Developing a Good Standing Start

Learning to position and balance the body, and coordinate movements to react well, and move explosively in an efficient manner up the track from a standing start when the starter doesn't allow cheating, not only can carry over to other sports where athletes start while standing, but can also can carry over to starting positions where the hand(s) is/are in contact with the ground and required to accept some body weight, ie; 3-point and 4-point starts, with and without starting blocks. In my mind all starts have basically the same things to consider in regard to body position, balance, and dynamically coordinating movements. It is just because of the differing positions that those things are addressed differently. Obviously, when one or both hands are on the ground, it is easier for the athlete to feel stable, but the objective should not be to simply not feel unbalanced, but rather to position and balance to react well and to start explosively in a manner best suited to continue up the track. I like to focus on improving skill for the standing start because it is less complicated, ie; the weight is supported by just two feet. This makes it easier for me to teach certain basic things before focusing on the more complicated 3- and 4-point starting positions.

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 it should be that simple. When it comes to being prepared to react well and to aggressively apply forces to sprint from a standing start, without being allowed to roll into the start in some way, however, it does require a certain level of skill development. I accept what coach Gary Winkler teaches as far as good hip height in the "Set" position helping to encourage good pre-tension in the glutes, hamstrings, and gastrocs. He also identified a very slight rocking back while getting in the "Set" position to keep enough weight on the feet. I don't over-teach these things but I recognize them as useful aspects of being poised to start explosively, and I'm able to see how they not only apply to block starts but to standing starts as well.

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 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, positioning, and balance that will allow him/her to be able to overcome inertia and to explosively move up the track in response to the starting signal. I believe that learning the right amount to angle the body forward is an important point, and as mentioned above, there should be sufficient weight over the feet. I also would like to take you back to the Home Page where I explained the two methods of achieving the "leaning forward" position after the first step. Again, I prefer the method that features tilting the pelvis far to the front. combined with little or no flexion in the spinal column. Being able to do so with "appropriately violent actions" while applying force and pushing "completely up" into the high post position and "getting out up the track" are cues I like to use, and I believe are good things for athletes to be able to accomplish out of standing starts.

The head should be in a good alignment with the shoulders when the "set" position is established. This is also easier for athletes to accomplish when doing standing starts. When doing 3- and 4-point starts, the aspect of the hips being higher than the shoulders causes many athletes to raise the head, thus compromising the ability to complete a sufficiently coiled position.

Method of Practicing

I like to have athletes stand at least a step behind the line, and then move up to it, learning how the various body parts work together to get into a good standing start position. I also often times allow the athletes to cheat, and even false start during workout runs to practice coordinating movements, not to mention that allowing them to move into the start during practice runs results in less wear and tear on the legs.

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 and may even feel like the knee is a bit ahead of 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. Usually having the athlete to roll into the start to accomplish this, but what about teaching the athlete how to best position and balance to start in accordance with the rules that don't allow rolling into the start.

What I Teach

I encourage athletes to spread both feet to be under the hips as they move up to the line and get down into their position. In my mind, although the athlete feels the shin being up to the line, having him/her to hang forward or whatever, to acutely angle the front shin is not a good technique. When responding to the go signal, when not allowed to roll into the star, the rear foot reacts and 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 applying force to the track, the front foot has slightly moved off of its spot. If for no other reason this 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. During this process the positive front shin angle occurs. Watch wide receivers come off of the line and it is easy to see. 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. Note this when watching this athlete subtly roll into his start. This movement of the front foot also doesn't occur during 3- and 4-point starts, but in my mind, the ability to coordinate positioning and balance to start explosively and to apply force quickly can carry over from a skillfully executed standing start.

Head Position and Line of Vision

Again, the head, along with being ahead of the starting line, should at least be carried/positioned in natural alignment with the shoulders. This means that when the shoulders move forward and down to get into position, that the head should do the same. That should affect the line of vision so that if the head is angled down toward the ground, then the line of vision should also be downward. This can get more challenging as the athlete improves the ability to crouch/coil and otherwise fold the body more. The head still needs to be in a stable position and the athlete has to be able to handle the line of vision being further down and even toward the rear than was previously the case. The body should be positioned so there is some pretension present in the glutes and gastroc-soleus complex, but not as much as when doing 3- and 4-point starts (described later).

For the first step the head is to move forward and upward along with the rest of the body. What you don't want is for the athlete to look up and forward before the rest of the body moves forward and upward. Since the body's posture should be inclined forward during the initial acceleration, the head, again, should be in that alignment also, with the line of vision affected as explained above.

Reflexes

On the home page and during the "First Three Steps" blog I addressed reflexes. Having a reasonable knowledge of the roles that reflexes play in sprint success can also be important if applied in an appropriate way. This article gives a view of a role the Cross-Extensor Reflex plays. See this video and that video for more detailed info. As much as anything this knowledge can help a coach to understand excellent performances and not just say "you were in the zone", LOL. In my mind this is an instance where the skill of the coach can be important because you can easily say too much or wrong things that distract an athlete when trying to get technical. Besides, there are other contributing reflexes. I prefer to talk about reacting well and moving well.

Additionally, fast forwarding to the four-point start, it is thought by some that while in the "set" position, having the head dropped and rounding of the spine and shoulder/chest area will aid spinal reflex actions, and thus allow athletes to apply more force.

Quick Side/Power Side

The pursuit of trying to effectively position and balance the body to put forth a good faith effort to start in accordance with the rules of starting that prohibit illegally moving into the start, brings attention to the different roles carried out by the quick side (side of the rear leg) and the power side (side of the front leg) to be poised to produce force to set the body in motion from a basically still position (overcome inertia).

While positioning for standing starts, various body parts move in different ways that I refer to as dynamic balancing. This includes being aware of how the weight is positioned in relation to the feet. Properly loading the joints not only refers to the hips and knees but likely will include a degree of dorsi-flexion of both ankles while positioning and preparing to start. The back foot may be on the ball of the foot as the athlete is poised to react, etc... Although the front leg side of the body is emphasized to be ready to apply big force, the rear leg's role in regulating the body lean of the "set" position helps lead to it pushing off noticeably as part of setting the body in motion. With some athletes you'll see them reduce the angle of the rear shin to the ground while balancing themselves. Doing this along with properly emphasizing the front leg can also be done to help prevent a backward movement of the rear foot during the push off. Football coaches call the backward movement of the foot a "false step".

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 rolls into her starts (cheats). Again, a major challenge that needs to be dealt with is being able to have a position that allows the athlete to react quickly and move explosively without rolling or otherwise cheating prior to the starting signal.

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 backward movement of the hips, in conjunction with whatever balancing movements need to be done, ie; legs in front, feet under the hips. 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. This movement is to be supported by a straight back. Pertaining to this, 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."

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, lean forward, then collapse at the joints” with a lot of bend in response to the starting command. True, this accomplishes the leaning forward of the torso and hips, but 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 and have accomplished the necessary pre-tension. 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. As I've expressed in my other blogs, getting sufficient elevation from the very beginning is an important aspect. For example, the knee drive and arms contribute to the elevation as well as being brought downward for important roles in force application.

0Soft 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.