did anyone else notice that a lot of fast sprinters seem to have a great deal of lateral hip motion and twisting, especially at the start?
it seems that turning your feet outward must help you accelerate better or something, because just about EVERY good sprinter i’ve seen at all levels accelerates by pushing off from side to side, like they were bowlegged.
so i tried it as well, and i realized that it actually does help me to accelerate more smoothly, and i am a lot better and more efficient in my start when i do that.
so i am wondering, is this a key to good acceleration or something? should we try to have a little more hip movement when we run?
ato boldon definitely had this “duck feet” style, here is are pefect examples, just watch the races in this short clip. also note in the last race that mo does that duck footed side to side acceleration as well: http://youtube.com/watch?v=PweK074hkbk
This has to do with hip rotation. You do not want to skate–it is definitely not good. Wasted motion if you will. In fact, if you have seen the HSI videos, you will see Mo’s coach trying to clean that up. I think Charlie covers this either in CFTS or Speed Trap, but anyway the rotating of the hips helps maximize stride length (assuming it comes in, which is not what happens when you “skate” at the start). At the start, some people are not able to bring their legs underneath their body fast enough, so this is a natural reaction.
Check out a video of FloJo from the front during her 1988 100m and you will see a very good illustration of this. I don’t think this is anything you should conciously think about, but maybe some other people will chime in.
and yeah, i saw that in HSI, i think JS was just trying to get Mo not to bounce across the lane from side to side, because when your legs are running too wide apart it would actually slow you down
and like i said earlier, i dont know if i should be consciously thinking about it, but when i do it definitely helps me accelerate better and maximize ground forces from the beginning through the rest of the race
and like i said earlier, i dont know if i should be consciously thinking about it, but when i do it definitely helps me accelerate better and maximize ground forces from the beginning through the rest of the race
If it makes you run faster, go with it. Most people I know run slower if you get them more cues, but it could very well work.
According to Bosch and Klomp, external feet rotation during the stance in acceleration is NATURAL and SHOULD NOT be fixed. This external rotation allows later internal rotation during the push-off and facilitation of the glute-maximus and thus gretaer propulsive force.
I am not sure for skating…
When you’re that low to the ground you don’t really have an option of where your feet go. They can’t be in a straight line because then you won’t be able to get any power & knee bend.
Hip to leg relationship is not a perfect right angle. (am picturing female Q angles)
The degree of range of motion at the hip is in play, oscillations at the hip being desirable.
So doesn’t some lateralization have to be occurring as a result?
A rough measure of too much lateral movement would be that at the point where the C of Mass shifts such as to limit stride / slowing speed?
At the start, the ground contacts have not come into line such as they are found at top stride/speed. So centering the mass over each contact off the start would gradually decrease?
The “skating” being described likely has more to do with other factors? Again to use the female Q angle reference, I am picturing female foot placement in the squat rack. For the HSI guys, I’d look to muscular / flexibility issues.
I think it was Mo Green who had seriously over-developed TFL’s?
My guess on skating is a side to side come out with the arms crossing the chest and moving out to the side like a speed skater’s do. As far as the lateral motion i would not try and do it since as in my experience as well as others the more ques you give a guy the less he thinks about running. I believe its a natural motion that comes from power and legs trying to catch up.
I wanted to bump up this thread because it really intrigues me. I also believe that slightly spreading the hips and feet during the initial part of a sprint helps you to achieve a faster acceleration mainly because it helps you to better overcome inertia. Also-when coming out of the blocks you probably have to use this type of external rotation for balance reasons and in order to keep yourself from falling down.
Ive been using this type of external rotation during the first 1-2 strides of a sprint myself lately while running hills and short accels on the track ,and i feel like i am able to accelerate faster and gain more power.
Check out this clip of Ben in the '88 Olympic final. Watch the way he laterally spreads his first 3 strides (especially his left leg). He seems to use much more lateral movement at the start compared with the guys on his side. Could Ben’s phenomenal start and acceleration be attributed in any way to his extra lateral hip rotation during the first 3 steps? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gFXa4AcD5w
Lateral movement (displacement) at the start of a sprint is not something that should be coached, but it is natural - the body’s instinctive way of buying time/making space for the hips to extend. BUt if you’re still “skating” at 60m, you’re in the shit.
-I understand and agree with you…i am only asking about lateral hip movement during the first 2-3 steps of a sprint and thats it. The idea of using any type of lateral hip movement at any time other than the FIRST 2-3 STEPS of a sprint would be absurd…The thing is that i dont think that i ever really used any lateral hip movement at the start of a sprint until i was observing all the professional and olympic sprinters doing it while watching them sprint on youtube in slow motion…at that point i consciously started using lateral hip movement during the first 2-3 strides of hill sprints myself and felt like i was accelerating faster (the point is that i dont believe that i naturally did this prior to seeing it done by the professional sprinters)…but then again im a soccer player and not a track sprinter so i obviously dont use any type of blocks for starts.
What about using lateral hip movement (again…only at the start during the first couple steps) from a standing start or a 3 point stance? Would as much lateral hip movement be needed then compared to starting out of the blocks? My guess would be no.
