After watching videos of myself and then of what accel form should like like I’ve come to realize that while im in my drive phase my legs seem to unfold prematurely so it forces me into more of a pulling motion instead of a pushing
ive done hills in my gpp, have done push up starts and resisted runs, have concentrated on not overstriding, and have tried to cue just pushing or pumping my arms, but somehow i always end up having my legs cast out so im not in as a powerful pushing position as i could be
does anyone have any ideas of why this is happening/what is causing it, and how i can fix it quickly? (state meet is in a month)
i am able to squat 2x my bw past parallel for reps and have a strong core just in case anyone is wondering about if its just a strength thing.
and i did have a partial pcl tear in one of my knees two years ago, but i barely even notice that now
I’ve dealt with this some and I believe my problem was too much focus on active hip flexion and, consequently, hip extension happened passively. Really squeezing my glutes at the end of forward MB throws into a high jump pit really helped me gain an awareness of what active hip extension should feel like and the positions translated pretty easily into accel training… Accel mechanics felt much different and more natural and I saw immediate improvements.
As CF would say “cock the foot” and step down not out, quickly.
Often, when some athletes accelerate, they will pick their back foot up higher than necessary and then step forward. Ideally, you don’t want to allow your first step to hang in the air longer than is needed so get the foot down soon. As you mentioned, part of the equation is being very active and early with the arms but don’t hang your first step up in the air (for lack of a better term) since it will likely cause your first step to be too long.
If the first step is at all an issue now, you can, in some cases, improve the steps that follow it by creating a new rhythm.
i am fairly flexible so i am able to really open up my stride angle too. just if you took the picture you posted, then move the front foot to out further than a right angle, thats just like what the pictures of me at that point of the race look like
ive tried the step down cue, but by the time my next foot is ready to step down, its already cast out some how…
and my heel recovery is very low in my initial strides, so much so that i often get the toe scrape on my second step, but this makes it so my other leg already hit triple ext and is ready to come through, but my front leg has not had its knee “hit the top” so i believe my lower leg may be casting out so i dont fall on my face
you may also be right about it being my first step, if im overstrding that maybe its just screwing uup my whole knee lift timing for my first few steps. i will trying shortening it.
problem is that often when i try to shorten my first step, i either end up doing it by coming out of the blocks very upright, or by lowering my knee lift. im not sure how to just get my leg to hit the ground in a more closed position
The step needs to be not only down but very quick-a very active, dynamic step down with the foot cocked/dorsi-flexed. If not, it hangs up and you will overstride.
As mentioned above, CF is seen addressing this very problem you mentiond of casting out in one of the early downloads-one in which a warm-up and hip rotations etc. are used to permit a greater ROM and starts, too.
can anyone point out which video this would be? i dont have the money to spend buying videos until i find the right one
i did try just cueing what i actual want to happen (more bent leg) and it was quick and active, just now i have trouble keeping my back straight and hitting triple ext
I think I have the same problem. My frequency is quite low due to holding my leg in high knee positon for too long. Can I really fix it by just thinking about stepping down quick or should I fix it through other exercises (drillls etc.)?
The particular passage that I and someone above have referred to is not anything extensive(it does not represent a huge portion of the download) but you can see the casting out taking place and the correction by CF.
this looks more like top speed too, which i think i also need to work on having a positive shin angle at top speed as well, as the casting out happens at all stages while i run i believe
That is totally what I do too! I hang my leg up there forever and this probably makes me overstride. I am starting to think it is killing the last 50m of my 200m.
Tb2010, can you get some video of yourself? That would help. And I love the Speed and Strength fundamentals, it’s very practical stuff. My fave overall is the Key Concepts ebook, I could read that 100 times and still only absorb a portion of it.
