Marius Terblanche

17621194

Assingment: Athletics

1.Technical model of sprinting
1.1 Good leg recovery
The most recent support leg swings past the sprinters body (the recovery). After the foot comes of the ground the heel comes up to create a shorter pendulum for faster recovery. It should not bend at the knee so much that your heel kicks your butt, i.e. full knee flexion shouldn’t occur. High heels at the back is a sign of poor technique. Remember we are after front side mechanics not back side mechanics. The thigh comes up parallel to the hips before the shin begins to extend. The recovery foot steps up and over the drive knee as the foot takes the shortest path to the front of the body as the center of mass rises above the surface. The recovery is almost like a cycling motion.

1.2 High knee lift
Consciously lifting the knee high while sprinting inhibits the legs natural timing during the recovery phase. This will cause a reduction in force and slower movement.
The knee lift should happen quickly to horizontal. Knee of the swing leg moves forwards and upwards to continue drive and increase stride length. The swing legs knee action should occur naturally as the hip flexor goes back into normal position.

1.3 Active foot strike
The forward foot should be directly under the lead knee. The foot touching the ground is making contact just in front of the body. Sprinting is a pulling ,pushing and jumping action. Sprinters run on the balls of there feet. As your lead leg lands on the ground your ankle is dorsiflexed (cocked), you claw the track beneath you and thus, pulling yourself forward but you also push on the ground as you push yourself forward. The foot strike is active and powerful and should happen quickly thigh comes down shin extends foot hits ground just infront of center of mass in a down and back motion.

1.4 Dorsiflexcion of ankle
Ankle is felexed toes toe the shin. It creates a short pendulum and tension in the calves and achilles tendon that creates a spring like effect of the ground giving more explosiveness of the track.

1.5 Arm swing
Arms are bent at elbow, at a 90-degree angle. Arms swing forward chin-high into midline of torso in direction of the run, yet do not cross midline. Arms swing backward, reaching for hip. Closing the angle reduces the moment of arm inertia, increasing angular velocity, in turn creating quicker turnover. Arm swing can allow for greater takeoff distance, enhancing stride length.

1.6 Forward lean
The body should have a slightly forward lean from the ground not the hips. This is toe keep the body going forward.

1.7 Head position
The head should not move, forward and backward, laterally or turn left to right while sprinting. The jaw and muscles of the neck should be relaxed. Any movement of the head during a sprint will cause disturbances in sprinting technique.

1.8 Running tall
One of the most important factors of sprinting is proper posture. The athlete should not be in an anterior pelvic or posterior pelvic tilt position. Poor posture in the pelvic region will decrease the range of motion in the hips, which adds enormous pressure on the hamstrings, potentially resulting in serious injury. The pelvis should be in a neutral position in line with the spine. This places the hips in the proper position to be utilized. The pelvis should also rotate in all three planes.

1.9 Relaxation
Shoulders are relaxed with little or no side-to-side rotation. Face, jaw, neck and shoulders are relaxed. Hands are relaxed, extended or closed, with no tension or strain. Shoulders should never be in a shrugged position in hopes of increasing speed. Shrugging the shoulders will cause the direct opposite result of locking the hips, which hinders sprint performance.

2.Drills

A-Skip
The A-Skip is the base to all sprint form. From the A-skip position most all Track Form drills can be derived.
When performing the A-Skip make sure, knees are up at 90 degrees. (your quad should be parallel to the ground). Your Foot is flexed and toe is pointed up. The elbows are bent at 90 degrees as well and your hands are relaxed.
Skipping Forwards the foot paws the ground quick, concentrating on what is called negative foot speed.

Skips
For dorsi flexed ankle and getting thigh parallel with hips with leg recovery. Aims to develop correct leg and foot action in preparation for the foot strike. Skipping on the balls of the feet - free leg to be lifted so that the thigh is parallel with the ground, lower leg vertical and the toes dorsi flexed.

Straight Bounding
For upright body position. Start as slow jog, bounding as high a possible using a running form and emphasizes a high-knee lift.

Heel kick
This is another form-improving drill that is quite common for warm ups and for early season track conditioning. The runner begins this drill at half speed, focusing on getting the heels back near the buttocks with each exaggerated stride. Speed is not important in this drill – form and execution of the heel kick is what the sprinter should focus on.The sprinter needs to focus on creating a rhythmic. Result – The sprinter will build rhythm in his or her stride making the energy expended in the stride efficient and effective.

Straight Leg Shuffle:
The Straight Leg Shuffle is a drill that works on clawing back to the track. During the straight leg shuffle, the knees are locked, your foot is flexed, and toe is up. Your legs and feet are out in front of you as you are clawing off the track. Heels do not touch the ground (sprinters heels should never touch the ground). You are still always using your arms where your elbows are at 90 and hands are relaxed.

Burst and Relax:
Learning speed with relaxation is critical in allowing sprinters to reach top speed. This is a basic sprint and rest exercise. It would look something like this: 20 meters full speed and acceleration + 20 meters of easy running (good form) + 20 meters of hard sprint = 60 meters total drill length. This means that you would sprint for 30, easy run for 30 and then sprint again for 30. Relaxation is important when running, and this drill promotes the relaxation by allowing an easy run in the middle of the sprint. Tight and tense muscles are not as pliant as loose and relaxed muscles, and therefore do not allow a sprinter to reach their top potential speed.

Wall Slide:
From a jog, the action is the same as for butt kickers except that the heel of the recovery leg must not travel behind the body. Imagine that there is a wall of glass running down the back, and do not allow the heel action to break the glass. This action will produce knee lift without forcing the action. As in butt kickers, when this drill is done properly, the heel will bounce off the butt.

Seated arm swing:
For arm swing and also posture. While sitting on the ground legs out in front of the body head upright and tall. Upperbody should be tall. Arms bent 90 degrees at the elbow bring them back as far as you can with a relaxed hand. Now bring them forward till your hand is at about eye level. Start out slowly to keep your upright posture an accelerate from there.