The Start is Actually the First Three Steps!

In his book, The Mechanics of Sprinting and Hurdling, the late Ralph Mann said he considers the first three steps to be the start because, "the magnitude of the change in Horizontal Velocity generated during block clearance and the next two steps of the Sprint race is radically different than any other portion of the race." Meaning that the athlete goes from being basically stationary, to moving really fast. I like to refer to these three steps as "getting out" and blending into the drive phase. I also believe that there is a rhythm associated with successfully executing the first three steps.

The distance the center of mass (COM) displaces off the start, as well as the speed of that displacement, are major factors. Related to this movement of the COM, at the start of a race the athlete can begin certain effective positions, productive patterns and movement progressions that will continue throughout the race. A good use of body positions, reflexes, the generation of explosive power through good ranges of motion with stable joints, and force application aspects, can flow into an efficient and effective max velocity. On the other hand, poor positioning of the COM in relation to the base of support, lack of skill applying force and coordinating running movements, hips that don't rise with each step, collapsing of joints, deficiencies in flexibility, power, etc..., can also be evident from the very first step.

When reading Mann's materials concerning the start, it is important to note that he refers to the first step out of the blocks as “Block Clearance,” and the next two steps as “Step One,” and “Step Two.” Although I often use the term "block clearance", I never refer to the step after block clearance as "step one" and the next one "step two".

Some Fundamental Aspects

Ralph Mann, very importantly notes, that the amount of vertical and horizontal forces produced during these first three steps is virtually the same. It may surprise many to hear about the importance of vertical forces being applied to the ground at the start, because this may seem to imply the "popping up" during the start that we know is not what we want our sprinters to do. This slow-motion video does a good job of showing how horizontal and vertical ground forces combine to take a runner from a starting position toward an upright running position while moving up the track. Sprinting does not occur in slow motion, however; and the athlete needs to learn to explosively coordinate movements, body positions, and force applications to generate an impulse that reflects the forces that Mann described. In his book, Mann thoroughly illustrates and explains how vertical force is required to both, "control rotation" and to deal with "gravity", during the start (important aspect).

Jump Start vs Shuffle Start

Continuing on Mann's description of the two starting styles I included on my home page, although Mann said that both styles can be successful, he prefers the shuffle start because of the shorter airtime, the ability to apply horizontal force as soon as ground contact occurs, and the ease of which the quick turnover lends itself to good front side mechanics. Mann contrasts that saying that "all Jump Start landings occur with the foot in front of the body", delaying horizontal ground force application, and he finished saying "with the emphasis on pushing off of the blocks as long as possible, the Jump Start places the body in the unwanted Backside Sprint Mechanics position".

Two Other Starting Factions

Also continuing my explanation from the home page concerning achieving the posture of the upper body leaning forward at the start, and how the combination of little or no spinal flexion with tilting the pelvis far to the front to achieve this position allows the erector spinae muscle group to be utilized more effectively, the book "Running" states, ""The advantage of starting with the back extended (slight flexion) is that the erector spinae is very active and can contribute to the impulse at push off. When the spinal column is bent quite far, the action of the erector spinae declines." Later it adds, "Furthermore, through the action of the erector spinae, rotation as well as lateral flexion can be initiated or resisted. During rotation, movement in the spinal column as well as movement of the pelvis in the transverse plane form a functional unit." The book goes much deeper, but in short, having active contribution from the erector spinae is a good thing, and once again, maximizing the effectiveness of the first steps, can positively impact what follows.

MY TAKE

Jonas Dodoo in this video does a great job describing in plain language what should and shouldn't occur during the first several steps, including the roles that the proper firing order of the muscles and stiffness plays. He also adds important details under what he calls "trunk discipline" and "shin discipline". In my mind, this type of information can be very helpful in assessing performance and identifying what physical aspects can be addressed to help support improvement. This includes helping me to make sense of some of the things I'll see athletes do. For example, an athlete may combine a powerful block clearance with dragging a toe on the next step in order to sort of shuffle during that step and the one that follows. Although I don't agree with toe dragging, it may help to avoid unwanted back side mechanics, and the dragging toe can help provide stiffness during the landing after block clearance.

The primary objective of this entire website is to advise you on how to best achieve an optimal combination of stride length and stride frequency, and in my view, this begins with skillfully executing the block clearance and the next two steps. I place a lot of importance on the athlete discovering how to utilize body positioning, dynamic balancing, and coordination to achieve this. In my mind, when starting blocks are not used, it provides a more natural scenario for the athlete to learn to be most effective. When using blocks, however, a different and significantly more challenging task is presented for the coaches and athletes to solve. Developing an effective start and initial acceleration that flows into an effective Max Velocity is an ongoing process. In each of my blogs I give more and more information.

