Developing a Good Standing Start

In "Start Doctor Training", learning to position and balance the body in the standing/hanging start position with the intention of abiding by the rules and starting powerfully with good ranges of motion is an important foundational piece. This carries over to starting positions where the hand(s) is/are in contact with the ground, ie; 3-point and 4-point starts, with and without starting blocks. In my mind all starts have some important similar aspects to consider in regard to body position, balance, pre-tensioning, and dynamically coordinating movements to prepare to start with appropriate vigor while utilizing movements through sufficient ranges of motion. It is just because of the differing positions, ways that the body weight is supported, as well as differentiating pushing off from the ground as opposed to doing so from angled starting block pedals, that some things are executed differently.

Prior to the Stationary Standing Start

I like to allow the athlete to walk into a run. This requires a certain coordination and can allow the athlete to be aware of the actions and positions of various body parts. For example, an athlete may find themselves combining a lean with a little hop to get started. They will feel how the feet are under the body, how the arms move, how much of a lean they have during initial acceleration, etc... Next, I may have the athlete take a step or two to the line and start. Often there still is a bit of a hop with the lean. After that I may tell the athlete to step to the line, position the feet, and pretty much get into a semi stationary position, but allow a bounce. The bounce helps align the body for a good push off and it includes a good hip height. Lastly, I ask the athlete to make an honest attempt to start in accordance with the rules that don't allow continuous movement. In my mind I'm trying to get the athlete to adopt a leaning position with a good hip height that is ready to apply force. Instead of a complete bounce for the force application there is sort of a compression or sort of slightly getting into the bounce. There is a bit of a hip hinge that both accomplishes sufficient hip height as well doesn't let the body weight get too far away from the feet. It is like the athlete is ready to apply force finishing the bounce and trying not to roll into doing that. There is also the element of the athlete being focused on the movement that is to apply force to allow him to overcome the forces of inertia that want the body to remain at rest. The gun/starting signal sets that motion off.

The above sequence may be all that is needed. Below is information to help the athlete and coach with specific aspect.

Standing Start Position

Generally Speaking

To not over complicate this, forward to the 3 minute 10 second mark of this video and note how the athletes move into their starting position. In my mind, with reps it should be that simple. Especially if the athlete knows how to cheat (roll into the start) but takes seriously that he/she needs to fall short of that but still be ready to apply force to overcome inertia.

Some Basics

The feet should be spread enough to begin a good base, with the feet under the hips. The athlete should have the feeling of being up to the line with feet properly spread as the athlete gets in position at the starting line. To get into the "Set" position the athlete begins assuming a folded type of position with a hinging type of hip movement (described below), with the body (hips and torso) angled forward to some extent and in a good alignment. There is some knee bend and an attempt to have sufficient body lean. In general, the athlete is preparing for a powerful start, while falling short of cheating in preparation to apply force to overcome inertia in response to the starting signal. There are many things that the athlete may experience and feel while positioning and moving body parts to try to successfully execute this. There even can be a control of breathing element during the process. I don't know that the athlete can depend upon feeling and experiencing the same thing each time, so I don't suggest that a coach try to teach this that way, however, most of the focus being on whatever movement or action(s) that is/are going to apply powerful force to overcome inertia and being shocked by the gun to initiate that force application is a good goal.

More Details

The head should be ahead of the starting line. The shoulders should at least be up to the line, but maybe ahead of the line to some extent. The hips should feel close enough to the line and as stated above and should be angled forward somewhat along with the torso. The knee and shin of the forward leg in the starting stance should feel close enough to the line but not really angled forward like the torso, hips, and shin of the rear leg. Some coaches advocate a pretty acute angle of the shin of the front leg when assuming the standing start position. What accompanies this method is often some kind of moving the rear foot backward to solidify the stance, and/or encouraging the athlete to push off of the ground with the front foot in the same manner that they would when in a 3- or 4-point stance. I don't approve of these methods as they relate to providing carry over to other starting positions. I explain in the next section what I believe in.

