Why all coaches should work with developmental athletes - Dan Pfaff

Dan Pfaff explains why coaches benefit from working with developmental athletes and how to identify timing and lag issues.

Last night inside our fourth Live Coaching Eye Immersion Session: Dan Pfaff spent two hours with coaches from Texas to Portugal to Sri Lanka breaking down one central question: What are you actually seeing when you watch someone move? Here’s what we covered ... And more importantly, what you should be looking for. 1️⃣ Lag is a timing problem, not a strength problem When athletes “over push” behind them, they often create lag on the front side. • Shank swings out too far • Recovery is late • Contact becomes braking • Ground time creeps up under fatigue Dan’s distinction was clear: Big asymmetry → check hardware first. Bilateral issue → likely an education problem. Most athletes simply don’t have the right internal “alarm system” for when segments should change direction. 2️⃣ Triple extension has bandwidth. Success doesn't mean locking everything out in acceleration or sprinting. Fast athletes rarely fully extend the knee at toe-off. There’s usually a small amount of flexion remaining. Amortization has a window. Thigh displacement has a window. Knee lift has a window. Your job isn’t to chase extremes, rather, it is to recognize what’s outside bandwidth. 3️⃣ Dribbles are universal teaching tools Concentric dribbles build control and safety. Elliptical dribbles bridge toward running. They are both teaching and awareness drills. Furthermore, if the athlete doesn’t understand when to relax, when to get active, and when to change direction, sprinting will expose that gap. 4️⃣ Distance runners and the illusion of economy. Common patterns Dan highlighted inclue: • Chronic pelvic anteversion • Long backside mechanics • Rigid elbows and excessive shoulder oscillation • Limited vertical strike intent Strength won’t clean these 'viruses' up if timing and landmark positions are wrong, and biomechanics errors aren’t solved in the weight room. There is a better way. 5️⃣ The foot is not a block of wood Fluoroscopy footage reminded us: The talus glides. The navicular drops and lifts. The calcaneus rotates. The tibia rolls and externally rotates. When joint spaces jam, hydraulic output drops. When the foot stiffens artificially, problems move up the chain. 👀 👀 👀 The consistent thread through the entire session: 🔍 Build a better eye. 📍 Understand landmark positions. ⏱ Train timing and rhythm. 🧠 Diagnose before you prescribe. If you coach speed, field sport athletes, distance runners, or return-to-play cases, this is the level of detail you need to see. The next Coaching Eye cohort is running from May - June 2026, and registration is now OPEN... 👀 Want to be part of Coach Pfaff's next group? ⬇️ Drop ZZ in the comments and head to your DMs. 👉 Head here: loom.ly/qtcqnio