Moving Right Along

Mann refers to the start as consisting of "three very short air phases. These are performed to minimize the Vertical emphasis while maximizing the time on the ground and, thus, the ability to produce forces to accelerate the body down the track". Applying the forces in an effective direction, with the body in good positions should very importantly begin the pattern of having the hips to rise as the body unfolds and becomes more upright with each step. If the hips aren't progressively rising from early on, this likely won't occur as it should for the rest of the race, thus, negatively affecting stride length and movement efficiency in general. There is also the element of during the initial strides there not being the degree of plantar-flexion of the foot/ankle that is present later in the sprint. Although coaches stress dorsi-flexion, plantar-flexion is present as the foot is ready to contact the ground, thus contributing some springiness. I will go more into this in other blogs.

High Post Position

It is important for the sprinter to be positioned and poised to put big enough forces into the blocks at effective angles, and to use big enough movements, to move up and forward, and up the track into what is referred to as a "high post" position (shown below). Part of this being poised is having pretension present in the glutes and gastroc-soleus complex muscles. The cues "violently" and "completely up" are good ones that describe the application of force and pushing into the high post position, yet, as I alluded to on the home page, the sprinter's coordination and ability to manage forces effectively is to be such that block clearance is to be followed by an effective second and third step.

From the starting position, although the front leg contributes the most to the push off into the first step, the rear foot/leg should also contribute as both feet should simultaneously be pushing together for a brief period (double leg drive) as the body moves up the track.

As the front leg continues pushing, in coordination with vigorous arm action, the rear leg should continue to explosively flex into the high knee position that you see above. If sufficient hip joint mobility is present, and the body is properly launched into the race, there should be a large split at the knees as the athlete moves up the track (also seen above). Some may refer to this split as the "thighs being separated". Establishing and maintaining this split/separation during acceleration is fundamental to good sprinting and is part of good front side mechanics, and general movement up the track. Dan Pfaff explains in this video how the hips and shoulders coordinate (oscillation and undulation). Dan demonstrated while in the upright position, but this short video shows how it looks during the first step from the blocks (block clearance). Executing this explosively and through a sufficient range of motion can be challenging, especially out of starting blocks, but the aim of this entire website is to help facilitate execution of an effective first three steps and building upon that for a successful race.

In Addition

Other important aspects of the high post are, the foot of the leg that is forward is to be dorsi-flexed, and the vigorous arm action demonstrates a good range of motion. Both of these aspects are seen in the photo above. One of the most knowledgeable sprint experts I ever had the pleasure of speaking to, Remi Korchemy, referred to this arm action during a drill we did, as "bird wings".

Completing Step One and Beyond

When headed toward the ground to complete the first step (block clearance), the leg should be dropped back down aggressively and quickly, with the trailing swing leg called into action rapidly and as linearly as possible as the body continues efficiently up the track. Without the "trunk discipline" alluded to above, it is more difficult to execute this rapidly. When completing the first stride (block clearance), the arms come from the "bird wings" position, and according to Remi, "during ground contact the arms should be driven down with elbows moving toward the trunk, then immediately back and forth into pumping running actions" (in coordination with the legs for the ensuing strides).

Attached to Remi's Quote in the Previous Section

"This arm drive downward increases loading momentum during compression of the supporting leg, while the swing assists in decompression and unloading the leg. The decompression also coincides with the following ground reaction forces and active hinged pull of the trunk over the foot. These forces and actions determine the speed of the second step and trajectory of the body's center of mass. The more powerful the foot torque and the faster the hinged pull (angular velocity), the more ground reaction forces are delivered from behind the forward moving body mass. This leads to a better horizontal acceleration. The athlete who executes efficient landing and hinged pull, eventually is possessed with tremendous eccentric strength in the knee joint muscles.

FYI - Hinged momentum is the rotary momentum the center of gravity travels from the point of ground contact to the final moment of takeoff, ie; from the landing from block clearance to leaving the ground into the next step.

The Role of the Arms

For arm action Ralph Mann said, "They are critical in the maintenance of balance, as well as providing a slight Vertical lift during each stride. " He also said, "Perhaps the most important contribution that the arms make is their ability to lead the entire body in its effort to shift the body movements to the front of the body during the Sprint (Front Side Mechanics)." Remi gave a cue, "body position leads and legs follow" that I believe relates to this somewhat.

