SE: Mindset Change Leads K-State Sophomore Taylor Latimer to NCAA Outdoor Championships
Jun 03, 2019 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
One year ago, if someone had asked K-State track and field sophomore Taylor Latimer if she thought making it to the NCAA Outdoor Championships was a realistic goal, her answer would have been short.
"Nah."
Six months ago, her response would have sounded completely different.
"I would have said, 'For sure, I'm gunning for it,'" said Latimer, who will compete in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in on Thursday in Austin, Texas.
How Latimer got from completely dismissing the possibility of competing on the NCAA's biggest stage to setting her sights on it, and from living in the 14-meter range to sniffing 18 meters, started between her ears.
"My coaches always knew I had it in me, but I think the hard part was believing in myself and actually following all the training," she said, "but I think after this year, my mindset has definitely changed for the better.
"I finally realized how good I could be at this sport, and once I realized that, once the mindset changed, it was all over."
Latimer credited a lot of her mindset change to Nathan Ott, K-State's first-year assistant coach in charge of the throwing events. Ott, she said, really made her work on the "mental aspect" of the sport.
"He's really been the one to push me in the right direction," she said, "but also understand what I'm doing and what I'm here for and what I'm capable of."
To get her to that point, Ott said he's simply tried to create a vision of what good training looks like.
"She threw 50 feet as a freshman but seeing the (bigger) picture of even going 16 meters or 17 meters or 18 meters seemed well beyond what she was capable of. So, it's showing little things and having little steps of, 'This is what that looks like if you can continue the next step,'" he said. "You see those and say, 'That's the right direction we need to be going,' just nurturing that vision of what good training is.
"I'm just encouraging the steps on that path."
Latimer said part of that path included becoming a "student of the sport." This season, she started watching film way more often and analyzing every throw she took, rather than aimlessly going through the motions over and over.
"Quality over quantity is my thing," she said. "I want to take great reps where I know what I'm doing and working on."
Still, results helped continue this approach.
The one meet Latimer said comes to mind, in terms of a turning point, was the Razorback Invitational in late January. There, she broke out with a personal-best throw of 16.17m/53-0.75, three-quarters of a meter better than her previous best in the shot put. And the throw didn't even feel special when it left her neck.
"I was decent, but I still wasn't great. There was so much more room to grow," she said. "So, I started focusing on my form and adjusting to what I'm doing, and then I was hitting 16 (meters) at practice constantly. I was, like, 'Oh, ok. Things are looking up.' It's kind of just been progressing ever since."
Latimer broke 16 meters again at the Big 12 Indoor Championship, where she finished second. About two months later, she raised her personal-best to 16.74m/54-11.25.
Less than a month after that, she was standing atop the podium at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. Her winning throw of 17.74m/58-2.5 won by nearly 1.5 meters (nearly five feet), fell one centimeter shy of Dani Winter's school record and currently ranks sixth in the NCAA. Her 17.00m/55-9.25 throw at the NCAA West Preliminary meet easily advanced her to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
These results, Ott said, was a product of her improved approach to the sport meeting her natural abilities.
"She's definitely the strongest in some lifts of anybody I've ever coached. Her strength levels are astronomical compared to what most girls are working with. She's just a good athlete who played a lot of sports and knows how to move well," he said of Latimer, who lettered 11 times in high school between track and field, basketball, golf and tennis. "It's just kind of an intangible for a thrower to, one, have that strength but also have that athleticism. The numbers are a result of somebody who's talented and puts in the work."
As decorated of a high school athlete as Latimer was — she won three state titles in track and field her last two seasons — she said it's still somewhat surreal to be going to the NCAA Championships. She was not highly recruited and remembers watching some of these women she's now up against in way that never made her feel like she could beat them someday. But that was then. This is now.
"It's been great to progress and be able to compete with people whose names I heard in high school, who I didn't think I'd be able to keep up with, but I have," she said. "I'm super excited…a little bit nervous, but, honestly, at this point, this is what your training comes down to. Now that I'm here, I feel like I can show up and show out and actually do what I've been practicing."
