I do not understand what you and no2 mean by passing through the point of max distance from body.
Limbs move through an arc. If the hip is the axis of rotation, the knee joint will reach a point furthest from the body roughly at a height slightly below the hip. If you lift the knee too high, it will rotate back into your body (and, consequently, your supporting knee will bend and your hips will drop).
I would like to see higher hips.
Try clapping your hands under the leg (while staying tall).
It would be interesting to see what CF thinks is perfection in these drills. Are they covered in detail in any of the videos?
He discusses them a bit in the Speed Strenght one http://www.charliefrancis.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=26 and suggests one of the most common errors is trying to have perfect form in them (I took that as replicating perfect running form) and the key focus should be on minimal ground contact time.
So we’re all good? :o
IMHO there are still things that should be improved in them as per No2’s recommendations.
Stefanie
your toe is up and thats good
try not bringing your knee so high ( knee does not pass the height of your hip) and the rest should take care of itself immediately or over time. ( its possible your hip flexors and or your quads are tight ( both?) and or you need treatment/ hot and colds etc)
I would get rid of the B skips entirely. and replace them with a drill you know you are doing well or dont worry about it.
If it helps I can tell you that Charlie thought my b skips often sucked so he was indifferent to having me do them.
I know of some coaches who dropped them for all their athletes as they felt they were too difficult to get right and were ingraining bad habits.
Such as twisting ankles!
Thank you Angela =)
My quads do feel tight these days, contrast showers… yikes, anyway, what can one do… :o
I’m happy your b skips often sucked
Who needs them, anyway???
Give a bear-hug to Charlie from me.
looking forward to seeing the next clip
could do epsom salts, massage instead of contrast
I am not sure what or who you have access to get the job done for therapy but the reason I am a big fan of hot and colds is its efficient and extremely effective when done correctly.
Thanks Charlie =)
I just finished contrast showering, it has been a while… I will stick to it, as the feeling afterward is worth the struggle! :o
I also got an EMS since last spring, and take great advantage of the active recovery program, mainly on hams and calves.
This I understand and agree with, I would like to add a new drill should be performed slow to gain control as speed more then often hides technical faults.
Ok, here we go again.
My personal comments:
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I’m still A-skipping my knees high… Next time around I will keep them even lower, I don’t know why I do this!
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First time posting my running A’s. Blast out the criticism
cause I have a lot of running A’s strength endurance to do until February…
I can see that again, I bring my knees up too high… -
Scissor skips, or how do you call them? I am still not clear if one goes for height or distance, because I have seen both.
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Ok, LAST attempt with B skips before I drop them all together. Angela, if they still suck, feel free to let me know. I am a strong person :o
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A skips
- running A skips
- scissor skips
- B skips :eek:
You need to get these to Gerard. He would probably talk to you about these video clips for 4 hours.
Gerard Mach?
Is he wandering in the internet also?
Anyway, 4 hours is too much :eek:
How about you summarise in a few lines what would he might say.
Looking better Stef.
A skips, maybe a bit more arm action.
Running As, good body position which is often difficult to achieve. IMHO possibly a bit too much forward movement. Focus on toe up, and really having minimal ground contact time. You should find that help.
Scissors skips the way I do them is with minimal ankle action. See how high you get and about 1/2 way through seem to be pushing off? Try and keep the ankles almost locked.
B’s don’t get the leg coming out till on the way down.
Echoing some of above.
1)Toes up, particularly with the left foot(rt. foot looks okay) and perhaps slow down the forward movement speed.
2)Toes up, and quicken arm action.
3)not familiar with that drill
4)Bend/fold the leg into a tighter angle(the legs are opening up too soon largely because they are not folded enough in the first place-IMO) and emphasize the quickness and flexion of the knee (rather than the action of the foot as this swinging action should occur more easily, naturally as a result of what happens before it) much as a hurdler would do with their lead leg. This should shorten and thus quicken the lever.
I dropped them with my highschool kids because the effort and frustration and bad habits got in the way of general conditioning and running. I noticed an immediate improvement the year I cut my A-B drills down to almost nothing.
Good points, thanks from all.
Oh yes, and this is an issue: My left foot won’t toe up too easily… It’s a flexibility issue I’m trying to work on.
I will just drop the B skips, I think!
If there’s more, please let me know.