Critique my form please

edit: If you can’t help me, or do not want to help me, leave my thread now!

You really need to work on your arms. There are some gross mechanical errors that need correction, it looks like you’re swimming.

A slow-motion side and front view would really help diagnoses but for now just practicing standing arm swings with proper mechanics (in front of a mirror if you don’t have a coach or partner to watch) would greatly help. Focus on keeping your elbows at 90 degrees throughout the whole arm swing, hands up to face in front and hands slightly behind the hips in the back.

I had a feeling before and after watching the footage that my arm swing was messed up. I’m going to work on that, thanks.

What else though (from what you can see in the video) ? Does my stride look good? Is my knee coming up high enough?

Edit: And wow, I already knew that the elbows were supposed to be at 90 degrees, but damn I completely butchered that technique up huh! lol

One correction at a time for now. Work on the arms, post another video when you think you’ve got it down, then move on to further analysis. Chances are correct arm motion will help improve your leg action anyway.

Stikki is correct. That is some of the grossest I have ever seen. Running seemed somewhat toe-y, but can’t say anything significant without better video (particularly something in slow motion or better resolution and such).

Sweet, kinda look like a stick figure.

Haha, notice the trail that follows me as I go.

Anyways yeah I’m not sure what the heck happened with my arms there, lol but I will fix that.

But if my form is as bad as you guys are saying I’d rather just hear it all now so I can keep note of everything as I take progress videos.

And fogelson, is “toe-y” good??

Thanks

Generally, no. You’d need more video to know anything definitive though because the video is very short and low quality.

You’re right though, I am running toe-y. I did that because it felt better to me, but if it’s wrong then I’ll fix that. How can I fix that?

You seem to be doing way too much thinking and not enough running, honestly. I mean, do you ever see people run like that naturally? If it’s natural for you, then that is unusual. Just something to think about–there are no ‘rules’ about any of this kind of stuff.

I’m getting back into sprinting, so I want to get my form down right. I don’t know how I can run correctly if I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, which is what I’m trying to do.

I know when you sprint you’re supposed to have a nice open stride, hips about parallel, and land on the balls of your feet. I tried doing three of those, and wanted to make sure that I was doing all of that correctly, or if there was something else I need to work on.

Hey man.
Good job on getting a camera up and running.
One note on camera - i was expecting you to run past on the tartan, not 20m away on the grass! You want the camera closer, so your head is near the top of the screen and your feet near the bottom. It will mean you’ll see less Distance, but will see more quality, even if only over 1full stride.
Or, get somebody else to operate camera.

Do you have anyway to edit the footage so it plays in Slow Mo. Or even Freeze a few frames for say 5sec or so we can see what is going on more.

Check out the following as an example - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kfsX7j4ybY

Anyway - i agree totally about the ARMS. Whilst the arms are looking like that, its pointless looking at anything else. fix the arms, and other items should fix up along the way. Arms precede legs. Fix arms, then re-tape some new footage.
Would hazard a guess, if this is how you have been running, i can see why you have been getting plagued with injuries this last few yrs :slight_smile:

Agree with the Mirror option. CF says practice for many hrs before you even attempt FAST work when arms are in a state like yours. Use a mirror, and even a camcorder hooked into a TV set, so you can see Front on in the mirror and side on in your TV from your camcorder - all at the same time.

You guys are funny, hooking a cam to a TV etc, his problem seems to be so elementary that it should easy to fix.

Hey man!
Well it’s time to fix my form and get myself back on the track for good :stuck_out_tongue:

I can edit the video to play slow, but I might just keep your video suggestion in mind and record a few sprints tomorrow and edit those. I’m pretty sure my arms don’t usually go crazy like that, because I know better haha, but hey I never had a video to see like that so who knows. (and no I’m not in denial, so I’ll do those practice swings and make a mental note before sprints!)

I understand that arm swing is critical, but I still would like to know how my stride looks generally.

Thanks

Many many ppl cannot run NATURALLY correctly, thats a horse crock. I see ppl over and over again who cant run period. Typically i see those that are more NATURALLY fast than others, is because they CAN run correctly without thinking or training. You know the guy, the guys who runs 11.1 in grade 11 and doesn’t train ever. Technique they just KNOW what to do. The rest of them, like 99% of the population, run like chumps.

The styles i see everyday from ppl doing an attempt at “running” is crazy. Even JOGGING people get wrong.

You wont learn to run fast correctly until you learn to run slow correctly, and do drills correctly.

Just getting your technique down, could involve any or all of the following
1 - knowing what to do
2 - doing that in the right order
3 - being tight in certain muscles
4 - being weak in certain muscles
5 - being too strong in certain muscles compared to other muscles
and the list could go on.

Sorry for the rant :slight_smile:

It should be! But if ya aint got anybody around to tell ya doing something wrong, what else will he do? He already THOUGHT he was doing it right…

You could turn side on to the mirror - but the twisting could throw him out too much to be of value??

Since he does have a cam - it would only take 5min to set up.

Naturally, the best bet is to get somebody else.
Just suppling options :slight_smile:

Whatever it takes to get my form down, I’ll do it! That’s why the more information I know, the better :slight_smile: It can’t hurt (unless I physically try to correct too many faults at once)

But once again about my stride…lol
I’ve always noticed that my stride length was rather short. I also noticed that when I switched over from heel running to toe running, my stride opened up dramatically and my legs relaxed. Perhaps I’m over exaggerating the toe landing in my video, as fogelson pointed out. It didn’t feel 100% natural, but I felt very relaxed when I ran like that

Anyways, how about I get a better video, and then we take it from there? :slight_smile:

Your stride kinda look like tyson gay!!

Hahah, if only I had his speed too !

Its too hard to tell, perhaps its my connection with youtube??

It appears to be open - but i cant tell if your landing infront of your hips or not?? I can only pause two frames, and one is blurry and looks like nice high knee’s.