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Joe D. disputes the Track & Field experts regarding acceleration mechanics

Chris_Hogan_40_still_shot

Q: Awesome Train slow to be fast post and explanation Joe!

I recently went to a track & field clinic put on by "THE" (what a joke) Ohio State University... The sprinters coach told me Football coaches think they know everything and that they were wrong about larger, more powerful strides as opposed to increased stride turnover (when coaching acceleration). I agree with YOU as opposed to him but he did make a good argument... his reasoning was, when you take larger strides, your feet are in the air longer, and in turn you cant accelerate as quickly. On the other hand, when you have a higher turnover rate, you have more ground contact in order to accelerate. What are your thoughts?

-Matt

 

A: Matt,

I appreciate you sending me this email and filling me in on the clinic. This is definitely a hotly-debated topic -- and it happens to be a topic that I feel highly-qualified to answer :) And let me preface my answer by saying that I do not know the sprinters coach that you are referring to; so this is in no way a personal attack on any individual, nor does my response have anything to do with Ohio State University. I'd also like to say that I do not think my way of coaching acceleration represents the "football" way of coaching. I feel comfortable saying this because 95% of the football players that have trained with me for their Pro Day or the NFL Combine, were not taught to take "big steps" when accelerating prior to training with me. Most of them actually did the opposite. 

Anyway, let's get right to your question... 

There is a MAJOR "loophole" in the track coach's statement. Here's what he said...

"When you take larger strides, your FEET are in the air longer, and in turn you can't accelerate as quickly." 

I agree 100% regarding his thoughts about "being in the air longer" will make you slower. Any athlete who has trained with me knows that I'm constantly yelling at them when they "jump" into a cut, or "leap" instead of run, etc., because you can't be fast while you're in the air! But here's the catch: the reason I underlined & capitalized the word "feet" in the track coach's statement was because the FEET are not in the air long when athletes accelerate using my technique. One FOOT may be in the air longer, but that's because the other foot is applying force into the ground & propelling the athlete forward! So, in turn, taking "big steps" actually requires the athlete to have a longer ground contact time, compared to taking shorter, "quick" steps!

**In other words, "my" athletes will always have one foot on the ground, powerfully applying force backwards and FINISHING each stride (which ensures that they're constantly propelling themselves forward and covering ground)! This is in direct opposition to taking "quick" steps that the track & field coaches advocate. In my opinion, the only way to take "quick" steps is if you're NOT "finishing" each stride and fully extending. And the only way to get from 'Point A' to 'Point B' is by applying force backwards to propel yourself forward. These "quick" steps basically get you nowhere fast because you're not fully extending. What good does it do to take more steps if the steps aren't powerful enough to move your body forward in space?? (Reminds me of Fred Flinstone every time he tried to start his car! His feet would move fast as hell for the first few seconds, but he didn't go anywhere!) 

Donte_Davis_start
Here is a shot of former Syracuse wide receiver, Donte Davis, taking his first step of a 10-yard sprint. Notice how much ground he covers on this first step! Donte hit the 10-yard mark in 6 steps and ran a 1.56 (electric time) on this particular sprint. During Donte's initial evaluation with us, he ran 1.81, 1.80 & 1.83 in the 10-yard-dash. During that first evaluation, Donte was consistantly taking 7.5 to 8 steps to run 10 yards. (He "looked" very quick, but his times were slow because he wasn't "finishing" each stride and covering ground.)  

Check out Donte's feet in the above picture. You'll notice that BOTH feet are in contact with the ground at the conclussion of his first step! He basically propelled himself forward by pushing (and fully extending) his left leg, as his right knee drove forward. (Notice I said, "forward"...I didn't use the word "up". BIG DIFFERENCE.) This would obviously dispute the argument that taking "big steps" is slower because the athlete is "in the air" too long. 

When coaching athletes to take "big steps", one of the key coaching points I hammer into their head is to keep their shins/feet low to the ground when accelerating -- you will never hear me say "drive your knees up" or "high knees" when one of my athlete's drives out of their stance. At my facility, we coach our athletes to "punch the back knee forward" and "keep the shin parallel to the ground" when firing out of their stance and accelerating. 

Donte_Davis_10_best_lean_0_00_17-19

Obviously, it's impossibe to keep the shin "parallel" to the ground when running; but the intent to do this helps athletes understand my point. If you look at the above picture; this is when I'd be yelling, "Punch your right knee FORWARD!" and "Push the turf BACK with your left foot!" This ensures that as soon as the athlete "finishes" the stride/extension with the back leg; the front leg immediately strikes the ground and continues the cycle. This is why - if coached properly - "bigger steps" DON'T leave the athlete "in the air" longer than shorter steps. 

 

I would like to conclude this post by stating that I was originally taught "proper" acceleration mechanics by two highly respected track & field experts. (One of these experts coached multiple countries in various Olympic Games.)

Both of these coaches taught me to get the feet down "as quickly as possible" when acclerating...they even went as far as to say the back leg should land on the start line during the first step! As a 22-year-old kid with virtually no sprint coaching experience; I believed everything they said. At the time, I had no "real-world" experience so everything they said sounded very logical. So for over a year, I coached every athlete to "get their feet down as quickly as possible" when accelerating. 

