Increasing Stride Length

How do i go about increasing my stride length. Its ridiculous that im 6ft1inch tall and have such short strides. If i just run naturally with my only focus on going fast my strides are short but if i really focus i can lengthen them but i feel akward and out of grip with the ground. This problem is the base of my problems in sprinting. My strides are too small>>Therefore i have to make lots of steps>>and accelarate and reach top speed to quickly (around 25-35m)>>and ending up burning out going into the last 30m. Im talking about the 100m here btw.

Most likely it is a strength issue. Can you give us some lifting numbers?

I don´t know if it is a pattern or common when refering to elite sprinters, but what i have founded in our train group is that,
white sprinters = high frequency (short strides)
black sprinters = longer strides (low frequency)
This ( short strides ) happens even with white guys who are stronger than some blacks ( i´m talking about squat / power clean ).
Even more “strange” is the artefacts they are using to work over this.

What about technique? Adequet range of movement? Knee lift?

my problem with stride was not lack of strength, it was lack of techique, and i learned that through DRILLS. Keep doing them man, over distances of 60m plus. Do them with a weight vest, resistances etc I found the elastic cord a very useful tool in developing my technique. So yes, stride length is a product of strength and technique. Goodluck…

Your problem may comprised of several factors. Strength is number one for getting longer stride length, but mechanical problems may also exist that will cause you to hit less than maximal stride length. One often undiagnosed problem is an anterior pelvic tilt. This problem often causes a shorter stride length as the leg cannot fully extend. Problems with hamstrings becoming tight during racing, and despite lots of stretching, is one symptom of an excessive APT. Burning out in the last 30 m also sounds like a strength issue. If you are running out of gas that quickly then you may also have a low leg strength-to-bodyweight issue. If you have a sufficiently high ratio, than your running economy will be much higher and you will be able to reach a higher max as well as a slower rate of deceleration.

How can you address pelvic tilt? I was always of the understand that ATP was a benefical characteristic for sprinters?

What do u mean by anterior pelvic tilt

Performing all five planes of motion to strengthen your entire core.
Glute activation and strengthening along with stretching the hip flexors, hamstrings, lower back an erector spinae…

Ok…and how do u go about doing that?

Well im mulatto (Father black, Mother half white/mulatto) so i dont know where i fit in here. :confused: Lol

Im not allowed to do gym work (to young they say). Im 14 yrs 9 months. Gotta be over 15-16 to start doing gym work. What I mostly do are plyos or low intensity/high reps gym work. Like 80 lbs squat, 60 lbs bench press etc. They feel like nothing when im lifting them but as i said before they say im to young even though im quite developed physcially already, so be it, the high reps and sets sort of compensate.

Race isn’t an issue, so there is no need to be confused. I would have to say that in regards to frequency and stride length that one should always be trying to increase frequency (with proper technique) and that stride length is one component to technique that will vary with the individual’s level of fitness.

As far as your specific problem is concerned, post some video here if you can, or pictures and we will help you out. If you increase your stride length when you are not strong enough to do so, it will slow you down. And, to address just this one issue is to ignore a plethora of others which may be important to the whole.

Listen to them.

Here are some videos, this is at my home (btw the reason i raise out of my drive prematurely is because the runway is short):

This is a front angle:
http://s49.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3RADUMBEVYG3V0H4BLHVT9WPPZ

This is a sort of back angle:
http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3AH2N9SY7VKZZ25FWEJZWB9257

This is variation of the back angle:
http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0NDY47F6KMGDF27TS4V8OPH4DG