I'm a high school coach, and I have several runners who have been on the team for a few years and have form that wouldn't get them disqualified from a racewalking competition. Overall, I'm of the mindset that mileage fixes technique, and I've see that for a lot of my newer runners, but I'm not sure what to do with these kids who don't lift their knees or bend their legs, even when racing an 800. Has anyone found anything that works?
Have you tried having them sprint through wickets? It's a way to force them to pick up their knees and get good leg drive. There are lots of examples on YouTube, including variations where you don't use your arms which can help with stride imbalances. Adding them a couple times per week might help.
Also, make sure that they're sprinting once a week or so. This will help build speed and form better than mileage alone.
Have them do 'not too steep' downhill striders etc. They need to be develop that stride length. If turnover stays the same, they are going faster. Also they should be forefoot striking, not on heel, doing slightly downhill reps.
I’m sure this will get some love, but slower than about 8:30 mpm isn’t close enough to running to do much other than recover if you’re extremely beat up or, if done many days in succession, detract from form/ability.
Technique is overrated. If they are fast, who cares what it looks like. Running is not a jury sport, you don't get points for a nice technique.
These are not fast kids. They're girls running 27+ minutes, one of whom clocked 90 seconds for an all-out 400, while still using a shuffling stride. We do max velocity hill sprints most weeks during track, and they shuffle with a fast cadence. I've starting really enforcing good technique during drills because I noticed they weren't getting knees up during a-skips or high knees. They're capable of doing that, so I'm hoping with some time the skill will transfer. I've thought about doing wickets (not just for this group, but for everyone) during early track season. I know I'm not going to suddenly turn them into elite athletes, but I would love for them to learn to run with proper technique and drop some time.
If they've been on the team for a full years, then they will soon graduate, so probably not too much you can do at this point. If you had more time and they were highly motivated, then I'd suggest weight training, plyos, and hills. They are effectively non-athletes so you need to be careful introducing those elements. (my overweight wife in her 50s can run 90 seconds...)
You stated that can't raise thwir knees when they skip; have you tried getting them to march, first in place, then forward?
They can raise their knees when they skip, so it's not a complete lack of mobility. If I don't periodically reteach form, they tend to revert to knees not even reaching 90 degrees of flexion form. We do strength, plyos, and hills. I'm guessing the hills have the most potential since they need to learn to run from their hips instead of just swinging their lower legs forward, but I probably need to give some cues while they're doing hills.
You stated that can't raise thwir knees when they skip; have you tried getting them to march, first in place, then forward?
They can raise their knees when they skip, so it's not a complete lack of mobility. If I don't periodically reteach form, they tend to revert to knees not even reaching 90 degrees of flexion form. We do strength, plyos, and hills. I'm guessing the hills have the most potential since they need to learn to run from their hips instead of just swinging their lower legs forward, but I probably need to give some cues while they're doing hills.
MrE, imho they shuffle because they are slow, not the other way around.
If Mo Farah would run 27min 5k pace he would shuffle too.
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MrE, imho they shuffle because they are slow, not the other way around.
If Mo Farah would run 27min 5k pace he would shuffle too.
This isn't true. You just need to watch elite runners 'jogging' at what is a very easy pace for them, and their heels are still almost touching their butts.