Sprint Heel Recovery

Expert Discussion Advanced Sprint Training
1

I have two female athletes that have a weird heel-recovery. It looks like they are doing buttkicks while sprinting. The heel coming too far from behind. I will try to adress this with some drills but I would just like to have other opinions:

  • what drills to incorporate?
  • what hybrid drills would you use? (drills that fade into sprinting)
  • which is the “best” for this specific problem in your opinion?
  • would you see greater benefit by pairing the drills with runs (alternating)?

Thanks in advance

2

You may not even need drills, it’s possible it’s a mobility issue.

3

I would think it’s pelvic positioning.

4

I agree. Forward pelvic rotation produces these exact symptoms

5

have you recorded and actually viewed the running? post a clip here before you do anything. “trying” to do something when sprinting can cause adverse effects on natural sprinting mechanics

6

College age?
quads are tight. Hips are tight. They are tight.
Do you do leg swings, side leg swings, donkey kicks and donkey side leg raises, how are their standing squats with no weight what so ever in terms of heels touching the floor, check for t band tightness as most sprinters ignore it, if you lay them face down on the ground and pull one hell up to their glute does the heel touch?
My guess is I am hitting the nail on the head by each comment and if I am correct then you need to get them to start regenerating, resting, sleeping, massage, and any life style change you might have influence on.
Drills won’t fix mobility issues in and of themselves.
Your questions are good. Keep asking them. Stop trying to fix a problem and start adopting a larger view of why this might be happening. It’s very rarely one thing. It’s symptomatic of a bunch of things.
Are they excessively strong to the point of it now interfering with their ability to sprint. People lift heavy weights because they are strong but have you watched Weighs for speed?

7

I agree, my issue was tight quads and hips from high squat volume and loads while performing back and front squats twice a week. I would probably get away from all squatting and start pulling from the ground and other various post chain exercises along with all the mobility drills Angela listed. I dropped front squats from my programs many years ago solid advice I got from Charlie.

8

Happy Birthday Angela…

9

Thank you RB34.
I love B days.

10

Tight quads would prevent your heel from touching your glutes while sprinting, not causing them to do so. A tight lower back and weak abs will cause the pelvis to rotate/tilt anteriorly and result in the excessive backside mechanics described by SeparateReality.

11

Robin1 you are right about tight quads preventing the heels from touching the quads.

It’s helpful to know the interplay of what is tight and what is weak and how the two interplay with one another.

In saying so what would your suggestion(s) be in order of priority.

Breaking down the issues are important. How might you suggest to this coach some best ideas on how to get these mechanics to change?

12

I would check if abs are strong enough and correct posture through drills focussing on front side mechanics and proper pelvic positioning.