The reason for the low foot clearance out of the blocks is simply due to that being the path taken by the foot is much shorter than if the hamstrings pull it up. This low foot only lasts for a few steps.
Ok, but at an elite level, which is only my assumption, nothing is random. It is usually the result of training and presumed to be intentional. If that is the path taken by the foot, then why do it? To what end? Also, I am a bit confused as to how the hamstring pulls the foot up…can you elaborate. I assumed there was a pushing motion but the quads and hips were doing a bit of lifting and that point in recovery.
As Rainy said, it’s simply shorter to drag the foot to the next contact point rather than bring it through in an arc.
At what level you teach this, if at all, is up for debate. The high school kids I coach have much greater gains to be made through basic start mechanics and power development than they do dragging their toe. Like Charlie said, get the seconds first then worry about the hundredths.
I see. What you said is essentially the same as what was previously stated but we all don’t understand the same or at the same pace (i.e.- me).
Thanks
Hello everyone, am a newbie. Just wanted to say thank you at “Stikki” for the diagram and explanation, very precise and easy to understand, have always had some difficulty in understanding other coaches saying stuff like ‘low heel recovery’, ‘running on hot coals’ etc, but not this explanation.
The foot drag is during the second step. The pic is the first step
with hip flexion (back leg out of blocks) the knee also flexes (with hams) to lift the foot.
The hamstring bends the knee, it does not extend it
who said it extends it?
The ham is lenghtened by the quad.
In the CF Fundamentals 1: Speed & Strength video Charlie talks about Lombard’s Paradox, where the hamstring, when it works on certain angles, becomes a knee extensor along with the quads.
At triple extension. If you run frontside the hammy becomes a break for the quads.
when the back leg is brought forward out of the blocks, initially there has been a little knee extension as the back foot leaves the block but momentarily later the hip and the knee both flex to clear the ground and the leg is brought forward to place the foot on the ground as the knee and hip then both extend. However, the issue on the other page was about the foot drag which is the hip/knee flexion phase here.
The front leg also has to flex at both the hip and the knee to clear the foot of the ground (a light drag being allowed).
If the knee did not flex along with the hip, then the athlete would go knowwhere, the foot would plough into the ground.
Lombards Paradox is irrelevant here. This is a simple issue of the knee flexing (along with the hip) to allow ground clearance for the foot out of the blocks. Watch youtube, watch yourself…
The knee angles become more acute (flexion) as the feet are brought forward out of the blocks to place on the ground ahead! Look at Usains back leg angle as it comes forward, the other leg will do similar. Only at the end of the swing phase does the knee/hip extend again.
Ok both these posts effectively say the same thing but there you go.
I added it to the discussion, not because it’s relevant to start mechanics, but to avoid blanket statements like, “hamstrings bend the knee, they don’t extend it.” Didn’t mean to offend. 
no it’s ok, I knew that really, was just seperating the discussion, cheers
The toe drag is a result of increasing stride length.
Not offended. In the context of high knees at the start and frontside mechanics the hammy is a stabiliser for the quads.
I view it as an effort to quicken the first few steps as if one was doing a ladder drills. Sprinters with longer strides would normally take fewer strides in the first 5m of race anyways. This practice of dragging the toe seems to exaggerate the “tripping motion” that the body is trying to compensate for in the beginning. The result is a faster stride rate that is comparable to their counterparts.
IMO