Leer_Biddle_1.55_10_0_00_09-07
A much better 1st step approach, compared to having your 1st step "get down fast", yet "go nowhere"... 

 

But then, one day, everything changed. I watched (then) Bears rookie fullback, Jim Finn, run a 10-yard sprint in 5 1/2 steps and his (electric) time was almost 2-tenths faster than all the defensive backs and wide receivers I was training that day. How can that be? He looked so much slower, yet his times were so much faster?! (FYI, Jim's official 40 time at his NFL Pro Day was a 4.53, weighing 250lbs.!)

The rest, as they say, is history! I spent the next couple of months staying after work (sometimes until midnight) experimenting on myself -- running 10's, counting my steps, recording the times, etc.

It's now been over 10 years since learning and implementing this technique with myself and REAL ATHLETES. Without trying to sound cocky, I don't think there are many other coaches out there that have been fortunate enough to coach over 15,000 electrically-timed 10-yard sprints during the past decade. (And FYI, I didn't just make up a number and throw it out there -- I've literally coached that many 10-yard sprints...and many of those 15,000 reps were with high-level college and professional athletes. Needless to say, there are NO textbooks and NO "case studies" that can even come close to my decade-long experiment. I guess this is why I'm so passionate/confident on this subject...and maybe a little cocky Cool. 

I can go on and on with "real-world" evidence regarding the difference that taking one less step in the 10-yard-dash can make on your 40-yard-dash time. 

Remember this guy?


Miles_stance

The above picture shows Miles Austin in January of 2006 working on his stance/acceleration technique with me in preparation of the NFL Combine. When Miles took "shorter/quicker" steps - 7.5 steps to be exact - his 10-yard split was 1.77 seconds and his 40 time was 4.62. When Miles took bigger steps and completed his first 10 yards in 6 steps, his 10-yard split was 1.62 seconds and his 40-yard-dash time was always in the 4.4's. He ran an official 4.47 at the NFL Combine. 

 

I have so many more examples, I wouldn't even know where to begin. Maybe someday I'll write a novel on 10-yard sprint technique (although I'm not sure there's a huge market for it LOL)! But for now, you can just trust me and a decade's worth of real-world results...

Or you can run your 40 like this guy starts his car...

The choice is yours!

-Joe D.  

P.S. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts on this post! 

 


23 Comments

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  1. Jonathan makes this comment

    Friday, 29 April 2011

    The point of taking long powerful strides in the start for track and field is to accelerate for as long as possible and to hit top speed as late as possible to prevent deceleration at the end of the race. In football there should be no worries about decelerating in a 40-yard dash or anything, so the athletes don't need to "extend" their drive phase like track athletes do. Thus, football players should look to push out quickly and reach top speed ASAP.

  2. James makes this comment

    Wednesday, 27 April 2011

    Ben Johnson had the best start in history (Seoul '88). He took shorter/more steps relative to the field to 10m.

  3. Scott makes this comment

    Saturday, 09 April 2011

    A cheetah has 4 legs and its speed comes from the power and flexibility in its back muscles. Human and cheetah sprint mechanics are different beasts. Over striding in human sprinting makes for a less efficient machine. A cheetah's long strides also make it poor at changing direction as quickly as its prey. Take a look at Jamaican accel mechanics. Heel recovery is so low that the second foot grazes the ground on its way through. The lower heel recovery means that the foot can get back to the ground quickly and right under the COG. It also means that the foot is going to be on the ground longer, taking advantage of the slower speed of early accel and allowing force to be applied over a longer period (force x time=power). This also makes the slower speeds of sled runs very good for reinforcing good accel mechanics. Also, speed is measured over 10, 20, 40, 60 m/yd, not 1 step. A gaping first step or a super quick first step does not necessarily make for a fast race.

  4. William makes this comment

    Sunday, 27 March 2011

    Hey Joe, to teach this technique, can it be a good idea to have the guys do some slow prowler pushes? Because I feel this mimics the running mecanic pretty good in terms of leaning forward as much as possible and fully extending the legs to adapt the brain so this running pattern. BTW, Awesome post! -Will, HyBreed Training Systems http://hybreedathletics.blogspot.com/

  5. Carl Schmidt makes this comment

    Sunday, 27 March 2011

    Hey Joe, Read this article a while ago and kind of forgot about it. Then was watching T.V. and they were analyzing why a cheetah can run so fast (115km/h). For its body length it takes massive strides, all four of its feet are off the ground together and for a long time due to the force it creates going forward. If anyone disagrees with you about going fast with long strides. Go look at a cheetah in the wild- THE SAME APPLIES TO US!

  6. isaiah brewer makes this comment

    Saturday, 26 March 2011

    Great article. Sprint coach was always preaching short steps outta the gun and I never felt I could get a good thrust with my legs doing it that way. Def gonna try yours thanks!

  7. xtos makes this comment

    Friday, 18 March 2011

    this article was a good read. for someone who wants to start using sprinting as a conditioning tool, are there any resources you can recommend for learning proper sprinting technique from the ground up, mechanics, instruction, etc? i don't have a track coach at my disposal!

