. These workouts will be accessible through the app or in lecture format.

The instructional videos that demonstrate correct form in detail are 20-60 seconds long and include clear visual demonstrations and voice-over narration for easy viewing.

Students are encouraged to use Liz's app which will be available while the term is in session. The program is easy to follow and has an 8-week app access period for complete course completion. All necessary material, including videos and workouts, will be available in lecture format and can be accessed in your library.

There are adaptations where possible. Feedback will be given in both voice-over video and written format.

Instructor: Liz Joyce

Liz has been in the fitness industry since 2006 and working with dog handlers since 2016. Fitness, to Liz, is about honoring the body ...(Click here for full bio and to view Liz's upcoming courses)

Syllabus

View Full Syllabus

Good sprinting has 5 essential components. The course splits these components into bite size pieces so you can learn with success. The patterning drills build on one another as the course progresses.

WEEK 1

You are going to learn a comprehensive warm up this week, this same warm up follows you through the course.

We pattern good foot strike position, clean arm movement and improve your ground reaction force. Your sprint distance is 30-100 meters this week.

You will begin your mobility plan. We are, and will be through the course, working on 30-60 holds of stretches so we can build as much range as quickly as possible.

WEEK 2

The patterning drills take it up a notch and add more components for your sprinting stride. Your arm drill moves at a faster pace, challenging your coordination and speed development. Arms are often not considered for speed development and they play an integral role! Your sprint distance is 30-100 meters this week.

Your mobility plan will become more customized as you figure out which stretches are applicable to you. We are still working on those 30-60 sec holds to build the mobility you need to get the most out of this course.

WEEK 3

This week you will be asked to work on your foot speed. The patterning drills continue to build in components and speed. You will continue to build better coordination and muscle memory for faster speed. Your sprint distance is 30-100 meters this week.

WEEK 4

The exercises focused on patterns are progressively incorporating more elements and increased pace. This ongoing process will enhance your coordination and help solidify muscle memory, ultimately leading to improved speed. This week, you'll face a greater challenge in coordinating the movements of your legs and arms. Your sprint distance is 30-100 meters this week.

WEEK 5

The complexity of the patterning drills is escalating, both in terms of components and velocity. As you persist with these drills, your coordination and muscle memory for higher speeds will steadily improve. Notably, this week presents an intensified challenge: coordinating the movement of your legs and arms demands greater precision and effort.Your sprints include connection this week for the first time! Your sprint distance is 30-100 meters this week.

WEEK 6

The patterning drills are intensifying, incorporating more elements and speed. Strengthen coordination and muscle memory for swifter execution. This week, expect a tougher test: coordinating leg and arm movements grows more demanding.

Your leg strengthening moves to one leg at a time this week. Whenever you run you've got only one foot on the ground at a time so step ups and the like are very important.

Your sprints include connection again this week! Your sprint distance is 30-100 meters this week.

Sample Lecture

Speed is the number one thing that agility athletes come to me to work on and I'm excited to talk to you about two common, and impactful, areas for improvement. You’re going to learn some tools that will improve your sprinting mechanics and speed. Without good sprinting mechanics, the speed doesn't follow.

We are going to talk about knee height first. When you drive your knee higher and you’re sprinting, it maximizes your power development. The higher your knee can go you're going to be able to apply a greater force to the ground which is going to enable you to push off harder.

You could think about your knee like a hammer and you’re hammering a nail into a board. The harder you hit the hammer onto the nail, the deeper that nail is going into the board and faster.

In that same way, the higher the knee goes, the harder the foot can hit the ground. And actually, that cue of hitting a nail into the ground underneath you is a great way to make good contact with your foot into the ground and create that really powerful movement that we're looking for.

After a little practice under your belt, the knee driving up creates a bit of height and buoyancy off the ground.

Okay, so how do you pattern really good knee height? Here are some drills that I’ve used successfully with hundreds of people. Aim for 30 seconds a side.

Registration

There are no scheduled sessions for this class at this time. We update our schedule frequently, so please subscribe to our mailing list for notifications.

Registration opens at 9:30am Pacific Time.

EL820 Subscriptions

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Tuition	$ 260.00	$ 130.00	$ 65.00
Enrollment Limits	12	25	Unlimited
Access all course lectures and materials	✔	✔	✔
Access to discussion and homework forums	✔	✔	✔
Read all posted questions and answers	✔	✔	✔
Watch all posted videos	✔	✔	✔
Post general questions to Discussion forum	✔	✔	✖
Submit written assignments	✔	✖	✖
Post dog specific questions	✔	With video only	✖
Post videos	✔	Up to 2	✖
Receive instructor feedback on	Questions All videos	Questions All videos	✖

Find more details, refund policies and answers to common questions in the Help center.

EL820: Unleash Your Speed - Handler Sprinting 101

EL820: Unleash Your Speed - Handler Sprinting 101

Course Details

Teaching Approach

Syllabus

Prerequisites & Supplies

Sample Lecture

Testimonials & Reviews

Registration

There are no scheduled sessions for this class at this time. We update our schedule frequently, so please subscribe to our mailing list for notifications.

Registration opens at 9:30am Pacific Time.

EL820 Subscriptions

Gold

Silver

Bronze