Improving running form

Top_Notch · Mar 1, 2018

When she tries to run quickly her feet get behind her center body mass, and she starts to lose her balance

This girl in yellow is the fastest thing on two feet. A couple of things I noticed about her is that her body leans forward....a lot. Her head is down which I attribute to her fast acceleration. She also has very quick strides, but not overly long. She runs on the tips of her feet, hands whip up/down, and is smooth as glass. When she steals a base I noticed her feet make no noise. She's dusting herself off before the ball arrives most times. We use these observations to help speed up my daughter, who is not blazingly fast.

julray · Mar 2, 2018

masterblaster22 said:
DD has been doing speed and agility classes once a week since she was 13. But yeah she had that same problem prior to the classes where she's a hell of a sprinter and could smoke others running a full 100 yd dash, but once we got onto the dirt its seemed like slow motion and heavy steps. Aside from that we used to bring our team out once a week to our turf HS football field for an hour conditioning class where we'd focus on nothing but proper running mechanics, and worked in plyometrics, along with a lot of bleachers. Now runs around a legit 2.8-2.9 H2f, and 12.1-12.4 H2H, but I agree about finding a local class, or training facility where they work with sprinting, or agility.

Same as my DD, fastest girl in her school and only two boys could beat her in 100m. On the field her form looks the same to me. One thing I really think she could improve on is her first 3 steps and her range of motion, seems like her feet hardly come off the ground compared to the really good runners, I believe her hips are way too stiff.

JLF · Mar 5, 2018

Does she have a good high knee lift when she runs? High knees leads to a longer more powerful stride. Many slower kids have poor hip flexor strength and struggle to lift their knees high when they run.

You don't need any special equipment or complex drills to improve on this issue.

Try the 100 up drill to increase strength and flexibility. Start at 25 or so if 100 is too much and add more reps as she gets stronger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1EBrxUCiGs

Also, have her do some standing broad jumps. These will build power and explosiveness in the quads and glutes to help her get a fast start. They also build strength and endurance in the calves and hip flexors. Start with 2 sets of 5 and build up to 5 sets of 5.

Lightning · Mar 5, 2018

JLF said:
Does she have a good high knee lift when she runs? High knees leads to a longer more powerful stride. Many slower kids have poor hip flexor strength and struggle to lift their knees high when they run.

You don't need any special equipment or complex drills to improve on this issue.

Try the 100 up drill to increase strength and flexibility. Start at 25 or so if 100 is too much and add more reps as she gets stronger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1EBrxUCiGs

Also, have her do some standing broad jumps. These will build power and explosiveness in the quads and glutes to help her get a fast start. They also build strength and endurance in the calves and hip flexors. Start with 2 sets of 5 and build up to 5 sets of 5.

She definitely doesn't lift her knees when she runs! I'll have to work on that with her.

The irony is that she's a pitcher, and her PC works on her having an explosive push when she strides. But for some reason (I'm guessing her age) DD doesn't really translate that into running.

Thanks!

JLF · Mar 5, 2018

Lightning said:
She definitely doesn't lift her knees when she runs! I'll have to work on that with her.

The irony is that she's a pitcher, and her PC works on her having an explosive push when she strides. But for some reason (I'm guessing her age) DD doesn't really translate that into running.

Thanks!

The top two pitchers on my DD's 12U team are the slowest runners. Pitching and running must not necessarily correlate very well.

Good luck with your DD and keep us posted on her progress.

Lightning · Sep 17, 2018

An update from six months later:

DD has worked on two things: eliminating the side-to-side arm motion (once a coach told her to stop waving her arms like she should be singing, "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me" it finally clicked what she was doing wrong) and lifting her knees when she runs.

She's also six months older, and she's getting more used to her long legs.

She's become an aggressive baserunner and she will take an extra base every chance she gets. She pays attention to where the ball is, where the defense is, how strong the catcher is, and who's turned their back on her. She is still not the fastest runner you'll see, but because she's smart and crafty she's more successful at stealing bases than a lot of girls who have more speed.

Strike2 · Sep 17, 2018

obbay said:
Codeman9 has some good info there!
Something I want to add is that reaction time and knowing how to run the bases are important as well. DD#2 looks like she's fast, but it's all in her head. When on base, she knows when to start and she explodes right from the start. She slides well too. These characteristics get her safely around the bases, creating the illusion that she is much faster than she really is.

That being said, the most important sprinting techniques I have found are
1) running on the balls of the feet
2) lean forward. Start your sprint while falling forward and maintain that angle.
3) keep arms flowing smoothly and pumping straight front and back. Eliminate all side to side motion.
4) also, work on quick starts- like 3 yd sprints. Focusing on explosive starts.

Working with 9 y.o., I would recommend practicing the 4 techniques above, especially during the season. Over the course of a year, work in the 20 yd/60' sprints as described by codeman9. As they get closer to 12, you could maybe get more into those.

^^^ This...

It's hard to make a slow runner fast, but you can usually make them fastER with work and practice.

When DD was 12, she was just over 5' and 140lbs. Her running form was very much upright, on her heels, and had a bunch side-to-side movement. She wasn't terribly slow, but no one used her name and "fast" in the same sentence. She's now nearly 5'7, and about 138 lbs. We've worked on speed / agility for the last several years in the winter months with good results. She's still not going to win any track meets, but is fast enough in the field and on the bases. Further, the work we do ensures that she's never sucking wind either at practice or during a tournament in 100 degree heat. More than a couple times her endurance kept her on the field when others needed a break.

justanotherguy · Sep 18, 2018

I would have to ask about "heavier" but very muscular girls vs the tiny ones that are fast. My DD is a VERY muscular girl, over 150 @ 5'8" but very low bodyfat. Once she's up to speed she's as fast as our fastest girls. It's those first 3 steps that she's behind the smaller ones. The last time she was measured she was under 13s for home to home time, but stealing isn't much of a consideration for her. Is there hope for someone like this?

quincy · Sep 18, 2018

DD is not fastest player in world but she pays attention and is gone if defense is loose. She is always looking to move forward, sometimes not to coaches liken.

I have always told my players if you hear me say something, you are late starting.

IMO smart baserunner is better then fast runner, we throw a lot of fast runners out.

Alva00 · Sep 22, 2018

Running fast is very important in Softball. If you want to improve her running speed then you should tell her to run in the soft grass or football turf without shoes. Because this will help her to improve her running speed naturally. Softball Waiz

Improving running form

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