Fixing Poor Sprinting Form: Frontside & Backside Mechanics

How to Sprint Faster: Sprinting Technique & Running Mechanics. A complete breakdown of max velocity mechanics. The next video posted will be drills to work on some of the mechanics discussed in this video.
Amazon affiliate links to recommended books:
Essentialism: amzn.to/3C3b2Nm
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: amzn.to/43xRdtN
Atomic Habits: amzn.to/4602Rz4
The Practice of Groundedness: amzn.to/43TtP9T
Get certified by the Universal Speed Rating & start building your speed community: train.universa...
Twitter: @pntrack
Instagram: Coach Tony Holler
TikTok: Coach Tony Holler
Feed the Cats is a revolutionary way of training, coaching, and teaching that values specificity, essentialism, performance, and love. After gaining a world-wide following in Track & Field, FTC has now gained a foothold in American football, along with other sports.
Thanks for watching, and I'll see you on the next one!

[@Black.Dynomight]

Best speed coach in America, folks need to listen!

[@Leonidas-eu9bb]

The 'calf meets the hamstring' is a result of faster running speed not really the cause of it. But nearly every efficient fast sprinter demonstate it. Some sprinters (Gatlin, Powell, Seville) don't do/need it as much. They have extreme powerfull core/hipflexion a skill the best sprinters have. so they don't need to wait for that extreme short lever. Butt kicking/exessive back side mechanics are only a problem because of a lack in hipf fexion power. I'm very sure that the best sprinters have the ability to quickly and powerfully get into hip flexion compaired to average sprinters. (it'S already proven) Some coaches thing it's high knees or thigh pop, some think it's attacking the ground powerfully. But indeed both are dependent from each other. I mean you can't quickly/powerfully recover/flex one side if the other isn't extending at the exact same moment. So it's much more a neuromuscular pattern than it's a muscular action. At 4.5-5 Hz and 100-110° ROM it's impossible to deliberately make this movements. It must be reflexive/instinctive. No kind of exercise can train this movement. Only sprinting close to max v does. (you know that of course). Proper core strengthening is probably the most effective strength assistance one can do (lower abs, glutes, psoas, pelvic floor).

[@coachtonyholler]

⚡️⚡️⚡️

[@davidjanbaz7728]

@@coachtonyholler also lower abs strength and RPR to illopsoas to fix an anterior pelvic tilt will also take the over stretch of the hamstrings out and you will have less hamstrings pulls . Check for APT on all your sprinters: I had it : I never pulled a hamstring but would tie up in the last 100 meters of a 400 due to APT. I was able to run 36 for a 300 but only 51.5 for a 400. Loss of 3.5 seconds in last 100 meters.

[@declanjackson6701]

@@davidjanbaz7728 hey mate, ive got apt as well. how'd you fix this ?

[@Leonidas-eu9bb]

@@davidjanbaz7728 36 to 51.5 is normal if you aren't tall. It's just lactic acid.

[@loganwhite3161]

Great presentation coach🏁⚡️

[@coachtonyholler]

Thanks Logan!

[@Shaawwwn]

Great work coach. I’m a student of Late Suresh aka SportsPerformanceConsultant. Thank you so much for your work

[@soribakaba9393]

Where were you when I was in HS lol? This is great thanks for sharing.

[@jermainefisher8030]

U are a very good coach👍🏾

[@jasonswearingen2297]

Thanks coach....good stuff.

[@davidjanbaz7728]

Tony : just watched a video by Joel Duff on KZbin: on a genetic gene ( ACTIN3) the difference between Sprinting and keeping warm. You can test people for who might be pure Sprinters, who might be sprint/ endurance and who might be more endurance athletes. Excellent video!

[@marcusmin7282]

"showing his soles to Jesus" almost made me spit out my water yoo🤣

[@simeon8967]

11:03 so what do you think about Joel smiths delayed knee extension

[@coachtonyholler]

Unsure.

