Critique my form please

Who says you need to stay low?

a few people here say I pop up too fast when I accelerate

Alrighty, got another video to get picked apart

Some things that I notice:
Arm swing still isn’t perfect (especially on the backswing…I seem to do a better job of swinging forward)
My head was too far up when accelerating
Arching my back still a bit
edit: Also noticed that I didn’t sprint through the finish line…I can tell because that’s the reason why my back is so arched as I cross…to slow down.

Pretty slow since it was raining…also that was my first block start session and 40m sprint in about a year…30m time was 4.2 using (Total Frames from First Movement / 30FPS) Method…def need to get that down ha.

I also did another 30m but didn’t record it…I was drained after that 40m sprint, and felt my form going to crap already…I stumbled on the start of both 30m.

//youtu.be/nJI3cnl2BlE

Bro, it’s horrible. Even your block setting/position look horrible. If you can find a good coach in your area.

Yea I’ve never had a coach, ever.

Like I said, that was my first block start in forever…actually about 18 months. Tell me what to fix and I’ll fix it. With good form imagine how fast I really am :wink:

I’ll start off with some positive. Your arms are not straight/swimming anymore. They looked fine on the later portions of the runs. Overall, arms make only a small contribution, but with some of the mild changes, it doesn’t look too bad.

Pelvic position and posture are just… I don’t know what to say. It is messed up–running way way too tight. Your back appears arched (this is related to pelvic issues). You’re rocking back at the start because of a poor set-up there (can’t tell exactly what, maybe someone else can). You have much too high of heel recovery on your initial acceleration, folding your leg back to your butt, which is why you’re spinning your wheels a bit. That isn’t very normal with people who are strong, so I imagine you are cuing something to yourself that isn’t natural.

Might want to check your timing or measurement. I don’t have your video to run over with VirtualDub, but that isn’t 4.2.

Thanks sir

It was my first block start in a while, so I think I’m going to make some progress.

The back arching was probably there for sure, but I didn’t sprint through the finish lines really (which were random objects I had brought with me lol), so I just leaned back when I thought I crossed the line. But yes I will definitely keep this in mind…and yes my back was tight this morning. Do you have any tips for reducing back arching like this in general though? Weak abs, maybe?

And I took an average of a few 100m walks to determine how many strides it takes, and then calculated that into strides per 10m. Then I placed an object at the finish line, and had my friend stand there to clearly show it. I don’t think it’s hard to believe my 30m is ranging from 4.2 to 4.3s though…that’s a slow time. Maybe I’m doing this wrong, but I stopped counting frames when any part of my body crossed the line, whether it be my hand or my knee or my foot, or whatever. Is that wrong to do? Also that’s without reaction time.

Broski, in the blocks, make sure your toes are contacting or very near the ground, not 4" up the blocks.

I was waiting for that to come up. Back when I first experimented with blocks, I found that having my toes way up high felt the best. Is that definitely slowing me down some?

Most people would say yes. That being said I have seen it done before (rarely).

Do you recall how fast that rarity was by any chance?

And I’ll keep that in mind and do some more practice starts from various toe positions.

FYI for everybody saying my form is horrible…yeah it’s not the best, but I’ve never had a coach, never had my form looked at, and haven’t seriously trained since the summer of 2005. I just keep my head up, because I know my form will only get better, and so will my speed. I have patience, and I do this for fun :slight_smile:

The world’s best male and female starters (Powell and Fraser) have their feet high up in the blocks. Nevertheless, in this case the blocks are too small to place the feet that high. I would say that at least half of the sole of your feet should be in contact with the blocks.

For unlimited, your blocks are way too far back. Your back leg is almost completely straight in the set position, which is why you have to rock back to get any sort of power generated out of the blocks. The knee angle of your back leg should be around 130 degrees in the set position.

When you’re in your upright running position, you are leaning back and your shoulders are pulled up (can’t see your neck), which is a sign of excessive tightness.

Timing you from first movement on the last run, I get about 5.2s, which would probably equate to about 5.5-5.7s electric. Assuming that this is actually 40m, you’re in about 12.0-12.5s 100m shape.

Your first movement is back, if you have your toes along the ground and the blocks high enough to make contact with the foot in the set position you may eliminate the backward movement.

1.Try to get full extension from the blocks when you start instead of trying to cycle your legs as quick as you can.
2.When you’re in the blocks and you have your toes touching the ground, you might not be coming out at as low an angle as you could if you had your feet higher up on the blocks and not touching the ground. However, I don’t see what benefit you get from raising them even higher up the blocks like you do in your video. You want to get a 45 degree angle out of the blocks and I don’t think you raising your feet up that high helps you to do that or helps in any other way. Why do you feel more comfortable with your feet that high?

That makes sense, I have a lot of practice to do with the blocks so I’ll keep those tips in mind

Edit: Err…yeah thats right…the 40m WAS about 5.2 seconds. I fail to see how my camera is off by about .3 to .5 seconds? It’s accurate to 0.0333333333 seconds (every frame is that long, basically), so the only error besides that is not considering the reaction time,… You are making camera timing seem as inaccurate as hand timing.

So basically, my entire foot should be pressed into the blocks, correct? If so, that would make sense that my blocks are too short to have my toes up that high. Thank you!

ntr: I feel like I’m coming out of the blocks at a lower angle I suppose. I also feel like more of my bodyweight is being supported by my feet/legs, so it feels like I’d be able to move faster I guess. But about your first comment, I’m not sure what you mean exactly. I know the first few steps are supposed to be choppy-ish, but are mine TOO choppy?

You really need to start doing some simple research so you can solve these simple issues yourself. Charlie offer many products in the store that would solve technical problems.

I’m in school right now and work as much as I am able to without interfering with my studies. Plus I have considerable payments to make in other aspects of my life, so until I can even afford to spare a dime elsewhere, this is really the best I can do. It’s already been noted numerous times that I should buy Charlie’s products, I’m well aware of that. But with that out of the way, I’m not forcing anybody to answer my questions. I’d just appreciate it if people did :slight_smile:

Use that little “search button” on top.

what muscles would tend to be weak on someone who has high heel recovery at the start? i have this same problem yet im squatting over 2x my BW…