One year ago, if someone had asked K-State track and field sophomore Taylor Latimer if she thought making it to the NCAA Outdoor Championships was a realistic goal, her answer would have been short.
"Nah."
Six months ago, her response would have sounded completely different.
"I would have said, 'For sure, I'm gunning for it,'" said Latimer, who will compete in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in on Thursday in Austin, Texas.
How Latimer got from completely dismissing the possibility of competing on the NCAA's biggest stage to setting her sights on it, and from living in the 14-meter range to sniffing 18 meters, started between her ears.
"My coaches always knew I had it in me, but I think the hard part was believing in myself and actually following all the training," she said, "but I think after this year, my mindset has definitely changed for the better.
"I finally realized how good I could be at this sport, and once I realized that, once the mindset changed, it was all over."
Latimer credited a lot of her mindset change to Nathan Ott, K-State's first-year assistant coach in charge of the throwing events. Ott, she said, really made her work on the "mental aspect" of the sport.
"He's really been the one to push me in the right direction," she said, "but also understand what I'm doing and what I'm here for and what I'm capable of."
To get her to that point, Ott said he's simply tried to create a vision of what good training looks like.
"She threw 50 feet as a freshman but seeing the (bigger) picture of even going 16 meters or 17 meters or 18 meters seemed well beyond what she was capable of. So, it's showing little things and having little steps of, 'This is what that looks like if you can continue the next step,'" he said. "You see those and say, 'That's the right direction we need to be going,' just nurturing that vision of what good training is.
"I'm just encouraging the steps on that path."
Latimer said part of that path included becoming a "student of the sport." This season, she started watching film way more often and analyzing every throw she took, rather than aimlessly going through the motions over and over.
"Quality over quantity is my thing," she said. "I want to take great reps where I know what I'm doing and working on."
Still, results helped continue this approach.
The one meet Latimer said comes to mind, in terms of a turning point, was the Razorback Invitational in late January. There, she broke out with a personal-best throw of 16.17m/53-0.75, three-quarters of a meter better than her previous best in the shot put. And the throw didn't even feel special when it left her neck.
"I was decent, but I still wasn't great. There was so much more room to grow," she said. "So, I started focusing on my form and adjusting to what I'm doing, and then I was hitting 16 (meters) at practice constantly. I was, like, 'Oh, ok. Things are looking up.' It's kind of just been progressing ever since."
Latimer broke 16 meters again at the Big 12 Indoor Championship, where she finished second. About two months later, she raised her personal-best to 16.74m/54-11.25.
Less than a month after that, she was standing atop the podium at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. Her winning throw of 17.74m/58-2.5 won by nearly 1.5 meters (nearly five feet), fell one centimeter shy of Dani Winter's school record and currently ranks sixth in the NCAA. Her 17.00m/55-9.25 throw at the NCAA West Preliminary meet easily advanced her to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
These results, Ott said, was a product of her improved approach to the sport meeting her natural abilities.
"She's definitely the strongest in some lifts of anybody I've ever coached. Her strength levels are astronomical compared to what most girls are working with. She's just a good athlete who played a lot of sports and knows how to move well," he said of Latimer, who lettered 11 times in high school between track and field, basketball, golf and tennis. "It's just kind of an intangible for a thrower to, one, have that strength but also have that athleticism. The numbers are a result of somebody who's talented and puts in the work."
As decorated of a high school athlete as Latimer was — she won three state titles in track and field her last two seasons — she said it's still somewhat surreal to be going to the NCAA Championships. She was not highly recruited and remembers watching some of these women she's now up against in way that never made her feel like she could beat them someday. But that was then. This is now.
"It's been great to progress and be able to compete with people whose names I heard in high school, who I didn't think I'd be able to keep up with, but I have," she said. "I'm super excited…a little bit nervous, but, honestly, at this point, this is what your training comes down to. Now that I'm here, I feel like I can show up and show out and actually do what I've been practicing."
Players Mentioned
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