PoleVaultPower.com

Okay, so I have a pretty decent starting block if I say so myself. I get out pretty quick and keep my head down and have lots of power.
thing is, after the momentum from the starting blocks dies, I loose some of my momentum/focus.
my kick through the finish line is pretty good too.
so, my question:
where should I look and what should I be thinking about after I get into my full sprint to keep me going strong? I get out of the blocks so fast that I don't see the people in the other lanes because they're behind me so I loose my push, but then that comes back and bites me later in the race forcing me to have to work super hard in the end to make up for not having the drive in the middle.
do you get what I'm saying? any advice at all will help, I'm sure my times will improve more if I could just fix that part of race.

thanks!

The most important part of running sprints at top speed is, after you hit your stride like you described, to relax while you are running. If you clench your fists and try to run as fast as humanly possible, you wont! when you are approaching top speed you want to make your legs long and powerful, but at the same time relaxed. That allows your legs to move quicker and more efficiently. Ive even seen a sprinter run with a lollipop in his mouth. It reminds him not to clench, and to relax while he runs. I hope that helps.

I do try to relax. In band one day my conductor talked about relaxing your third eye (basically the middle point of your forehead) and just by doing that you can relax most of your body...
so when I sprint I normally have good form, arms at 90* angles, in front or at my sides moving with my stride, and on my toes with my knees out in front of me, not behind me.

are there ways I can think to get my past the mental block?

mental? idk about that one, but i do know, that if you move your arms, more your elbows and upper arm, you WILL run faster. and stay relaxed, if you watch a slo-mo vid of Olympic sprinters, they are totally relaxed, not tense at all.

good luck.

newPVer wrote:mental? idk about that one, but i do know, that if you move your arms, more your elbows and upper arm, you WILL run faster. and stay relaxed, if you watch a slo-mo vid of Olympic sprinters, they are totally relaxed, not tense at all.

good luck.

yea, their cheeks bounce up and down, it's actually quite amusing when you're slap happy at four in the morning... =D

when you move your arms, how far back can you let your arms go? your hands shouldn't pass your hips should they?

i go about 90* on my elbows, and my hands go just pass my hips. it works for me. but go out and concentrate on different things. and i also think about getting my knees up, causing longer more relaxed legs. good luck tho

thank you!

another question now:
while sprinting in the 100/200, would you get more for your power by leaning forward a little? or would it be better to stay like I am now and be running tall?

forward out of the blocks, but come to an upright position once your at speed. good luck, oh, and i'm not a sprinter. i used to do it for fun, but never in a meet..
its just how i run and how i've seen real sprinters run.

Sounds like your acceleration is slower than you think. You may be the quickest out of blocks, and be first for a few steps, but after a few more strides, other people are next to or past you. Is this a correct assumption?

yeah i am fast as hell out of blocks because i have alot of explosion, i can beat our 100 runner in a 40 but then he passes about halfway and then smokes me the thing our sprinting coach always says is go cheek to cheek (face cheek to butt cheek) with about 90 degree angles and stay low and gradually lift up (unlike pole vaulting where you keep upright posture the whole way) but that is about all i know

theczar wrote:Sounds like your acceleration is slower than you think. You may be the quickest out of blocks, and be first for a few steps, but after a few more strides, other people are next to or past you. Is this a correct assumption?

I'm actually pretty fast all of the way around, I just don't know if I particualarly slack of at some point in the race, or if I really am just not quite as fast as the others I am against. But I can kind of feel that I loose something, I don't know what exactly, after I come out from the initial lean forward from the starting blocks and into being straight up...

I wish I had a tape I could show you to help explain this...
it might just all be mental...