The gif's below help show that the secret is in the toes. Look at how DD's toes bend and flex as she pushes off verses the rigidity of Ueno's.
Ueno's toes
DD's toes
Most us recognize good forward posture when we see high level athletes sprint, pitch, field, dribble, etc. We tell our athletes to lean forward and get on their toes, trying to get them over their toes, but for the most part it doesn't work... Why? Why is is so hard to do? It seems simple, but words don't seem to get it.
The lack of support in DD's toes effectively shortens her feet. The feet are already pretty small levers so shortening the effective zone (from the forefoot+toes to just the forefoot) has a pretty huge impact. This also affects center of gravity tremendously. Without support from the toes, it's all but impossible to get that excellent forward posture that we see in the best athletes.
I don't have the answers. Maybe its the traction in the front of our tennis shoes and cleats that allow our bodies to lose the usage of our toes without realizing it. Maybe if we played in barefeet or socks it would start to comeback... I don't know. I'm still looking for that magic training routine that would force a kid to use their toes the right way (it's easy to fake). I'm certain that it takes more than verbal ques and even conscious efforts to dig in with the toes (with shoes on). The one thing that I am certain of it that kids will never cross the threshold from mediocre to elite without finding it.
A good start would be for all of us to start looking harder at how our kids are using their toes.
Ueno's toes
DD's toes
Most us recognize good forward posture when we see high level athletes sprint, pitch, field, dribble, etc. We tell our athletes to lean forward and get on their toes, trying to get them over their toes, but for the most part it doesn't work... Why? Why is is so hard to do? It seems simple, but words don't seem to get it.
The lack of support in DD's toes effectively shortens her feet. The feet are already pretty small levers so shortening the effective zone (from the forefoot+toes to just the forefoot) has a pretty huge impact. This also affects center of gravity tremendously. Without support from the toes, it's all but impossible to get that excellent forward posture that we see in the best athletes.
I don't have the answers. Maybe its the traction in the front of our tennis shoes and cleats that allow our bodies to lose the usage of our toes without realizing it. Maybe if we played in barefeet or socks it would start to comeback... I don't know. I'm still looking for that magic training routine that would force a kid to use their toes the right way (it's easy to fake). I'm certain that it takes more than verbal ques and even conscious efforts to dig in with the toes (with shoes on). The one thing that I am certain of it that kids will never cross the threshold from mediocre to elite without finding it.
A good start would be for all of us to start looking harder at how our kids are using their toes.
. The first post has a lot of info from our work with him.