In a previous section Remi spoke of arm action assisting with the loading and unloading of the supporting leg. In my mind this also is in the same vein as Mann's "providing a slight Vertical lift", with the operative word being "slight". So, although the arms must be moved vigorously to accomplish the various things previously described, care should be taken to not overemphasize arm action, just as it is a mistake to overemphasize knee lift. It is also important to realize that although during the start and initial acceleration that the upper arm moves noticeably ahead of the torso during the forward stroke of arm movement, but as the body rises, at a certain point, it is a wasted movement for the upper portion of the arms to continue moving well ahead of the torso. During the entire race, however, during the backward arm stroke, the upper arm continues moving back and up through a good range of motion. This coordinated action does contribute to applying vertical forces effectively.

Drag the Foot (Toe Drag)?

First of all, I agree with Ralph Mann in regard to the level of importance he places on the stride after block clearance. This is the stride where many drag their foot. Everything above from the "Completing Step One and Beyond" section down to this section describes body control and coordination at its highest level without dragging a foot.

Mann points out that for most proficient performers that the entire ground contact for this stride (stride after block clearance) should occur behind the COG, and he said, "The body is in an awkward, half crouched posture and must continue to raise the body to an upright position. This, combined with the challenge of maintaining body balance on one leg after a very brief air phase, makes this step the most difficult stride in the entire sprint race. It also is the most dangerous since it is the step where, if not done properly, can cause the athlete to stumble forward, rise up too quickly, over stride, or otherwise lose body balance."

With all this in mind, plus the fact that the feet travel lower to the ground during the initial strides anyway, make it pretty easy to see why many may believe that dragging the foot to initiate the second stride makes sense. In addition to helping with balance, dragging the foot can help athletes to both jump out during block clearance and to sort of shuffle on the next two steps, blending what Ralph Mann defined as the "Jump" and "Shuffle" starts. There also can be more of a feeling of power and control for that second step when the toe is dragged. I wonder if some sprinters that know they are going to drag a toe, load up in the "Set" position and clear the blocks in a manner that makes sense to them to drag a toe on the next step.

In my opinion though, I'd much rather have athletes train to position and balance in the "set" position to explosively clear the blocks in a manner where following up with a next step that lands appropriately under the hips, in the manner I previously described to maximally build upon the clearance, generate the foot torque that Remi described, hips rise, etc..., and it seems like a no-brainer to me that better positions the sprinter for a more efficient max velocity and total race.

Important Points

In the book Running, there is a scissoring of the legs during upright running. that is described as, "During the floating phase, the hip and knee of the trailing leg are flexed, while the hip and knee of the of the leading leg are extended. The scissor-like movements of the two legs are involuntarily related as a reflex. This scissor movement is nothing more than a combination of the stumble and inverse-extension reflexes. In other words, bending the hip and knee of one leg strengthens extension in the other hip and knee, and vice-versa. This involuntary, reinforcing effect is important. The pendular action of the leading leg just before foot placement is carried out with more force because of such reinforcement. " In the Dodoo video above he describes how in upright running it is important to keep the shoulders a little ahead of the hips to preserve the necessary length-tension relationship with the hip flexors and abs. This relates to the scissoring. and very importantly, Dodoo also alludes to the scissoring action during the steps early in the race and how the scissoring relates to pre-tensioning that helps execute each stride. My contention is that although the proportion of time on the ground and time in the air is different when comparing the start and early acceleration to upright running, and that initial strides are "piston like" as opposed to cyclical, like everything else, being skillful in executing this scissoring aspect early on will bleed into the rest of the race, ie; I think it is also worth considering the same type of shoulder to hip relationship during the early portion of the race that Dodoo described (length-tension).

Adding Starting Blocks

In this blog I'm being general about starting block use, check out my blog that specifically addresses starting blocks for a lot more details. When adding starting blocks to the learning progression, the platform to push off against to launch into the race is now angled forward, and the athlete is now to load the legs against that platform in order to explode into the race. This changes the positioning, supporting of body weight, balancing and pushing dynamics to some degree. Without blocks I believe it should not be that difficult for the athlete to achieve a good "feet under hips" and hips aligned with torso relationship while executing the start. When blocks are added, some athletes when in the "Set" position will still have the front foot visibly under the hips, while some others are able to have an effective alignment of feet, hips, and torso with both feet positioned behind the hips while loading the legs against the starting block pedals. Read my blog that focuses more on starting out of blocks to see what I point out that is important to look for during block clearance regardless of how the body is aligned.

With blocks the athlete now does not need to be concerned with slipping during the reaction to the starting stimulus and aggressive push-off. I consider learning to avoid slipping when not using blocks as a useful skill in regard to balance and force application. I believe that a good goal, however, is to capitalize on the fact that slipping is now out of the equation when blocks are used but doing so without overly loading up for a big push out of the block, and thus negatively affect the ensuing steps, especially the next two steps.

