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 at least the first two of these steps as "getting out". I believe that an aggressive first one or two steps lead to a bit of a balance challenge that the sprinter needs to work through to continue accelerating properly to continue through the drive phase. Having said that, care must be taken not to overly load up and over-push during the first step. This can result in a quad dominance that inhibits early posterior chain dominance, too much vertical displacement early in the race, and an over-rotation, thus negatively affecting the eventual progression to max velocity. The third step should include a good knee lift that comes up and forward and then drives down and back.

The distance the center of mass (COM) displaces off the start, as well as the speed of that displacement and sufficiently attaching to that block clearance, an effective next step, are vital elements. Go to the 16 minute 30 second point of this video to hear how Jonas Dodoo describes a good first step that is followed up with an effective second step. When you have the time, also check out this Dwayne Chambers video on hip height. Hip height is a very important consideration from the very beginning, and I address this more deeply later in this blog.

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.” FYI - 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.

The "Set" position the athlete assumes prior to the gun/starting signal, should be one where the body is positioned, aligned, and pre-tensioned enough to be poised to apply force to begin taking the athlete effectively up the track. In my mind, effectively positioning, and executing the first three steps effectively is critical in setting in motion effective positions, movement patterns, etc..., for the ensuing steps. See my blogs for the Standing Start and Three and Four-Point Starts for details.

Read my Fundamental Aspects blog for Mann's descriptions of the "Jump Start" and "Shuffle Start". It is important to realize that although Mann says that both methods can be beneficial, he observed that the best sprinters clear the blocks without literally pushing the leg through a full extension. In his words, "At the end of the push phase for both the rear foot and the front foot, note that the knee is not fully extended. This indicates that the athlete is not pushing the leg through full extension (just as will be seen in the full speed sprint). This action of actively pulling the feet off of the blocks prior to full knee extension is critical for the success of the Start because it does not waste time extending (and then flexing) the knee through the last 20-40 degrees of extension when the action produces only a small amount of additional driving force. The only thing the athlete must remember is that this recovery occurs at the end of the push effort, since some take this action to extremes and fail to get the most out of the initial leg extension action."

My Take

What Mann described above seems to somewhat conflict with those that subscribe to the athlete pushing into the "high post" position (described below) to the extent that just before "toe off" that the ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, and some include the ear, should be in a straight line. They will say that a failure to demonstrate straight line signals an energy leak.

I included a description of the high post below because I generally subscribe to it as well, and I feel it easily fits within encouraging your athletes to utilize full ranges of motion from the beginning. When you, however, see your athletes being successful by doing more of what I attributed to Mann above, I believe the coach needs to exercise good judgement. Examine whether or not if the shoulders are traveling along the line of force, using as a reference point, the angled starting block pedals. Consider if the athlete did more of a "running step" for block clearance and not a "jump".

Very Importantly

Part of pushing off from the blocks is the consideration of how the following stride will be executed. I refer you once again to the book Running, where in a section titled "Moment of Initial Contact" it says "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". So, in my mind an athlete can accomplish this with big steps or shorter steps, as long as the steps progressively grow, hips and posture rises, etc...

Example

Check out Carmelita Jeter's practice start here as well as her 10.64 100 PR in this race. She is in lane 5. The race begins at the 45 second mark of the video and the replay at the 1 minute 35 second mark. There clearly is a lack of a straight line from ankle through the shoulders during the block clearance. Having said that, Jeter's feet when in the blocks are well off of the ground when in the blocks for the race and appear to me to be slightly off the ground in her practice start. I don't know if this plays a role in things or not. I just want to be thorough, and I am from the school of wanting the shoe to be in contact with the track when in the blocks.

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". Full ranges of motion still should occur during these three very short air phases, and 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. This may also account for the very slight break at the waist described in the previous section.

Hip Height

In my mind, good hip height should be part of a good total body position when the athlete assumes the "Set" position and is part of the very first stride. Upon landing to begin the second stride there should be a stability and control that allows the hips to rise some during that stride and the body in general should be slightly more upright as compared to the first stride. The hips and posture rising should continue during the ensuing steps. If the hips aren't rising from early on, then this needs to be addressed because hips that don't rise during the early steps likely won't do so 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. In my opinion, the more a coach and athlete understand about the dynamics that are specific to the initial steps of a sprint, the easier it will be to execute the needed rising of the hips.

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 earlier, 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". I also consider what Jonas Dodoo points out from the 13-minute mark of this video thru the 17-minute 10 second mark. He speaks of "trunk discipline" and "shin discipline". Trunk discipline is required to maximize force application without over involvement of the back, and shin discipline alludes to staying away from excessively yielding at the shin area during force application.

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. 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

As it relates to the execution of the first step, while the hands are on the track while in the blocks, there is the weight bearing aspect while in the blocks and exiting them. The hands are pushing down while in the "On Your Marks" and "Set" positions, and there is a sweeping type of action that the arms perform during the push off from the blocks. A common mistake is for the athlete to pretty much just pick up the hands and do some modest type of arm action. 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)."

The Step After Block Clearance

Mann points out that for most proficient performers that the entire ground contact for this stride (stride after block clearance) should occur behind the COM, 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."

I am not in favor of the toe-drag, but with the importance of needing to be able to effectively direct the stride after block clearance up the track as I described above, it is pretty easy for me to see why many may believe that dragging the foot to initiate the second stride makes sense. Some may feel that dragging a toe lets them follow up a "Shuffle Start" type block clearance with more powerful ensuing steps. On the other hand, some that "Jump" out of the blocks may feel that dragging a toe allows them to control the following steps better. This may especially be true for some that clear the blocks with body angles significantly lower than 45 degrees.

A better alternative in my opinion, is to look to maximize effectiveness of the block clearance and early steps without the toe drag, with the objective being to maximize running efficiency that can be applied to maximizing the effectiveness of the max velocity. See the next section below.

Initiations of Important Progressions

Again, my main focus in this blog is the first three steps. As far as "stride rate" is concerned for the first three steps, the two steps after block clearance are both executed faster than the block clearance. It is very important to assess the quality of these two steps. Are the steps growing in length, are the hips rising, are the joints responding and functioning effectively, is velocity increasing, etc... Below is a graph from Ralph Mann's "The Mechanics of Sprinting and Hurdling" that shows these steps and the one that follows being executed at a rate of 5 steps per second before the rate slightly lessens. I do accept this as representing part of a good race model. As for "stride length", the step after block clearance is about the same as block clearance, but the second step after block clearance is longer and each ensuing step continues to get longer. A critical pattern that should occur as the sprinter becomes more upright is that the feet spend progressively less time on the ground for each stride and the athlete spends progressively more time in the air for each stride. With good coordination and timing, the strides should grow in this manner with the maintenance of stride rate as the graph below shows. I'll supply a "Stride Length" graph in another blog that shows how stride length grows. As the sprinter becomes more upright, again, the hips should be climbing (getting higher from the ground) with each stride up to max velocity.