19 / 60
WARMING-UP & COOLING DOWN ACTIVITIES
19
SECTION 3
The Endurance Runner’s Action
The running action is a natural skill learned very early on in childhood. However, when you observe
any class of children you will immediately notice that no two pupils appear to run identically.
Differences in anatomy, height, weight and proportion all affect running action.
There are also “learned” peculiarities that affect the running action such as poor deportment,
development of muscles through other activities, muscular imbalance through injury or illness
and lack of exercise.
There are, however, basic fundamental pointers that we should be looking for when aiming
to make the running action as efficient as possible (see fig 3).
The foot strikes slightly on the outer half of the ball of the foot and rolls across (see fig. 1). At the
same time the heel drops to the ground (see fig. 2) and then lifts up as the body moves forward
over it and the driving phase begins. As the leg straightens, the heel begins to rise as the foot
is pulled clear of the ground.
The author would like to acknowledge that this material was drawn from the work of Richard Simmonds.
RUNNING ACTION
The foot should strike
the ground just in front
of the centre of gravity
Ankles relaxed with foot
in alignment with the
knee; the heel swings
forward and downwards
towards the ground
The heel is pulled up
towards the buttocks.
How far depends on
the speed the athlete
is running at
Elbow bent between 90–100
degrees, arms pump back
and forward with a very
slight roll of the shoulders
Neck and
shoulders
relaxed
Knees drive straight forward and
upwards to a comfortable height
Athlete’s centre
of gravity
The torso is held upright
with a very slight
forward lean and hips
held “high”, not sitting
Hands slightly
clenched with
thumbs on top
Head held high,
eyes focused to
the front
Rear View of Right Leg
Direction of Travel of Foot
Foot strikes the ground on the
forefoot underneath the body then
drives backwards. The amount of
foot extension depends on the
speed the pupil is running at
(fig. 3)
(fig. 1)
(fig. 2)
Supporting leg drives back
until almost straight
WEB COPY
©EVEQUE
WEB COPY
©EVEQUE