where should the force be

hi,
i have always been told by ex-coach’s that i must have a feeling of been light over the track.

however after reading some threads on here, i coming to the conclusion that i actually need to be trying to apply more force into the ground with each contact. is this correct??

so instead of trying to be light and float over the ground should i really be trying to slam the foot down hard with each foot strike, thus applying more force???

be careful how you interpret things. What the foot actually does, and what it should feel like are often different things. You should be thinking down, down, down with the legs, and massive amounts of force should be slamming into the ground, :eek: BUT :eek: the ground contact time should be so short that you don’t have time to feel the impact like you would landing from jumping down a small set of stairs. Everything should be relaxed, and as quick as possible. “Runners run on the ground; sprinters sprint over the ground.” The feeling should be light and relaxed, but this doesn’t mean that the motion should be wussy.