exactly! from my experience your legs should be used as TOOLS to move your center of mass…Foot speed is about how fast your feet move while they are on the gound and not while they are in the air…So with that being said the cue I like to give myself is move hips past feet as fast as possible and project the body off of the ground…any other thoughts?
Although moving your feet faster through the air must factor in somewhere.
aka negative foot speed=less braking forces
Is it foot speed? Distance of stride or the measurement of hip displacement from one stride to the next?
Which creates the greater benefit?
yes negative foot speed plays an important part but I was referring to the forward portion of the swing phase…Most people focus so much on that portion that they limit the amount of time the foot is on the ground cutting off their stride…That’s why I like to think move the BODY as far and fast as possible so I won’t sacrafice optimal power for the feeling of being quick
Most concentrate on pedaling, you know the routing heel to bottom then lift knee (short lever). Who was it that said when I feel slow the times are quicker.
The optimal cues or points of focus are specific to the individual, but I think the main benefit of your change of focus is that you are no longer trying to consciously monitor and micromanage limb actions that are too quick for you to keep up with them. There are elements of limb motion during the stride cycle that occur so quickly the only way you can consciously feel them is by exaggerating them (usually unconsciously), which retards the limb movement and stride frequency and also causes unnecessary muscle tension, all of which will slow you down.
Once proper technique is in place, the less you think about it, the better. At that point you tend to become more aware of when your technique is not correct rather than when it is. The proper technique has become automatic and second nature, it’s when something doesn’t feel quite right that gets your attention.
true because when i think lift knees i pop up 2 early and when i think push hard my hips drop and in full stride i pull a hammy from overstriding so the best cue for me is to move the cm not the legs
This might prove helpful in case you missed it:
http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?t=21809
so just step down???..
General lower body cue: cock the foot and step down, from first step to last.
General upper body cue: flick the wrist (from starting blocks) and pump the arms. Similar to the leg cue, only think of pulling the arms down, not driving back.
After a while, you’ll forget about the legs. Ideally, you won’t even feel them.
im not as crazy as u mightve thought… though i do have to admit this lower body cue has never worked too well with me, my natural stretch reflex doesnt bring my leg up to parallel 
lol i never thought u were crazy it just seems 2 simple
If you do not apply enough force into the ground you won’t get the required elastic response.
If you do this correctly the most difficult part is getting you feet back down (step down) and making sure the lower leg does not kick out. It will feel like you are spending too much time it the air.
Obviously there’s a real limit to how useful general coaching cues will be to a large group of people. Ideally, you need someone watching you and providing custom feedback. What works for one person might not work for another.
true…i’m gonna upload a couple of videos of me running…i have never uploaded any videos can someone explain the process?
this is a valid point, yet my strength levels are up to par for my weight and i havent gotten too much success with the “step down” cue, ill just have to keep working on it