What is a good lesson for arm carriage and sprint form? This could apply to sprinters or distance runners in the final 200m of a race.
I always thought driving the arms meant forward motion. Sort of, run with your arms. But I've also heard about driving your arms down and back, since the legs will follow.
Which is correct and a better way to teach? Thank you.
Chin to pocket
See the discussion/video from a couple of months ago with Salazar telling Cain to bring her arms down. You develop power by opening your form on the downstroke--some talk about pounding nails into the track. But you have to have your arms low enough and enough movement on the upstroke to be able to develop power on the downstroke. Many distance runners hold their arms in too tight of an angle with too little movement to be able to develop much power. You start with your arms carried with the elbow at 90 degree angle, but when sprinting or kicking hard you open your form from that (larger angle) to develop more power.
Watch videos of Bolt.
coach d wrote:
Watch videos of Bolt.
I do, nothing natural at all about it.
It'll be different for someone who's sprinting a 200 vs someone who's running a 3000 and is fatigued at the end. There's some good stuff on youtube.
Very few distance runners carry their arms at 90. Also almost no fast sprinters open beyond 90 except for in the back. 90 as you sweep past your pockets, a little tighter in front, a little looser in back.
coach d wrote:
See the discussion/video from a couple of months ago with Salazar telling Cain to bring her arms down. You develop power by opening your form on the downstroke--some talk about pounding nails into the track. But you have to have your arms low enough and enough movement on the upstroke to be able to develop power on the downstroke. Many distance runners hold their arms in too tight of an angle with too little movement to be able to develop much power. You start with your arms carried with the elbow at 90 degree angle, but when sprinting or kicking hard you open your form from that (larger angle) to develop more power.
Watch videos of Bolt.