Sprinting Technique/Form/Mechanics

[b]I Know I'm Fast, Yet I Feel I Can Be Faster With Technique Adjustments[/b]
I feel I have bad running form, yet with it I'm still somewhat fast. Won MVP for my school Senior year as a running back with a 9.3avg per carry and out-ran most of the other teams and was part a 44.83 400-meter relay team my Junior year. (3 white kids, 1 black kid. I was the 'second fasest')

Was timed 4.7 40 the summer going into my senior year. It's now a year and a half later..... I'm faster.

Yet I still feel my sprinting form is off.

[b]Any tips you guys can provide? Good videos you guys can share?[/b]



[b]Why I'm Looking to Improve Sprint Form[/b]
I'm working my ass off and I'm playing amateur football for a top-team in Ohio and my dream is to walk on to Ohio State's team in 2 years and see if I can compete.

(Will be going to OSU Lima Branch campus for 2 years, and then transfer down to Columbus for 4 more years of college (2 years undergrad, 2 years grad) and during 2 of those year I will try to play ball)


Edit: Also check out my football log found in my signature :]

Your best bet would be to post a video on here of sprint form to have everyone critique it.

Some videos to watch of track guys specifically: Asafa powell, Maurice greene, ato boldon just to name a few.

[QUOTE=lift4speed;979797013]Your best bet would be to post a video on here of sprint form to have everyone critique it.

Some videos to watch of track guys specifically: Asafa powell, Maurice greene, ato boldon just to name a few.[/QUOTE]

Thanks brah. Wouldn't really know when I could get a video in, though. Lol.

I hear dorsi-flexion is pretty big with sprinting then? Would that literally be me pulling my feet up during the ENTIRE movement of sprinting? The entire turn-over of my les, my feet should be dorsi-flexed?

[QUOTE=Niko49ers;979854563]Thanks brah. Wouldn't really know when I could get a video in, though. Lol.

I hear dorsi-flexion is pretty big with sprinting then? Would that literally be me pulling my feet up during the ENTIRE movement of sprinting? The entire turn-over of my les, my feet should be dorsi-flexed?[/QUOTE]

dorsiflexion is like creating a spring in your foot. it will help you ran faster, YES YES YES YES,

Dorsiflexion! Ever heard of it? It was recently brought to my attention that most athletes haven’t, and sadly enough this is costing you tons of valuable vertical jump, speed, and explosiveness, as well as knowing about proper dorsiflexion would have prevented alot of ankle sprains in the past!



Dorsiflexion is controlled by a neat muscle on the front side of your calve called the tibialis anterior. This honestly doesn’t mean crap to me really… in fact I googled the term to look smart! (Don’t tell anyone!)





What I can tell you though is by using dorsiflexion when you run, you will position yourself to be more powerful, as well as have quicker ground strikes! This means you will run faster and have more control doing it!



So if you are faster… and in control…. guess what? You Increase your Vertical Jump! A few inches higher as a matter a fact! Some simple dorsiflexion strengthening can be beneficial but in a lot of cases isn’t necessary! You just need to get used to walking, running, and jumping off of dorsiflexed ankles!



So without over thinking this goofy word… dorsiflexion… I want you to understand what it means entirely!



Think about pedaling a bicycle. when you do this motion, you will dorsiflex your feet to generate power throughout your legs! Running is the EXACT same! My college coach would refer to dorsiflexion as “Pointing your toes towards the sky” and unfortunately it wasn’t until half way through my sophomore year that I knew what the hell he was talking about… but once I did, and I began to implement dorsiflexion… That is when my jumping took off! I added a few inches to my vertical, and my high jump numbers went through the roof!

I could approach my jumps with so much more speed, and I felt in complete control! It was Awesome!

When in top speed (upright and running) you should be stepping over the opposite knee, most coaches will say to dorsi-flex throughout whole leg motion, personally I like to non dorsi flex and then once my foot steps over opposite knee, I dorsi flex and make it real snappy

Actively trying to dorsi flex will just hurt your sprinting numbers, so try and do form running drills to work on it and then sprinting it should come natural

[QUOTE=ballerballer;979877083]dorsiflexion is like creating a spring in your foot. it will help you ran faster, YES YES YES YES,

Dorsiflexion! Ever heard of it? It was recently brought to my attention that most athletes haven’t, and sadly enough this is costing you tons of valuable vertical jump, speed, and explosiveness, as well as knowing about proper dorsiflexion would have prevented alot of ankle sprains in the past!



Dorsiflexion is controlled by a neat muscle on the front side of your calve called the tibialis anterior. This honestly doesn’t mean crap to me really… in fact I googled the term to look smart! (Don’t tell anyone!)





What I can tell you though is by using dorsiflexion when you run, you will position yourself to be more powerful, as well as have quicker ground strikes! This means you will run faster and have more control doing it!



So if you are faster… and in control…. guess what? You Increase your Vertical Jump! A few inches higher as a matter a fact! Some simple dorsiflexion strengthening can be beneficial but in a lot of cases isn’t necessary! You just need to get used to walking, running, and jumping off of dorsiflexed ankles!



So without over thinking this goofy word… dorsiflexion… I want you to understand what it means entirely!



Think about pedaling a bicycle. when you do this motion, you will dorsiflex your feet to generate power throughout your legs! Running is the EXACT same! My college coach would refer to dorsiflexion as “Pointing your toes towards the sky” and unfortunately it wasn’t until half way through my sophomore year that I knew what the hell he was talking about… but once I did, and I began to implement dorsiflexion… That is when my jumping took off! I added a few inches to my vertical, and my high jump numbers went through the roof

I could approach my jumps with so much more speed, and I felt in complete control! It was Awesome![/QUOTE]

Did you copy and paste this from somewhere? haha

Damn nice post ballerbrah regardless if it's copy or not.


I'm watching this video:
[youtube]6BmtGNjm7BE&[/youtube]

...and he says to dorsi-flex when I'm bringing my knee up, but then plantar flex when I fire my leg down to the ground.


I thought I was supposed to dorsi-flex through the whole movement?

Flexibility plays a big part in running, so make sure you stretch. An area a lot of people over-look is hips. A strong/flexible pair of hips will you get you places. Yoga has helped me a lot since I'm a hurdler, because I started out with weak hips. Make sure you stick with core work. (Planks, sit-ups, etc...) Make sure you're feet aren't facing in or out when you sprint. In the long run, you're actually running a little bit more opposed to somebody whose feet are straight. If they aren't straight...look up a band work out. And last thing...don't neglect single leg training. If you can find a couple exercises/workouts that work each leg, it'll help. If you make it to Ohio State, I expect an autograph :p

[QUOTE=AlabamaPancake;984101423]Flexibility plays a big part in running, so make sure you stretch. An area a lot of people over-look is hips. A strong/flexible pair of hips will you get you places. Yoga has helped me a lot since I'm a hurdler, because I started out with weak hips. Make sure you stick with core work. (Planks, sit-ups, etc...) Make sure you're feet aren't facing in or out when you sprint. In the long run, you're actually running a little bit more opposed to somebody whose feet are straight. If they aren't straight...look up a band work out. And last thing...don't neglect single leg training. If you can find a couple exercises/workouts that work each leg, it'll help. If you make it to Ohio State, I expect an autograph :p[/QUOTE]

Thanks man for sure! I include single-leg exercises in the Madcow 5x5 program I'm following so hopefully it's doing me some good.