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I coach in a state that contests the 4x200 at every meet including the state championships, for both boys and girls. What are some tricks or tips for helping my athletes find some type of steps for their hand-offs. I've tried doing it similar to the 4x100 and I've tried having them visually try to time it, neither works to my satisfaction, can anybody help?

Let me start off by asking do you use the acceleration zone? I to coach both guys and girls in the 4x1 and 4x2 among other events. If you use the acceleration zone, use it in both relays for both genders. Have you tried adjusting your legs? Are you comfortable with your leg order on both relays? Also do you have the same people running both relays? These are somethings, to take into consideration if you have not already. Let's assume you have, some tips would be, to have the outgoing runners count their steps as they take off, once the incoming runners hit the take off mark. Obliviously if you do this, it will be a shorter count for the 4x100, this seems to work.

With my relays, we do totally blind exchanges of course and no sounds, no stick, reach, hand, nothing, it's built totally upon trust and this works extremely well for us, very quick, right in the beginning of the zone, since we use the acceleration zone on both relays. We at times go up against teams who don't use the acceleration zone in the 4x200 and we kill those types of teams. Of course it does not hurt to have quality runners running these relays. Hope this helps.