I've heard coaches say that it is good to take shorter steps in your start to keep your hips under your center of gravity. I have also had coaches instruct me to take the largest steps possible when firing out of the hole.
Which theory is correct?
Yea, there are two sides to that coin, defranco and many others have tested over and over the short steps vs explosively firing out and simply getting to point b as fast as possible which obviously entails longer steps debate, and the 2nd method is what they swear by. I agree with him and have found the same, the fastest times nearly ALWAYS come from just focusing on gettting from a to b as fast as humanly possible and not cutting the stride length at the start.
I know for me personally, I "feel" a lot more explosive taking shorter steps but that doesn't mean I'm actually moving faster. It can sometimes feel a little choppy, and that may lead to deceleration. But the shorter steps allow me to fire out lower and not raise my torso up too soon.
Best thing to do is test it both ways, TIME it though and run a whole 40 when you do. Raising the torso up too soon is a habit that has to be broken, whether you take short strides or not at the start, you can LEARN to keep lower until you reach your top speed.
What do my choopy steps indicate? Is it a weakness in hip power? A poor stance? I have a had a strength coach look at my stance and he hasn't made any changes so it may not be my stance.
choppy steps in most cases indicate that your torso is not out in front of your lower body enough, when you start, EXPLODE out with the torso, so you have to "run under it". When you do it right it will almost feel like youre going to face plant, but you will realize that youre not once you train it, and your times will improve A LOT.
A note about the stance. A lot of sprinters seems to raise their butts really high in the air. when I do this I feel like I am noce diving into the ground and I have to take recovery steps to get my balance. When I keep my butt parrallel or slightly above my back then I feel I can drive out easier and more efficiently. But when I look at combine videos, it seems like all the guys butts are really high in the air.
You definitely want the hips fairly high at the start, you cant generate any power with them too low and you will immediately stand straight up. Most of the guys youre watching also likely have a short torso, long legged build, which will make the hip height more drastic, as it will the torso lean in the squat. Defranco has a lot of GREAT info on the 10yd dash and starts, how to set up the stance, I highly reccomend his "running the 40yd dash" book, he breaks it down better than anyone else I have ever seen.
**Any comments or suggestions would be really helpful.
Thanks