[@SamKumar-ny4go]

Hello coach sir I have question about short events 100 to 400 m events How much is role of upper body and lower body in sprint mechanics ? please tell me in percentage

[@coachtonyholler]

There are no percentages, but generally strong is good, weak is bad.

[@ruprd0]

Hey coach, would you please help me out on this. At top speed, in my cycle, my foot is not close to my glute at all and when I see faster guys on my team and even pro sprinters it almost looks like their foot touches their butt when cycling. Is this an indicator of weakness, flexibility or form? For context, I think I have good frontside mechanics because on video my quad is almost at a right angle with my torso. Thank you.

[@coachtonyholler]

Keep sprinting. Speed is a function of your CNS more than your mechanics.

[@adhiratgade]

Hey coach, what do you cue to strike the ground and sprint faster?? I know you always say, run tall, No leaning, but what about the legs??

[@coachtonyholler]

Only cue BIG IN FRONT. High knee and foot in front of body. I don’t cue vertical or tangential force. Sprint in spikes often… always time. Let kids organically self-organize.

[@adhiratgade]

@@coachtonyholler Also I saw from Chris korfist that, the faster the hip joint can rotate while foot is on the ground, the faster you are. So can it be said that sprinting fast is just accelerating legs towards the ground and moving hips forward??

[@coachtonyholler]

@@adhiratgade Simply, the ability to move the arms and legs fast is a KPI of speed.

[@adhiratgade]

@@coachtonyholler If we categorize 100m into 2 phases i.e. 1) Acceleration to top speed 2) Top speed maintenance So can it be said that during acceleration to top speed, we need the ground and should apply as much horizontal force as possible. And when we move into max velocity, we need to bounce off ground producing lots of vertical force??

[@coachtonyholler]

@@adhiratgade 100%

[@HEAT_SEEKER01-000]

Hey coach, what would you be looking for in a freshmen making varsity 100-200m track?

[@coachtonyholler]

@HEAT_SEEKER01-000 21 mph. Sub 12.2 in 100, sub 24.5 in 200. That’s just to make the team. Varsity would be 22 mph, 11.4, 23.0

[@HEAT_SEEKER01-000]

@@coachtonyholler oh ok thank you coach, I check all that out. What about character wise?

[@coachtonyholler]

@ All my guys have character. Never an issue.

[@HEAT_SEEKER01-000]

@ awsome

[@HEAT_SEEKER01-000]

Thx coach

[@yoelmorales208]

Amazing video

[@abdulraziq98]

Is leg press and sled push quadricep exercise . should you feel in hamstring or quad for sled push and leg press?

[@coachtonyholler]

I don’t even think about individual muscles. Movement is global.

[@humanboy395]

Hello coach, ive heard you talk about the strecth reflex can this also apply to acceleration

[@coachtonyholler]

For sure. When you project the hips, you are at full extension, ready to spring into action. Big splits of thighs. Achilles too.

[@petermercadante630]

Coach Holler, would you care to revisit your technical analysis and observation that you don’t know how people can be fast “showing the bottom of their spikes to the sky “ in light of the fact that both gold medalists at this years Olympics Lyles in the 100m and Tebogo in the 200m run precisely in this fashion?

[@coachtonyholler]

@@petermercadante630 Young sprinters who show their spikes to the sky have a slow trail leg. Noah Lyles never has a spike plate parallel to the track.

[@petermercadante630]

@@coachtonyholler You have the experience with regard to young sprinters so I accept what you say but I am afraid that video clearly shows that Lyles does have the bottom of his foot parallel to the track as does Tebogo.

[@coachtonyholler]

@@petermercadante630 I work with all ages. You are wrong. www.performancelabofcalifornia.com/howtogetfaster/ And even if so, copying unicorns is not best practice. And Degrasse runs with a straight arm. And Mahomes throws sidearm never setting his feet. And Rick Barry lead the NBA shooting FT underhand.

