I have a problem with the concept of high hips. If I run stride that don’t require me to sprint at full speed I can “run tall” but If I try to accelerate I don’t run as tall because I am afraid of standing too tall too soon. Is there a way to run tall and still be in good acceleration position? How soon should you start thinking about getting tall?
Keep your back straight throughout the run right from acc. to max vel.- don’t bend at the waist.
Thanks…so I shouldn’t worry about getting tall too soon.
Also, as Charlie said, let the back raise the head don’t allow the head to raise the back. Try to achieve a straight line whether you are in acc. or velocity. I try to get athletes to keep the upper back straight/chest up, in particular, as this tends to keep the hips higher and helps to avoid “piking” at the waist.
I like that cue of chest up. I am going to try that. I always run slightly bent at the waist.
Sorry to chime in.
As you have said you run bent at the waist!
To me your issue isn’t just when your at maxV it’s usually something from the acc! I would assume you tend to run too much under/in front of you during acc constant leaving the hips in a negative position (legs never fully extended during acc)
I would try a focus on, starting a little slower ensuring you run more under/behind you during acc ensuring good rom n full extension, as your legs will then be fully extended already from this phase as you transition smoothly your hips will continue to remain extended from the leg and then your running tall.
Note, when I refer to under I mean in a vertical to the floor visual not body plane, so when I mean under/behind it means full extension of the body hips and legs behind the vertical view not body plane. Hope that makes sence
I get good extension but since my hips are too low it causes my extension to happen too late in the stance phase.In all of the videos I have posted I seem to have the same problem and that is low hips which is causing me to over stride and never fully get into the proper max velocity posture. I will post forum links to all of the videos. I feel like I run too squatty. I have made numerous posts about these issues but just can’t seem to really solve them. http://www.charliefrancis.com/community/showthread.php?21898-Sprint-mechanics-critique
How’s your quad flex and post chain strength?
I’m not sure but I do know that I have a slight anterior pelvic tilt.
This is where it starts.
Get the form (full extension) right at block clearance and the rest will follow. For me, it comes to getting as low as you can coming out of the blocks (and this is the primary place where strength level really matters) and DRIVE. It doesn’t matter whether you think “lift only the head” like John Smith or “don’t let the back lift the head” like Charlie, it amounts to the same thing.
If you do it right and you have the extension coming out of the blocks, you will have the extension and hip height when you come up.
Did you check out my videos?
idk is right, you gotta be high on your hips from the gun, if your not strong enough you wont be able to do it till later in the race but you should aim to do it the whole time,drive low means body angle not height
Hi Izzle, I agree with what everyone is saying about being tall in hips from the get go, first push, etc. Like I mentioned previously, I’d even go further and say that tall hips need to start even before you get into the blocks. You need to make this posture a part of your everyday life away from the track. Check yourself throughout the day and see how anteriorley rotated you feel. Tall hips won’t become a habit on the track until you begin to live daily with the good posture. You ever seen an elite sprinter walk around in everyday life? They usually have fantastic posture.
Okay thanks I will make sure I keep the hips tall throughout the day. I believe I may have been over-pushing. I recorded a few sprints the other day and I focused on stepping down for a few of them. I focused on stepping down and early recover on the others. The early recover helped to get my foot in position faster to land under my hips without sacrificing triple extension while improving frontside mechanics.
How exactly do you do this throughout the day?
When i think tall hips, i usually end up just up on my tip toes 
Chest out slightly, straight back and sky hooks attached to both my ASIS’es is probably the best way for me to achieve tall hips - is this a good approximation?
By anteriorly rotated do you mean - pelvic tilt? As neutral as possible is recommended? Any advice on how to achieve this?
Thanks!
Yes tall hips is all about the pelvis not the toes. Just check your posture to make sure your hips are forward and you are not “sitting” or butt out posture.
Just the concept of having the front wall of your pelvis point out to the horizon line has helped some of my athletes in the past. Seagrave even cues pointing front wall of pelvis up at top of trees/buildings on horizon line to over cue for very lordotic folks. Petrov’s method is my favorite, which is borrowed from gymnastics. Lie flat face down on ground and try to push front wall of pelvis flat to the ground. Get up and try to keep approximate position. Some folks may need some type of therapy if they are very tight in hip flexors, abs and back. The military has a therapy for posture as well, but you have to have somebody near you 24/7 to scream in your ear when your posture becomes poor. Their therapy is called discipline. Another cue I like trying to point your arsehole at your ankles. Don’t let your arse-laser hit the poor soul’s toes behind you in line. However, you can’t use that cue with every athlete.
As a side note, but a fairly important one is to try to use your lower abdominals to manage your hip posture. Try to avoid using your glutes to get your hips in position. You need the full use of your glutes to extend the hip while running/sprinting, and you don’t want them wasting effort managing your hip posture at the same time. If your glutes are too preoccupied with hip posture then your body will go to the next available muscle to extend the hip, which is the hamstring. If your hammy is doing work your glutes should be, you’ll over-use them which will result in poor technique and injury. This is especially bad if you are someone who already uses the hammy too much as a knee flexor. The hammy should be used to extend the hip, but in concert with on optimally working glute.
If all or any of this is not natural, then you must have an imaginary drill sargent in your head to help you fix it. Boot camp lasts at least 9 weeks…which is not by coincidence approximately the old-wives tale time duration for forming a habit.