what cues should i use in order to put force on the ground? my lower leg seems to extend out involuntary and I’m trying to figure out a way to keep it from doing it.
Pump the arms. That’s your cue. If you think about your legs, you’ll screw up the action. And whatever you do, do NOT try to conciously put more force into the ground. Trying to push harder against the ground will increase you ground contact and actually reduce power output. As your power increases with training, your subjective sensation of power will actually decrease. In other words, the more powerful you are, the less powerful you feel because the contact is so brief.
The lower leg is supposed to swing out during the stride. I don’t understand your problem. Could you provide more detail?
Sprinter 984, its normal for the knee & ankle to extend forward pior to ground contact.
Do you feel your leg jarring on intial touchdown?
Sometimes I feel I have to put more force into the ground to move anywhere and there was a time I didn’t put anyforce into the ground and I was runnin around 12.8-13.4, lately I run around 10.6-11.1.
Do you have video of your runs? and also, do you ever do form running such as A-runs?
What are a-runs?? I don’t know how to post a video on the net with a camcorder.
As I learned, A-runs are form running. Think of A-skips (original Mach style) and make it a run. There may be variations out there.
On the old board someone posted this pic with Ben & everyone else, NOT dorsiflexing until they’re foot was about to touch down. Now I don’t know how often you all get to see Dwight Thomas run, but he doesn’t seem to dorsiflex at all. But for some reason he’s fast. Could his legs be doing something else that’s allowing his foot to land under his COM, or close to it. If not than “mouse” better get on it. I think he’s the fastest dude outta the 3.(Capel, Williams, Thomas) Or at least could be.
should dorsi-flexion just happen? or should I consciously try to make it happen?
in other words, is it a sympton or a cause?
This is the one of the reasons I stopped doing B-skips with several of our athletes. We found that extending the leg, front side, served no purpose. And in some situations, actually enabled some improper lower body movements.
However, there is always the question of whether these exercises are being done correctly.
http://www.charliefrancis.com/board/philboard_read.asp?id=1340
Originally posted by jalbert
should dorsi-flexion just happen? or should I consciously try to make it happen?in other words, is it a sympton or a cause?
When you do drills like A’s and straight leg bounds, focus on keeping your toes up but not higher than the heel. After that, dorsi-flexion should feel natural when you run.
Originally posted by Flash
And whatever you do, do NOT try to conciously put more force into the ground. Trying to push harder against the ground will increase you ground contact and actually reduce power output. As your power increases with training, your subjective sensation of power will actually decrease. In other words, the more powerful you are, the less powerful you feel because the contact is so brief.
So a good cue to have that decreased subjective sensation of power is to pretend that the track is on fire. I think that Jesse Owens said this.
If you don’t have a problem, you don’t have to fix it. Perhaps the sensation of the lower leg being too far forward is due to the lack of sufficient hip height to allow the foot to travel down far enoygh to achieve the right position. this would be a power and/or flexibility problem. Thoughts?
For some reason I run slower when I try to apply additional forces into the ground. I think I’m increasing the GCT when I concentrate on this part of my stride.
Now when I feel a snap w/ each stride I must say I feel faster during my runs.
What are you guys feeling when you post your fastest or slower times?
Kenny Mac~~
Some can increase their stride length by 1-2 feet, but their frequency falls so low it causes the speed (velocity) to drop too low.
This is what you could be feeling. I know I do at times especially during flying 30’s.
I can easily do a 2.80 & 2.99 by messing w/ my stride over a flying 30 m.
Kenny Mac~~~
When I’ve done my fastest times - I’ve felt nothing - til the end zone
All you should feel when you hit the ground is a thump and the foot is back off the gorund. Don’t try to take the weight room to the track. Get stronger in the weight room and you will naturally apply more force to the ground. It should not be a conscious effort. Just turn over and run but make sure that you are going through the full range of motion ulilizing the stretch reflex.