Listen carefully to what ESTI suggests. John Smith drills are very close to what CF would look for. I know this for a fact because I asked him who he modeled his drills after. I was at a week long course and had the opportunity to pick his brain over a three day period. The reason I asked is because he spent time with Bud Winter in San Jose (who allegedly used similar drills) as well as quite a bit of time in Toronto in the early 1980’s with Charlie’s group at the Metro Track and Field Centre. Smith stated that Gerard Mach’s drills are the basis of the drills he uses.
The only caveat with using the above drills is that you need to know exactly what you’re looking for- just doing them is not sufficient. This is why a short to long program is so difficult to implement. There is a lot of accelerating going on, and if it’s not done properly it will be deeply ingrained.
As a question to ESTI, do you think perhaps PJ Vazel’s hurdle drill would be easier to implement immediately? Could we ask him for permission to post it? The only downside is you need quite a few small hurdles, but it almost guarantees that the athlete will get in the correct position with zero cueing.
Going to work on frontside mechanics drills today…
I would really appreciate the “PJ Vazel’s hurdle drill” that T-Slow mentioned, if possible.
Would like to help her the best way possible. She has had a lot of really, really bad things happen in track over the past 2 years and I don’t want her to lose her love and interest… At times, she does get a little depressed at what has already happened.
Question for ESTI: You mentioned “Power&Speed/Power Speed download”, I don’t know what you are referring to?
Hurdle drill is common in France. It’s scattered throughout this video. It’s the same thing as my progressive A run build up, just with 25-40 mini hurdles spaced on the track.
Over the past year or more, this site format is really frustrating… I have to log-out of using
Explorer or writing/editing posts is next to
impossible… if I want to post or edit, I have to
use Firefox… why is this site like this???[/
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I sort of walk the same way as her and for myself, I’ve been thinking lately it might have to do with hypermobility, and by extension maybe even shallow hip sockets(hip dysplasia). Also I’m
slightly bow-legged. For instance, if you’re
hypermobile, kelly starrett advises against band distraction to gain range of motion(hips) or muscle dynamics(taking the hypermobile joint to end range and tugging on the insertion)
As far as Ab workouts, she had been doing the one Ange performs in the Jane Project video.
But, she told me, recently, she hasn’t been doing it regularly.
She will do this on her tempo days now
Been working on front-side mechanics last couple of days.
Her form is transforming to more front-side, but is a little exaggerated and doesn’t look comfortable.
She says it feels awkward.
Worked on a couple 30 meter runs @ 85 - 90% and looked better.
She ran a couple 30 meter runs and 60 meter runs @ 95%, still held her form, even though not yet natural looking…
Her time in the 30’s was about .4 to .5 seconds slower than average and the time in the 60 meter was about .7 to .8 seconds slower.
Will get some video tomorrow.
The French video with the 25 to 40 small hurdles looks interesting, that is a lot of hurdles to make and extra time spent setting up… but, if it would help make the transition faster, of course well worth the effort.
Regardless, I will be building (10) 30" PVC hurdles so that she can do the mobility drills that she should already be doing.
The major problem is you’re going into an indoor competition phase soon, and trying to change things a whole lot right now is probably more than she will be able to handle. If you panic and try to change too much, it will give off the vibe that you’re not confident that she will run well indoors unless these key changes are made. Mechanics are important, but not fixing things until after indoors is not the end of the world.
You’re finding that she’s able to complete the runs with a better technical model, but they are much slower as expected, as she is going to have to re-learn the motor patterns. The question is whether now is the right time to implement major changes. Only you know your competition schedule, so only you can answer that question.
If you’re planning a double-periodized year, you may be better to run your indoor competitions making only a couple of minor changes depending on when your competitions lie. Over the next month or two, you can quietly familiarize yourself with the biomechanics model you want to achieve without stressing her out by suddenly changing her form. As you gain a better grasp of what to look for, you will be more confident in your implementation, which will increase her confidence too.
I’ve been working with an athlete via distance, and his mechanics need a lot of work. I pretty much left them alone for the first season, and just by doing an intelligent job of periodizing his season (using CF programs as a model), he managed to improve on his times and break through the 11 second barrier wind-legal for the first time ever. Mechanics are important, but just one piece of the puzzle and not the holy grail of sprint performance.
Lack of high knee while running in my opinion is due to a few factors:
Poor biomechanics- late knee recovery, support leg bend too much in the knee, lack of dorsiflexion of the foot during ground contact,
Tight or weak hip flexors- Iliopsoas, Tensor Fasciae Latae, Pectineus, Sartorius, Adductor Longus or Adductor Brevis,
Tight hip extensors- Gluteus maximus, Semitendiunosus, Semimembranosus, Adductor magnus (ischial fibers) etc…
at the beginning all changes are uncomfortable, with the time it should look better and better
Re: “small hurdles looks interesting” 6’’ hurdles its a good option for developing and advanced athletes (Vince Anderson using small hurdles in his program 9x small hurdles http://speedendurance.com/2009/02/17/vince-andersons-sprint-acceleration-and-maximum-velocity/)
One option I am using (for female athletes):
9m approach, 6hx1.5m, 6hx1.6m, 7hx1.7m
11m approach 6hx1.6m, 6hx1.7m, 7hx1.8m
13m approach (female athletes with greater experience) 7hx1.7m, 7hx1.8, 7hx1.9m
Thanks for the informative post, a lot of information to think about.
As with the small hurdles, what would the optimum height be, as I see in the video posted by ESTI, they are using at least a 12" height… is 6" the recommended height?
First indoor race of the year at University of Washington.
Lane 4, wearing white short sleeve shirt, black shorts.
She said she tired herself trying to pass the leader on the outside (instead of cutting inside after the first turn) and didn’t have enough left to pass on the final straight.
Hannah Cunliffe ran in the womens 60 meters with the US HS fastest time so far of 7.35.
She ran well considering she has just started running over 100m in workouts the past 2 weeks, and I had her work on mechanics and no real running for a whole week 2 weeks ago.
She did not do her scheduled workouts…which I probably should have worked the mechanics in with the regular workouts instead of replacing the workouts with mechanics work.
Yes, Hannah is a Senior this year.
She will be an Oklahoma ‘Sooner’ this Fall.
She says when she runs the 6" wicket hurdle drills, working on running tall, legs parallel, dorsiflexion, she says it feels like there are “weights” on the top of her legs… not that she can’t bring them up, but that it is hard to do.
She has no trouble bringing her legs up when just standing, but when running, or doing the wicket drills, they do not come near parallel.
Don’t know if her weight lifting 1RM would be an indicator of anything, but here they are:
She is age 16, 5’1", 108 lbs, and over the past couple years almost regularly did Ange’s Ab workout (the one shown in the Jane Project video).
She has been lifting 3 times a week since about the last week of November:
Rich, how much space between hurdles. Just thinking it could just be there is not enough space between hurdles. I think you may have answered the question, does she feel the same when sprinting?