Generally Speaking

Once the athlete has each block pedal a suitable distance from the line, is able to deal with the effects the angle of the pedals has on distributing body weight in fundamentally sound ways, and learns some basics of the "On Your Marks" and "Set" positions, with enough practice reps he/she should be on their way to becoming accustomed to the blocks and learning to start effectively and efficiently. Easier said than done, however, LOL.

Transition to Blocks

To simplify the transition to using starting blocks as much as possible, I like starting the athletes with the block pedal angles down to their lowest level. Occasionally you can find a set of starting blocks where the angle can go down to as low as 30 degrees. My blocks (not on the market yet) go down to as low as 20 degrees. I like the athlete to have the option to have the front block down to the lowest setting and maybe the rear block a little higher, ie, 40 or 45 degrees if the front block is 30. I find that when having both pedals down to low angles it encourages the athlete to excessively straighten the rear leg when going up into the "set" position.

In my mind, having the block pedals at the lesser angles allows the athlete to ease into the aspect of loading the legs against the pedals and learning to manage body weight when assuming the "Set" position. With blocks at low angles the athlete will likely need to have the blocks a little closer to the starting line than if the pedals were at steeper angles. Having the rear block at a greater angle than the front pedal allows the bottom of the rear foot to be further from the ground than the front foot, as is the case with other positions when blocks are not used. In my mind this helps the athlete more naturally position and balance the body and coordinate movements.

I certainly am not saying that having the block pedals set at 45 degrees is wrong. As a matter of fact, having the front block at 45 degrees and the rear one at a greater angle may be a great goal. The objective, though, should be for the athlete to react well and to explosively start and accelerate in a manner that will facilitate the best overall race. I simply believe that it would behoove a lot of athletes to not progress too quickly to steeper pedal angles.

Common Errors

When the pedal angles are too great for the sprinter, not being able to sufficiently handle body weight leads to things such as; having hands spread too wide instead of hands under the shoulders, having hands flat on the track rather than up on the fingers, bending at the elbows rather than having them basically straight, and the failure to raise the hips enough when assuming the "set" position. Some athletes raise the hips so high in the "set" position that the legs are almost straight. There is the "stepping out then running" rather than exploding out from the blocks with a running step. After raising the hips into the "set" position many athletes noticeably drop the hips during the starting action to initiate the push off into the race. A slight "hips toward the blocks" movement is common before establishing the "Set" position, and many are still in motion at the gun and get away with it. The dropping of the hips I'm referring to is after the gun and is very noticeable, and I believe is done to try better push off at the angles the pedals were set. At the end of the block clearance stride, when the foot lands on the track, the hips should be a bit higher than they were when in the "Set" position, and as previously stated, the hip height should continue to climb during the ensuing strides as the landing point of the feet progress to under the COM and then to in front of the COM. Along with the athlete dropping the hips to push off the blocks, something that can keep the hips from rising is not having sufficient stiffness when pushing off of the front block. The ankle may collapse a bit; the knee will then drop noticeably, and the hips will not go upward. Coming out of the blocks with short and choppy movements is also common, and in general too much of a focus on moving horizontally and not sufficiently projecting outward (upward).

For those that seemingly can handle their body weight when in the blocks and who can explode up and out at a reasonably good trajectory, there is the matter of being under control enough to direct the movements up the track in a manner that can effectively transition into max velocity later on, and again, for the body to be best poised to launch efficiently forward and upward, there should be a good relationship of hip, torso, head position, and eye focus before and during the launch, as well as during the ensuing movement up the track. When using blocks, many athletes compromise certain aspects of this coordination of positions and movements.

As I previously mentioned, when using blocks, often there is a noticeable movement of the hips toward the blocks that sprinters often get away with that can help overcome inertia and give them an unfair advantage. A problem with this is that in a big race they may get called for a false start. I also maintain that learning to be fundamentally sound in establishing an effective "Set" position that is within the rules lets the athlete be more consistently effective at explosively applying force and ultimately better set up max velocity.

Important Biomechanical Explanations

What I tried to explain pertaining to the positioning of the hips and COM in relation to the landing position of the feet when executing the first three steps is shown very well with diagrams and thorough explanations in the book, Running, as well as Mann's book. These books give great insight into efficient paths that the strides should follow as they come through. I highly recommend these books to those who don't mind studying.

Summary

Being able to execute the first three steps at a high level can be a vital part of the foundation for success in the short sprints. Read my other blogs to help build upon that foundation for sprinters of all ages.