Should Mo Farah's stride be changed?

Who?

form guy wrote:

Not here to diss the athlete. A great runner, potential G.O.A.T but could he be better without all the bouncing? Should he let go of his bounce and run more naturally? Don't give me the, he does what works best for him b.s....

What does "more naturally" mean to you?

I thought Alberto S. was the king of stride perfection. He forced Jordan H. to give up her trademark tongue. Evidently, Rupp has perfect form. I thought Mo had good form but last weekend's race it sure didn't look like it.

What bouncing?

form guy wrote:

Not here to diss the athlete. A great runner, potential G.O.A.T but could he be better without all the bouncing? Should he let go of his bounce and run more naturally? Don't give me the, he does what works best for him b.s....

I agree his form is not ideal for a half marathon, but I said the same thing about Geb.

You're not a form guy. You're someone who thinks they knows stuff.

Bekele has a crazy high back kick that almost goes above his butt. The form gurus would slam a slower runner with this kick for having wasted motion. Lagat has a side to side upper body shuffle similar to Mo. Some things are congenital as opposed to bad habits and not worth the trouble to try to fix.

More naturally means he's not concentrating on bouncing all the time. Right now he runs with a bounce each and every stride. I use the term concentration intentionally because the body wouldn't run like that if on its own. Mo is injecting his own style into his run which is, albeit to a small degree, hampering his efficiency. If he were to let go and let his body run without the bounce I'm certain that his times would increase and certainly his potential in the marathon would be better.

We all know what natural looks like. Its just looks right- it looks pretty and smooth as if their body is running for them. Think Bekele, Rupp, Jordan McNamara. Simple and smooth.

Shut up you fool, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Precious Roy wrote:

Bekele has a crazy high back kick that almost goes above his butt. The form gurus would slam a slower runner with this kick for having wasted motion. Lagat has a side to side upper body shuffle similar to Mo. Some things are congenital as opposed to bad habits and not worth the trouble to try to fix.

Salazar is known for fixing form related things, that evidently are not worth the trouble to fix.

hobby joggers know best wrote:

Shut up you fool, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Sorry that your an envious heel striker who looks constipated while he runs and ends up with ITBS after 20 miles a week.

form guy wrote:

If he were to let go and let his body run without the bounce I'm certain that his times would increase and certainly his potential in the marathon would be better.

We all know what natural looks like. Its just looks right- it looks pretty and smooth as if their body is running for them. Think Bekele, Rupp, Jordan McNamara. Simple and smooth.

You have to bounce in order to stay off the ground. They all do it. Explain how Mo's form is slowing him down?

I think there are basic rules of efficiency in running form but I don't think there is one "correct" running form per se.

Also Haile talks about how habits built during childhood are extremely hard to change. He tried unsuccessfully for many years to give up the habit of twisting his left arm (which developed as a result of running to school carrying his books with the left arm). So I would say that it is not worth trying to change all the minute details of one's running form. You just have to work on the basics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab3ZZN3zV9A

Kudos for being interested in technique. Could Farah improve his? Possibly, I don't know. Here are some thoughts.

Farah also has the some of the skinniest legs of the top guys. Less muscle demands less energy. So his form is clearly efficient. He can achieve the same speeds that other runners need to carry more muscle for.

There's a good article on comparing form changes on the last lap of a race, and it turns out mo relies on increasing stride length to speed up. That could be the pronounced bounciness you're seeing. Compare how he looks when he's sitting vs making a move.

His stride rate is lower than some of his competitors, and that is less efficient because you loose elastic return with too low a stride rate. I think it's still 170+ though. And maybe he has freakishly stretchy rubbery tendons.

He may be better suited to running really fast. 1500, 2-mile still his best PRs.

Excellent work, not wrote:

You have to bounce in order to stay off the ground. They all do it. Explain how Mo's form is slowing him down?

Let's hope the OP is trolling. If not......lord have mercy.

"And maybe he has freakishly stretchy rubbery tendons."

This is a muscle tone issue.

I agree. Mo has ground eating strides especially when he is kicking. That is the very opposite of Bekele who just maintains his stride length but propels his legs to an unbelievable 218 spm. Apparently they both run the last lap of a 5,000/10,000m race at about 53 seconds.

Mo's technique requires a light body and tremendous power. Bekele's technique requires lots of neuromuscular coordination.

sadfqw wrote:

His stride rate is lower than some of his competitors, and that is less efficient because you loose elastic return with too low a stride rate.

sure, maybe with very low stride, but Mo isn't near that low.

Rudisha has a very low stride rate for his event (similar to Mo's). About 180 spm

Komen did too. (about 180)

Mo is around this level too.

3 of the greatest runners ever. And you are worried his efficiency??? C'mon.

Covering a lot of ground with each stride, and having less impacts is not "inefficient" per se.

Excellent work, not wrote:

form guy wrote:

If he were to let go and let his body run without the bounce I'm certain that his times would increase and certainly his potential in the marathon would be better.

We all know what natural looks like. Its just looks right- it looks pretty and smooth as if their body is running for them. Think Bekele, Rupp, Jordan McNamara. Simple and smooth.

You have to bounce in order to stay off the ground. They all do it. Explain how Mo's form is slowing him down?

I am not an NOP hater. I invite anyone who thinks I am a troll or someone who knows nothing to watch the race of this past weekend and look at farahs form CLOSELY-

Of course what I talking about here is very slight difference from someone like Rupp but you can see that he has a bouncy stride- he bobs as he runs. HE is pushing off the ground rather than letting his body running naturally.

If you look at his legs you can see they reload slightly slower than the africans- his cadence is subtly slower.

I'm not saying this would change him completely, I'm just a believer that the more you let you body run naturally on its own without your own quirks the more efficient you will be not matter how small the margin.

Also interesting to note that as someone has already mentioned, many of the african runners run with an odd looking side tilt as if it this were created when they were children carrying a load to school.