If form drills are supposed to work, how come some sprinters still have bad form?

"Supposed" is the key word. They don't actually work for the reasons you note.

People either do or don't have good form.

Drills only make you good at doing drills. They do absolutely nothing to improve your actual running. It is also a myth that anyone knows what "good" form is.

What sprinters have poor form?

marijuologist wrote:

Drills only make you good at doing drills. They do absolutely nothing to improve your actual running.

It seems strange that so many national and world class runners waste so much time on drills, then. And almost every collegiate team, too. I guess we're presented with a choice: 1.) almost every coach and world-class athlete is wrong, and marijuologist from the internet (and at one time the back of a police car) is right, simply because he says so in an authoritative tone, or 2.) marijuologist doesn't fully understand the purpose of drills. And choice number 1 could very well be correct; I'm just stating the position in which you're putting your readers.

Form drills allow runners to avoid doing hard work. This is why sprinters love doing them.

you got some splainin to do wrote:ass runners waste so much time on drills, then. And almost every collegiate team, too.

Actually you're the one who's wrong. Very few world class and collegiate teams waste time on form drills.

Most sprinters have very, very good form.

Most distance runners who sprint have abysmal form. Everyone sees pitiful road racers at the track shuffling through 200 repeats with heels a-scraping and arms a-flailing. Most of them will never break 30 seconds because nobody taught them good form.

If that doesn't convince you, Nick Symmonds does A-skips before racing. I saw it, it was either the WC or the NC.

marijuologist wrote:

Drills only make you good at doing drills. They do absolutely nothing to improve your actual running. It is also a myth that anyone knows what "good" form is.

Tell that to Somex.

And tell that to the kenyan's who have the best running form, and spend over an hour a day doing drills. I've heard diagonals/corner-to-corners are big over there.

drills teach your legs to have less "plant" time on the ground. it's how the African runners can run 2:03 yet we aren't anywhere close to them in the marathon.

That Somax guy doesn't understand pace. The pic of Bekele is at 54" per 400m, while Solinsky's analysis is done at 66" per 400m. His example of 125-degrees is a guy flat out sprinting compared to 6:00 pace.

No credibility.

letsrunn1 wrote:

marijuologist wrote:

Drills only make you good at doing drills. They do absolutely nothing to improve your actual running. It is also a myth that anyone knows what "good" form is.

Tell that to Somex.

http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/238775-Somax-Stride-Analysis/video/490947-Chris-Solinsky-Stride-Analysis

And tell that to the kenyan's who have the best running form, and spend over an hour a day doing drills. I've heard diagonals/corner-to-corners are big over there.

drills teach your legs to have less "plant" time on the ground. it's how the African runners can run 2:03 yet we aren't anywhere close to them in the marathon.

WOW! Thanks for the video about Somex! That is amazing. So many people on Slowtwitch were saying running technique did not matter. I knew that was wrong but had not seen the Somex technique. I had noticed the Africans style and tried to run that way but boy is it hard! You have to have a LOT of strength and flexibility that most will never have.

letsrunn1 wrote:

And tell that to the kenyan's who have the best running form, and spend over an hour a day doing drills. I've heard diagonals/corner-to-corners are big over there.

drills teach your legs to have less "plant" time on the ground. it's how the African runners can run 2:03 yet we aren't anywhere close to them in the marathon.

How do you know their running form is the best? Did you measure their energy expenditure? Or are you confusing "best" with "best-looking"?

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned: you have to do an exercise correctly to derive the intended benefit. A sprinter can do drills every day and still have terrible form if he doesn't do them properly.

marijuologist wrote:

Drills only make you good at doing drills. They do absolutely nothing to improve your actual running. It is also a myth that anyone knows what "good" form is.

This ^

Super Jay Five wrote:

letsrunn1 wrote:

Tell that to Somex.

http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/238775-Somax-Stride-Analysis/video/490947-Chris-Solinsky-Stride-Analysis

And tell that to the kenyan's who have the best running form, and spend over an hour a day doing drills. I've heard diagonals/corner-to-corners are big over there.

drills teach your legs to have less "plant" time on the ground. it's how the African runners can run 2:03 yet we aren't anywhere close to them in the marathon.

WOW! Thanks for the video about Somex! That is amazing. So many people on Slowtwitch were saying running technique did not matter. I knew that was wrong but had not seen the Somex technique. I had noticed the Africans style and tried to run that way but boy is it hard! You have to have a LOT of strength and flexibility that most will never have.

I'm having a hard time telling if you folks are serious. Those videos are an absolute joke. Hilarious beyond belief. Can you be serious?

where's your proof wrote:

you got some splainin to do wrote:ass runners waste so much time on drills, then. And almost every collegiate team, too.

Actually you're the one who's wrong. Very few world class and collegiate teams waste time on form drills.

where's your proof wrote:

you got some splainin to do wrote:ass runners waste so much time on drills, then. And almost every collegiate team, too.

Actually you're the one who's wrong. Very few world class and collegiate teams waste time on form drills.

Galen Rupp

Dathan Ritzenhein

Chris Solinsky

David Rudisha

where's your proof wrote:

you got some splainin to do wrote:ass runners waste so much time on drills, then. And almost every collegiate team, too.

Actually you're the one who's wrong. Very few world class and collegiate teams waste time on form drills.

Bernard Lagat

Kenenisa Bekele

Leo Manzano

Shannon Rowbury

Symmonds, Mulder, Greer

Members of 2012 Kenyan Olympic team

Ryan Hill

Ben True

Brenda Martinez

I got bored looking these up, so I stopped here. Anyway, you're wrong. Plenty of elite runners spend time doing drills.

When you have a whole day to kill you need to find some way of filling the time. Drills are a good way to amuse yourself and make your coach feel important.

when you say "form", I assume that you mean mechanics... correct? Just by saying "form" tells me that you have no clue what you're talking about... and I mean this toward every poster on this thread.

Maybe, just maybe, the drills that you're referring to, aid in the development of motor control/kinesthetic awareness, mobility, and to a certain degree, strength.

But 9/10 of you asstards don't understand the purpose of drills, so reading a thread like this is not surprising. And, if you perform your "B skips" with a hurdle-like extension, you're dumb... and if your coach lets you perform the drill in this fashion, they're dumb. Like I said 9/10 of you 'tards are dumb.

you're dumb...

SMJO wrote:

When you have a whole day to kill you need to find some way of filling the time. Drills are a good way to amuse yourself and make your coach feel important.