  8. John B. makes this comment

    Sunday, 13 March 2011

    Good post... I have been coaching sprinters for a while now and the one thing I see from foot ball players is that they tend to pin wheel their legs when accelerating. I can hear those cartoon bongos when they start running :-) But seriously, a good analogy I use to explain this is, bike riding. To get the bike going you need to start pedaling the bike fast and hard to get up to speed then when you get up to speed you maintain it by taking shorter and less powerful but quicker steps. If any one here thinks Joe D's statement is false, ask Asafa Powell and Usain Bolts coaches (Stephen Francis and Glen Mills). They gave a seminar about sprinting and explained the start (first 10 Meters) The same exact way... Damn you Joe for for giving away a well guarded secret LOLOL As always GOOD WORK!!!

  9. K. Kim makes this comment

    Friday, 11 March 2011

    Hey Joe, I'm guessing these same ideas should apply to a wide receiver coming off of the line, or a baseball hitter starting for 1st base? Long strides to start?

  10. Jerome Marrow makes this comment

    Wednesday, 09 March 2011

    Who are these coaches, Joe? Charlie Francis frequently said that you should aim for quick steps out of the blocks and that if your athletes were actually strong in & out of the weightroom, they would naturally extend completely. Only poor coaching and miscues require somebody to 'think' about overstriding as you are coaching. Seriously, nothing you said here has one thing to do with sleds. In fact, the pictures and videos you post of your athletes using heavy sleds shows just the opposite of what you advocate here. The vids show very short and very choppy steps without full extension. Hypocrisy?

  11. Chris makes this comment

    Thursday, 03 March 2011

    Joe, you're absolutely correct. I've had the opportunity to work with a spring coach who, by the way, has won an Olympic gold medal, and he teaches the same thing. He teaches long strides, trying to stay in the air as long as possible (not bounding, but from the force of the push off). A great example is to look at the stride length of Bolt, which is ridiculous. More steps equal less power per step and less of a full stride. Anyways, the point is Defrancos right and there are legitimate sprint coaches out there who know what they are doing, although they're few and far between.

  12. Scott makes this comment

    Thursday, 03 March 2011

    I have another thought regarding the full extension of the back leg against the ground. I think (opinion...not tested fact) that the increased speed may be the result of a favorable angle as well. If you compare the knee bend at different points in a sprint to that of a squat I'd imagine that the short choppy strides are closer to the fully squatted to 1/4 squat angle, while those at Joe's fully extended method are in the 1/4 squat to fully standing position. I think that pretty much everyone out there can 1/4 squat more (and do it faster) than they can squat all the way down. Just a thought...

  13. MBTyamba makes this comment

    Wednesday, 02 March 2011

    Great post Joe, opened my eyes once again. Thanx for providing such great info appreciate it. Phil

  14. Matt S. makes this comment

    Wednesday, 02 March 2011

    Joe, Great expanation! Thanks for answering my question so quickly! I have to say, I've incorporated HASD's into my client's training and have seen an instant improvement in sprint mechanics & form. Echoing what John said, great coaching cues. Thanks again!

  15. K. Kim makes this comment

    Tuesday, 01 March 2011

    Everyone that comments on here always tries to sound like an expert. Anyway, great post Joe. I think one of the best in Ask Joe history!

  16. Arno makes this comment

    Tuesday, 01 March 2011

    Check this Slow Motion Cam from the start of Usain Bolt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf12x5WSLN8 There you can see a fantastic example how to keep the feet low to the ground while taking big strides (he actually touches the floor while accelerating)! Thank you Joe for sharing this amazing information... Greets from Switzerland

  17. Mike Whiteman makes this comment

    Monday, 28 February 2011

    Joe, I have been a fan of your work for years now and as a fellow speed and strength coach I could not agree with you more. Acceleration mechanics are about generating as much force into the ground while maintaining a positive shin angle (Committing to a total body lean). Quick steps = no force. In fact, I literally tell my athletes to be patient so as to develop as much force as possibe. Wall sprints, Harness sprints, HASD's, ghrs, good mornings + ME box squats and dl's all the way. You want to get faster and jump higher...hit the gym. Get stronger and you will generate more force with each step and cover more distance, period. As always, a pleasure reading your thoughts. More importantly I believe Louie would agree with the both us on this matter too lol. If your ever in Pittsburgh and want an awesome workout, check out Viper Speed and Strength Academy. You will not be disappointed!!!!

  18. Steve Morris makes this comment

    Monday, 28 February 2011

    Great article Joe. And John, love your comment, agree 100%

  19. Michael makes this comment

    Monday, 28 February 2011

    Great post Joe. I learned the same idea from Lee Taft at a clinic a couple of years ago, with respect to taking long low strides at the start. It felt strange at first and it was even more strange to see times drop. By the way who takes fewer strides than Usain Bolt in the 100 m............. Keep leading from the front. I always enjoy what you have to share!!!

  20. RK makes this comment

    Monday, 28 February 2011

    Good stuff! How do you go about lengthening an atheletes stride? Do you cover this in your combine DVD? Thanks

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