[@petermercadante630]

​@@coachtonyholler My reference to “young sprinters” was just in response to your comment about young sprinters who show their spikes to the sky having a slow trail leg. It was not intended to suggest that your experience was limited to young sprinters if you took it that way When you say I am “wrong” I am not sure if you mean I am wrong about Lyles having a spike plate parallel to the ground or wrong in suggesting that it is best practice. A review of Lyles in the 100 m or indeed Tebogo in the 200m clearly shows this position occurring. I don’t think I can be wrong in that sense. As for best practice I was not suggesting that spikes to the sky was best practice as I simply do not know. The point of my post was just to ask you whether you would revise your view in the.light of the Olympic performances which seemed at least to offer some challenge to your analysis. If you say no, even if they are doing that they are outliers not exhibiting best form and my analysis is unchanged then you have made yourself clear.

[@alexanderholthoer8972]

Very nice, informative video! Thank you Mr Holler. p.s. In the stiffness-picture at 7:05 , the guy is showing his soles to Jesus ;)

[@abhidon1979]

Coach, for the 11 year old kid who collapsed. What is that one workout or drill that addresses it?

[@coachtonyholler]

@@abhidon1979 Get older, get stronger, lift weights, keep sprinting. Run tall.

[@akealgordari]

A sprinter's mechanics is NOT THE SAME as a long-distance runner mechanics. I've seen many people completely get messed up with "coaches" trying to change their (natural) form, not to be confused with over looking bad form. Yes, you can work on and improve your form, but we are NOT all the same, and what works for 1 runner will NOT always work for the next. I agree, though, that no one should be kicking their rear-end or soles flat up in the air ( that's bad form and wasted energy no matter what you run.)

[@coachtonyholler]

Until a distance runner needs to run fast. 🤔 Keep jogging!

[@akealgordari]

@coachtonyholler Oh, you're one of those types. Well, start sprinting fast, long distance in a sprinter's form picking up your knees high in front of you, and see how far that gets you. Keep sprinting! 🙄

[@coachtonyholler]

@@akealgordari No sprinter has ever said, “Winning short races sucks. I want to run long races.”

[@akealgordari]

@coachtonyholler The thing I've learned about people who can't make sound arguments is that they start using pseudo and pointless antics and will keep going. I feel sorry for any long-distance runner that trains under you. A title doesn't make you infallible. Carry on. Good day.

[@coachtonyholler]

@@akealgordari We placed 4th the state in XC last year, had 26 kids on track team sub 5:00 in the mile, currently ranked #3 in Illinois in XC. In our top 6 runners, 3 sophomores and a junior. Our distance kids do just fine.

[@stuartgilbert8619]

If you don’t mind, I have a question based on this video and some of the others that you have done. This is probably a question where the answer is a bit out of your lane, and you may not wish to answer it, and that’s okay if that is the case, but I am interested in your take on it, considering that we are in a similar ball park in terms of age. I like to incorporate sprinting into my week in order to preserve my function as I age. I know that it won’t extend my life, but it will contribute to improved quality of life, as long as I don’t overdo it (that’s why I love your atomic workout). However VO2 max has been shown to have a strong correlation to longevity. Many people would then look to distance running to augment this, but as you say in this video, the biomechanics are different and as specificity rules, too much distance running will have a negative effect on sprinting. Now as I’m chasing at least two rabbits as I age, ( a practice you alluded to in your sprinting for distance running series of videos) but I’m not a competitive distance runner, would you think it more beneficial to do my ( limited) conditioning via another modality other than running, and leave my running to the sprints only? Or just drastically limit the amount of slower running in the name of cardio? This is a similar scenario to your thoughts on conditioning for other sports like soccer and football perhaps? Might it be why coaches like Barry Ross only had his sprinters condition themselves via walking? So as not to promote bad sprint mechanics via any slower running? However it seems as though your ideas on sprinting are largely rooted in the Charlie Francis short to long approach ( am I correct in that thinking?)…and yet he had his sprinters do extensive tempo runs. Sorry for the rambling. Just trying to wrap my head around a few thoughts that came to me after watching a good few of your excellent videos.

