When the leg has passed underneath the body is it best to fully extend the hip, and knee and plantar flex the foot, or lift the leg as soon as it passes under to cycle over as quick as possible?
I have not slowed any of his races down, but Tim Montgonery appears to lift his trail leg up before it fully extends.
Full extension would obviously increase the duration the trail leg produces power but lifting the leg sooner would increase stride frequency. Is one best or does it depend on the athlete?
There are some great illustrations of Tim elsewhere on the site showing complete extention. Remember, even though you get complete extention, the higher your hips are above the ground, the closer to directly underneath the hips this occurs, at which point the leg folds up on the way back through. (Can anyone find the link)
Nice picture! I’m with you on the strength aspect. How far do you take the technique aspect during sessions? When talking about the timing of submax loads, are you referring to strength work, sprint work, or both? Would frequency of max loads be synonymous?
To get the real departure angles you need to have the picture at the very last point of contact. Donovan is already airborne. What you can see with Donovan here is the full extention of the foot (Dorsiflect at all times? I don’t think so!)