Why is my guy losing already?
I received an interesting question from a coach asking me why his athlete got beat by another athlete. The following is what he wrote:
Runner X (the coach’s athlete)… wound up doing really well at Top Times. The finals in the 60m was his eighth time ever coming out the blocks in a race where the blocks are extremely vital.
Watching the video from finals, I was bothered by how long it took for his first step to land…especially compared to Runner Y, who won (runner Y will be the comparison). But he wasn’t slow to react, just slow to land his step. He is an explosive athlete (39.5” vertical) and traditional weight room strong.
Oh, and this isn’t just Runner Y…his own teammate a few weeks earlier also beat him to landing the first step.
We will call this question #1
While his projection is close to perfect
I put his top times race video into the HUDL technique app. I realize this won’t be the most accurate measurement…but I figured I might get some insight.
Keep in mind this was me manually scrubbing video in the HUDL app, so I’m really looking for patterns here…not 100% accuracy.
…I measured when a foot hits the track. So, when you see “0.2” that is the time between say, the left foot landing and the right foot landing.
This won’t tell me everything…but I think it does show at least efficiency and any asymmetrical patterns.
These contacts when foot lands…think of it like music. Runner Y has an even beat, my guy has a little more “swing”.
First…both Runner Y and Runner X took the same number of steps to run the 60m…32. This means in theory they average about 1.875 meter strides. So, the only difference has to be the time the foot is on the ground.
This will be Question 2
Second… Runner Y’s first step lands about .1 faster than Runner X’s. But that wound up not being the only difference (6.93 vs 7.02). This half step difference gradually goes in Runner Y’s favor even more until Runner Y’s 10th step. When that step has landed, my guy is landing his 9th step. My guy has fallen on step behind…basically .2 behind.
Third, while they began the race on the same foot and they are now synced up on opposite feet…Runner Y shows far better rhythm than my guy. His steps have .2 almost like clockwork between each other. My guy does not…
This will be Question 3
So maybe I’m overthinking all this? Maybe not. My runner is asymmetrical. He is slow to land his first step (not react).
Question #1- While his triple extension is very good
And he shows his 39” VJ, with the distance he covers. (Start line is 3rd locker)
But, he is too compact to push out.
So while other athletes are projecting their mass, he is uncoiling, getting his body into a strong position where he can push.. A mark for me is where is their torso position and angle when their knees are even. My best starters can get a push to the point that their belly button is over the start line and they look like someone turned a chair on its side.
When his knees are even, his center of mass has not moved very far. The good examples show that by the knee even point, they have projected their body forward. ( the black line was the starting point) Runner X hasn’t moved forward at that point. He is already losing by 18 inches before the first step is completed.
From measuring and filming with the 1080, this can account for quite a bit of time and velocity. If measuring pure horizontal velocity, in some cases it is as much as .5 m/s in the first step of the race.
Question 2- why does he swing?
While the athlete has a solid right leg, no spin, solid contact and good hip control, his left leg is what gives him his “swing”. While watching from the back, we can see what his foot is doing. His right foot gets on and off the ground in 2 frames. His left is 4 frames.
Here is contact. He is on the side of his foot (Frame 1), which means he will need to drop the foot in order to push (frame 2).
If you watch the video, there is a spin in the foot which will account for a longer time. As he progresses down the hallway, the crossover becomes more pronounced which causes a longer time to run because the hip drops to create space for the foot to follow through.
Question 3
Again, the Runner Y’s step happens because he doesn’t have to uncoil and his zero step projects his body further and creates more velocity immediately. The added time on the ground for one leg will create that difference. The cumulative added time on the ground would constitute the lag of one step by step 10. If you watch film backwards, from any direction, it will look like the athlete is stepping in a hole on one side of their body. It is usually a giveaway that one side is on the ground too long for some reason.
The next big question is, what do you do? As a coach, how can you put this athlete is a better position?
I think you need to start by asking some questions as to why they are “spinning” on the left. Some initial thoughts could be that they may lack some or one of the following
internal rotation on the spin leg
Internal rotation with a dorsiflexed foot
Lateral hip strength through any one of the three heads of the gluteus medius
Lack of big toe extension
Poor performing arch of the spin leg
I can usually use Reflexive Performance Reset to trick out what is presenting and bring it back to where it needs to be.
As far as what might be some good drills to help him beat his past PR?
- Better block set-up that allows for a better push from the back leg. Dan Fichter likes the cue to keep feet on the blacks as long as possible while ramming your head into the wall in front. It is a good cue to get the body in the appropriate position. When the weight shifts to the front foot, it will naturally bring the body up.
- I would do starts straddling a rollout mat on his left side. The added height would catch the body early and force a better position and the system to tighten earlier.
- I would run mini hurdles on the roll away mat as well but going down and back so both sides get some work.
- Short on space, any of the Bosch toe off/ hip hike drills or iso positions would be a good start as well.
But without knowing too much more, I think this is a good start.
Update:
Well, between an illness and the house fire, he’s a little behind.
That said, we’ve greatly improved his setup and his “uncoiling”. It’s so much better.
However, he seems to push too hard or do something “interesting” that’s new because he almost literally is jumping out the blocks. It’s fast and powerful, but he floats momentarily in the air. This is stopping him from going under 7. It’s very noticeable. But when he lands, boom…he’s off. Today, with that “float” and getting over being sick, no competition at all in the meet, he literally just cruised a 7.05 60m. It looked effortless.
I believe the other issue is improving, the “stepping in a hole” look…but just needs a bit of time and reps. The good news, I think is that he occasionally complained of back pain/tightness. I’ve read this can be related to hip rotation issues. His back has been fine, no complaints. So I think some of the hip stuff we are doing is slowly making some progress, which is awesome.
The other was something you pointed out in your analysis. It is his third step. I believe there is less crossing the midline and he looks more square.
Thanks for the read. Some of these things will be discussed at TFC-9. And, if you register before June 1, you will get a free copy of the Triphasic speed manual.
