Improving Your Sprinting Technique
By breaking your
sprinting technique into its component parts you can focus on and improve
specific phases of the action.
Excellent sprinting technique has some
of the following characteristics.
Arm Action
Arms should swing from the shoulder. Keep them relaxed and at
approximately 90 degrees of flexion. Focus on swinging your arms in a
straight line.
Body Posture
Your entire body should lean forward slightly as you run. Do not bend from
your waist, this will adversely affect your center of gravity and correct
running mechanics. Instead the slight lean forward should
come from the
ground up. Try also to
keep your head and trunk still and your entire body
relaxed.
Ground Contact
Run on the balls of your feet NOT your toes. If you think about it your
toes are fairly weak and offer little or no stability. |
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Stride Length
There is a fine line between over striding and under striding. If stride
length is too great and your foot lands in front of your center of gravity
it will cause you to brake.
If your stride length is too short your stride frequency will be high but
you won't cover much ground. Not the most efficient use of your energy!
The sprinting technique drills below will help develop excellent form.
The
number of times you practice these drills depends on your situation.
Sprint athletes will obviously dedicate more training time to improving
sprinting technique than football players for example.
Perform the drills immediately after your warm up or on a rest day. They
are not designed to fatigue you or provide a training overload. Make sure
you are fresh when you perform these sprinting technique drills. Quality
is everything!
Sprinting Technique Program
These sprinting technique
drills can be performed in this order or alternatively focus on just 3-4
drills. There is no need to perform multiple sets and repetitions.
Raise Knees:
10 meters - jog - 10 meters - rest
Sprint 10 meters concentrating on raising knees as higher than normal.
Jog
for 10 meters and then sprint for 10 meters and rest.
Fast Knee Pick Ups:
10 meters - jog - 10 meters - rest
Jogging on the spot raise your knees to waist height while emphasizing arm
action. Move forward 10 meters with this action concentrating on the
number of ground contacts rather than how fast you cover the distance. Try
to get as many ground contacts as possible.
Flicks:
10 meters - jog - 10 meters - rest
While sprinting over 10 meters concentrate on flicking your heels up to
touch your butt.
Leg Speed:
60 meters
This is a normal sprint over 60 meters except all of your focus should be
on your legs. Try to gauge the optimum leg speed for you by taking
different stride lengths to see which yields the best results.
Skipping:
40 meters
High Hops:
3 x 40 meters
Bound from one foot to the other. The action is similar to skipping except
your are trying to gain as much height as possible and stay in the air for
as long as possible. Remember to recover fully between attempts.
Elbow Drive:
40 meters
Sprint for 40 meters concentrating on driving your elbow in a straight
line. Keep your elbows flexed at right angles while keeping your arms
relaxed.
Course Contributor
Phil Davies
