Everyone put in their preference and why! I’ll start:
Running Drills: Hands closed thumbs up
Why?: The elbow drive/shoulder rotation feels strong and smooth.My arms drives are close to my body and I technically look very good.
Training and Comp: Hands open
Why?:I feel that I’m swinging my arms faster…thus making me feel that I’m running faster. Feels a little rugged in at times.
jason i don’t totally understand what you are referring to.just make sure whatever hand position you choose whether its open/closed is to maintain relaxation.whatever you do in practice you must repeat the exact same in a meet
Come on X…I thought a man like you would have understood my thread! Being a full time athelete I fully understand the importance of relaxation while sprinting. My question is simply one that refers to preference and why! :D. I didn’t think I would have to elaborate on such a topic but I will. Ok: A good example of what I’m talking about is Maurice Greene. From all my video footage of Mo, I can see that he has changed from running with close hands to running open palmed. Whether or not JS changed this for a technical reason I don’t know…only HSI do!
I use the opposite.
I don’t care much about anything beyond my wrist. I mean the angle of the shoulder swing will determine the range of arm motion. The angle of my elbow is about 80-120. I don’t know something around that. But beyond my wrist I don’t care. The only thing I used my hands in was the following.
My left elbow used to swing a bit far away from my body. I tried getting it closer but it always never worked. So I started looking at my right hand in videos and I found out that my right hand is about straight and aligned with the Centre line of my body. While my left hand has some slight rotation that forces my elbow to go out. So for a while i used to rotate my left hand to fix my elbow swing and it worked and now its automatic.
As we all know tension in the hands travels up to through the arms to the shoulders which in turn causes the hips to lock restricting stride length. I think the hands open or close option can be important…but heh thats just my opinion! 
A good reason to keep it natural, isn’t it?
Exactly, do what naturally comes to you. If running with your hands touching your nose works for you, then do it!
I’d go for open hands a la Ben and Carl for build-ups and speed work and a what-comes-natural approach for drills and tempos.
ok jason,i understand.this option is totally personnal to the athlete.if you feel comfortable with open then go with that,vis versa.carl lewis ran with the trade mark open hand because he felt relaxed by doing so.during the 95 season he ran with closed hands which was not his usual technique.as it turned out he had a bad result in the WC’s that year.he just wasn’t comfortable in himself that year.
just remember whatever technique you choose you must be relaxed.people always give preference to an open hand but you can still be tense with the open hand.
Just to add spice to the discussion…we all say “do whats natural”. Sprinting isn’t natural…we don’t run on our toes with our chests proud driving the elbows at 90 degree angles and raising our hands to our face.
Sometimes we have to adapt and change and go against nature…hence the reason why i started this thread! Nature tells me that I’m a RIGHT footed player. Yet I scored many goals when I played Semi Pro with my LEFT.
Oh boy! What have i started here…This wasn’t supposed to be a thread where I get told about relaxation! I know about the importance of staying relaxed and running your own race…this was simply meant to be a thread where people could open their minds and give their views on sprinting open handed or close handed! Next time I’ll just ask what people’s favourite colours are…
Understandible, but if you adapt to make a change and that change is not feeling natural to you, in other words, mimic BJ or CL open handed approach, then you are working against what is natural to you; hence, why I said do whatever feels natural to you…open, close, touching your nose, in your pockets, w/e …
I think it is important to do whatever allows one to remain the most relaxed during sprinting. This may or may not be what comes natural to someone.
During my drills and tempo work I don’t really focus all that much on my hands but notice them to slightly cup into a fist. When I sprint all out however, I find myself opening my hand a la Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis.
There are very fast sprinters either way so it probably makes little difference as long as one remains relaxed throughout the head, neck and shoulders.
I beleive Charlie talks about this in his speed trap book and CFTS manual.
this was simply meant to be a thread where people could open their minds and give their views on sprinting open handed or close handed!
so what did i just say,whatever suits you is best.simple! in actual fact your post does symbolise relaxation as being comfortable is a must
Everyone put in their preference and why! I’ll start:
Running Drills: Hands closed thumbs up
Why?: The elbow drive/shoulder rotation feels strong and smooth.My arms drives are close to my body and I technically look very good.
Training and Comp: Hands open
Why?:I feel that I’m swinging my arms faster…thus making me feel that I’m running faster. Feels a little rugged in at times.
if YOU are comfortable doing so then whats the problem!
LOL…there is no problem…I’m running well my friend (or was till i got injured) did u once see me post that I had a problem??? I simply said put in your preference and why!!
no problem jason.what was the injury
Interesting point, I had never really thought about it, but now that you mentiond it I also do drills with my hands closed as a fist but run with my hands open. It just feels right this way. If I do drills with my hands open I feel like my arm levers are very long and slow, but with my hands closed I feel like I can do the drills more quickly and smoothly in syntony with my arms. But when running the hands open is just natural and relaxed.
My point exactly…This is good because are now starting to think about aspects of our training and motor skills that previously weren’t thought about before…
While in the park with my little 7 yr old girl (She will be a top sprinter trust me! She’s got her daddy genes!! I played with different concepts (even Tims strange style- any one notice he runs with a ‘ok’ hand sign! The ‘slow long lever’ comment again is interesting because thats how I feel with my hands open while executing drills.
I never really got a true diagnosis.I suffered a lot of pain behind both knees. My physio and osteopath narrowed it down to a hamstring tendon strain. I suffered from this and alot of neural pain in the same area. Initially came on in the left leg at the end of the indoor season just after I ran my PB (6.9). Then I got the same painful sensation while away in Portugal warm weather training in the right leg. Driving and in-flight running proved to be very painful at the start of a session but after a few runs the pain subsided and i was able to complete sessions…That was the mistake…Instead of resting I actually made the injury worse. Been resting now for 4 weeks and I’ve done absolutely nothing (no gym,no jogging,no strides) just kept away from anything that could slow the healing process down. I’m now back…and i’ll be starting training again in a weeks time. I have started doing press up and general conditioning work to get back a bit of fitness. I plan to do a couple of races before the season draws to an end…I have a feeling that I may suprise myself.