Has anyone had much success in trying to adjust a runner's stride length or should you just let nature do its thing?
I have a HS girl that "bounds" and as a result hits the ground pretty hard therfore has repeated injuries/setbacks.
Any luck with strength training, or specific drills to adjust??
Any input would be good
You could always try asking her to stop doing it
You could read the "World records will get faster ..." thread. Some discussion there about stride lengths, strength training, and drills.
Tell her to take longer strides!
The most effective way will likely depend on what kind of a learner she is. Basically: visual, instructional/verbal, or hands-on.
If visual, I'd suggest letting her watch herself on video. Nothing high-tech, or even slow motion necessary. If it's horribly obvious to you, it will be obvious on film. If she's anything like I was, she has no concept what she looks like. Once she sees it, there is a chance she'll be able to adjust some things.
My H.S. coach told me numerous times/ways and it never sunk in. Then, one day I saw myself on video and it was like a light switch was flipped.
It might also help to show her a video of a "good" woman's stride too.
If she's a visual learner, she'll be able to make changes quickly.
I'd guess the drills would be best if she's hands-on. You might also have her try getting her stride count closer to 180. Running to a metronome is helpful. You have to shorten your stride to keep up with the 180 count.
There is a lot of truth to the earlier post about "just asking her". But, if you've tried that and she's not getting it, it might be the visual stuff above.
I'm not much of a fan of direct intervention to change form, because since at least the time of Cavanaugh it has been known that the body chooses the most optimal combination of stride rate and length for the stimulus inputs of strength, pace, and such. In my mind, you are better off doing it indirectly through form drills, weights, plyos, sprints, and such.
It's a little different with obvious form breaks causing injuries. The thing I'd do in this case would be to work on Daniels' 180 strides per minute (minimum). I think working on this would likely cause the stride to be shorter and quicker, which would minimize bounding effects (and also improve RE). If you work on strength, once she gets used to quicker cadence without bounding, her stride length will improve as she gets stronger. I would specifically do some faster strides/sprints, as it's fairly difficult to be intentionally bounding when your're sprinting.
If you have video analysis available, you might be able to show what is wrong, and compare to various elites in her event.
No no no, Daniels didn't say you must try to do 180 strides per minute, he actually gave good advice on the subject.
Even the anti-barefoot runners here seem to accept that there's value in occasional barefoot training. This seems like the perfect opportunity.
Running barefoot on a hard clean surface, this girl would immediately and instinctively switch to short(er) quick steps, aka "good form." Have her practice running barefoot for a few minutes over several days until she internalizes that form.
Running barefoot may seem heretical to you. But if she's already repeatedly injured, there's nothing to lose by trying a different approach (which works for many others), right?
Form advice: tell her to "lift" her feet, and NOT to "push off."
If this does work, please post an update here. Thanks.
what would lananna do wrote:
Form advice: tell her to "lift" her feet, and NOT to "push off."
That is wrong.
Okay someone is trying to imitate my postings. You can tell this is me because there's no dot at the end of my nickname.
This young woman needs to take LONGER STRIDES! This is the way to get faster and to break the world record!
J.O. wrote:
what would lananna do wrote:Form advice: tell her to "lift" her feet, and NOT to "push off."
That is wrong.
Thanks for your detailed explanation. You also think she should try to overstride, right?
My source: Pose Method. You don't have to agree. At least it's backed by a LOT of data and explanation.
Pose method is wrong. That guy is trying to reinvent the wheel. You have to push off to get more from your stride.
The overstriding concept is nonsense, just read a typical explanation by the biomechanics idiots of 'overstriding' and if you think about it logically, you will see that these guys don't know what they are talking about. How can a breaking motion make your stride too long.
Some runners spend too much energy bouncing upwards, instead of forwards.
Different runners have different styles. That should never be overlooked. This idea of making runners do 180 strides is idiotic, if they are naturally running well with a lower stride rate.
Pose is "backed" by neither data nor a good explanation. The fact that you think that speaks to your knowledge of running.
what would lananna do wrote:
J.O. wrote:That is wrong.
Thanks for your detailed explanation. You also think she should try to overstride, right?
My source: Pose Method. You don't have to agree. At least it's backed by a LOT of data and explanation.