[@samkee3859]

Showing the heel to Jesus is not necessarily a flaw in an athletes mechanics, otherwise Bolt, Gay, Blake, Gatlin, Lyles etc wouldn’t all display that action. It creates a stretch reflex action at the knee joint and also shortens the lever as you mention and results in a much more powerful extension and recovery of the leg. I would argue it’s necessary, even “frontside dominant” athletes like Lamont Jacobs demonstrate that action when they run their fastest (9.80)

[@coachtonyholler]

The elites are master compensators. I coach high school kids to be fast. When developing sprinters, you don’t accept everything by saying, “That’s ok because ______ does it too.” Long in the back is never correct teaching.

[@herculesas8025]

Lamont Jacobs is a fraud - he's not able to run under 10"10 if not "aided" by crono fraud

[@samkee3859]

​@@coachtonyholler The elites are masters at almost everything technically because their are tens of millions of dollars on the line and Olympic glory they are not "just compensating" or else someone else with perfect frontside mechanics and little to no backside mechanics would win. Except those athletes never even make the finals. All of those athletes I mentioned are fast in part because of the heel to the sky, upwards knee flexion action. You also did not respond to the mechanical reasons why this is important.

[@samkee3859]

@@coachtonyholler Look at the fastest high school kids as well every year. Issam Asinga. Gatlin Bair. Maurice Gleaton. Quincy Wilson. They literally all show obvious backside mechanics and heel to jesus knee flexion. You are wrong

[@coachtonyholler]

@@samkee3859 At toe-off, the leg should snap to a front-side position. Any lingering in the back is inefficient. Showing you spike plate to the sky is being “long in the back”. Millions of dollars, Olympic glory, masters of everything? Your reply lacks scholarship my friend.

[@__________Troll__________]

*Where's the time machine 😂. This is fantastic information*

[@韩博-b2p]

I have tried a lot of your content and have had great results developing speed, what I have not been able to figure out is the specifics of the six feet, is that six inches or six paw lengths? Also off-season feeding cats 40S training are those short runs or are they timed to run 40 seconds?

[@thatwastakenagain]

how about weighted jogging or walking?

[@coachtonyholler]

@@thatwastakenagain NOPE. Makes you slow.

[@Firestorm-jv8el]

Is jogging a few laps (1-4) for a warmup ok?

[@coachtonyholler]

Waste of time and energy. Jogging creates terrible sprint mechanics.

[@memediaforyou6639]

spikes to the sky I like that😁

[@midiopanic7472]

great

[@tylerjohnson4]

Interesting, should 800m runners form be more like sprinters (described in this video) or distance runners? I notice in this video of the 800 wr holder: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGPHkK2Id9GLr5Y hes doing some things that are "wrong" for sprinting like the soles of his shoes are facing up, it looks like his leg is exposed in the back for a long time, and he is very leaned forward rather than straight up. What do you think of this? Is it optimal for the 800 because it's not a true sprint? or is it better to have mechanics more similar to this video? Thanks!

[@coachtonyholler]

Hybrid

[@DREAMSTORIES.FEARFUL]

after distance running im trying to get the cat back in me

[@MeanGT3RS992]

No need to show the soles to Jesus, Jesus knows everything already lol. Great video.

[@herculesas8025]

The sole up is the right technique, if you don't understand, better say nothing

[@coachtonyholler]

🥴

[@herculesas8025]

@@coachtonyholler the sole up and the foot relaxed. The best examples Valeryi Borzov and Carl Lewis

[@namesake7139]

​@@herculesas8025so you mean to tell me that they're doing this on purpose? Carl Lewis doesn't teach sole up to his sprinters.

[@herculesas8025]

@namesake7139 Carl when running had always sole up. Did you ever see any of his slo mo videos?

[@namesake7139]

@@herculesas8025 yes and most printers do have the sole up. But you cannot and you would not find any sprinter that teaches that. The emphasis is on front side. The sole coming up is not purposely