I have found in sprinting that if I emphasize a light touch already from the very first step I get smooth acceleration to top-speed, and indeed a very much higher top-speed than before.
However with this light-touch-style I find I can’t maintain as acute an angel during the first steps as before.
Do you think this is just a question of strenght?
I’m the same as you, Thor, if I pound the track on acceleration trying to apply power I don’t have, I run slower 0-30m times. The light-touch pitter-patter technique [the same way I’d accelerate in a game of basketball in a race for a loose ball] not only is faster for me but seems to take less out of me so that I do, in fact, run better at top speed with more gas in the tank. I also can’t hold the angle as well but at this point, for my strength level, it works better.
Many technical problems have been corrected by the simple phrase “Run quietly”. Not very technical but very effective.
I think you’re getting into shaky territory when you start thinking about what’s going on with your feet. Any sensation you feel, no matter how soft or powerful, when you try to run “quiet” or “pound the track” is likely the result of ground contact time that is either too short (don’t achieve triple extension) or too long (let the hips travel too far past the “sweet spot” of contact). One approach that I find delivers the most consistent results is not to think of my feet, but instead on relaxation and a COMFORTABLE forward lean form the shoulders. Everything else tends to fall into place from there.
But hey, if you’re seeing results in actual performance, keep it up.
Sprinterl, what you state is correct.
What really happened in my case was that I finally managed to stay relaxed during the first steps. The lighter touch was the effect and not the cause.
For those who can remember:
Over the course of the last months I have started several threads on why I can’t seem to run well once I step on the track, wondering about the surface, the spikes, biomechanical issues etc…But all it came down to was relaxing and not trying so hard during acceleration.
This week I have accelerated better and smoother than ever, on track and in flats too.
Never again will I look for some “esoteric” reason as to why I dont perform.
Last year the only advice anyone gave me was that I needed to have quiter feet, and that I was making too much noise as a ran. When my coach told me to do that, I tensed up my form a little to slow and quite the impact of my toes on the ground, I gave up on this within 80meters. The only problem was that the coaches/athletes were telling me what needed to happen and not what I needed to do. From your accounts thor I understand now that relaxation is the key to speed and efficiency and quite feet is the byproduct. Am I right?
Yes, if you try to run with quiet feet you’ll just end up darting. I had this problem before which was caused originally by bad technique during plyos which carried over to my sprinting.