I’m not ready to entirely dismiss all drills that emphasize recovery. It depends on the needs of the athlete. For example, Charlie showed me a terrific drill that he used as an athlete to teach himself to keep the feet under the body during recovery instead of cartwheeling behind.
However, when you move from drills (which are relatively slow) to actual sprinting, it’s a whole different ballgame. When you’re sprinting, by the time the plant foot hits the ground the swing foot is already off the ground and coming over the support knee. If you try to switch your focus from stepping down with the first foot back to stepping over with the other foot you’re behind the power curve because that foot is already on its way over and forward. If you think about raising it, you’re more likely to unnecessarily exaggerate the motion. You really only have time to think about cocking the swing foot in preparation for the next step down.