What I Teach

When responding to the go signal, when not allowed to roll into the start, although the focus may be on pushing off using the front hip/leg, the rear foot and likely the arm on that side of the body moves a micro-second before the front foot. That is why some coaches refer to that side of the body as the "quick side", and in the process of the athlete moving and applying force to the track, the front foot has slightly moved off of its spot, and the front shin moves toward being angled forward. If for no other reason, the front foot slightly moving as I described is part of the natural supination of the front foot as it moves from its "pointed inward" position as the front leg applies force in conjunction with the rear leg. Watch wide receivers come off of the line and it is easy to see the slight movement of the front foot off of its spot during the double leg push off. If the athlete is allowed to roll into the start, then that little movement of the front foot off of its spot doesn't occur, however, I believe it is still important to be able to push off in an aggressive/crisp manner when rolling into the start.

Note - During 3- and 4-point starts, the body is positioned so that the shin angle is already angled well forward, but in place of the movements described above to achieve the forward shin angle when coming from a stationary standing start, there still are subtle shifts of weight prior to the gun that prepare the athlete to effectively push off into the race. In my mind, learning to achieve an aggressive push off from the standing start as I just described, helps set the tone for aggressiveness when starting from other positions.

Standing Start Example Critique

This video demonstrates a pretty good standing start position, but in order to be ready to react quickly and explode into a sprint, I would suggest that the feet be spread a little more. This will also require that the arms be positioned a little differently to coordinate with that more spread position of the feet. Very importantly, the young lady in the video slightly rolls into her starts (cheats), but what I like is how she basically doesn't let her hips get away from her feet while preparing to push off. Check out the "hip hinge movement" link below for a description of the type of positioning that can help the hips not get away from the feet before the push off. Again, an objective is to come up short of cheating and being sufficiently compressed/coiled and ready to apply force to overcome inertia. With practice you can be tuned into the force application movements and respond to the gun accordingly.

Problems Bending

Some athletes that don't bend and/or fold the body well naturally, ie, don't have their torso angled forward, may need to be better acquainted with the hip hinge movement. Ideally, bending includes at least a fairly straight back and skillfully controlling the hanging forward of the torso. The hanging forward of the torso should, in my mind, be accompanied by somewhat of a hinging/backward movement of the hips, in conjunction with whatever balancing movements need to be done, ie; legs in front, feet under the hips. Ideally the COM should not be moving backward with some kind of sitting back movement. The objective is to be poised to start explosively. This also includes preparing the glutes to be recruited in anticipation of taking the body and a powerful stride forward and upward during the starting action.

The Second Step

As I've said previously, the first step is affected by the athlete's intention for what he/she intends for the next and ensuing steps to be. When contacting the ground to complete the first step, the book Running states, "The back must be kept straight, because the dorsal muscles can work most effectively in that position, thus contributing to the force of the push-off by way of forward pelvic tilt. If the back is too rounded, the dorsal muscles work less effectively, thus reducing their total contribution to the force of the push-off." So the bandwidth of body position, how big the strides should be, etc..., should fall somewhere within that quote.

I Don't Like

I do not like the standing start method of “stand up straight with very little or no bend at the knees, or pre-tension in the system, lean forward, then collapse at the joints” with a lot of bend in response to the starting command. In my mind this is analogous to not having any or a little coil in the spring, and then both compressing the spring and uncoiling while the competition has already compressed their springs, have the necessary pre-tension, and will have an immediate advantage. In addition, the hips are on a downward trajectory to some extent in regard to coming from the starting position to executing the first step. A possible exception to this is if something like this is done to save wear and tear on the legs during workouts, but in those cases, the push off into the run would typically not be very aggressive. If this is done when the athlete is actually trying to get a good start, this will not serve as an effective lead-up to other starts in my opinion, as trying to simulate this with three- and four-point starts can—as Dan Pfaff points out—results in projection angles that are too low, and balance issues that athletes try to correct with zigzag running.

Soft Standing Starts and Starts During Training

Once again, requiring the athletes too many times to be completely stationary before starting and to start explosively can be very stressful for the legs. Stu McMillan of ALTIS also explains and shows athletes moving into starts in this video.