When I wrote The Rocket Sprint Start, the most popular question I received had to be the “Jamaican” toe-scrape technique on the second step.
I’ll explain with some “proof” from the 2 videos below.
Thanks to Stu McMillan and Dan Pfaff’s YouTube channel, we have a huge collection of high def videos to analyze.
Here is Dwain Chamber’s in slo-mo demonstrating two starts.
With toe-scrape technique (click here for the video on YouTube):
Without the toe scrape (click here for the video on YouTube):
Note where he lands on his 2nd and 3rd step.
His 3rd step clears the 3-meter hashmark on the toe-scrape, whereas his arch or heel land on the hashmark on the non-toe-scrape.
8 inches (20 cm) may not mean a lot to you, but like baseball, this is a game of inches. It’s just measured in seconds! (or hundredths of a second, to be precise!)
It’s clear the start sets you up for the later stages of the race. A bad start is like a domino effect or compound interest… the errors gets compounded, unless you are extremely superior or talented at the middle or later stages .
Power Production
One thing is clear from watching the above videos, and that is Dwain’s immense power production. He has run the 2nd best 60m of all time with a 6.42 from 2009 and you can watch some crazy box jumps here.
Dan Pfaff mentions (in this YouTube video) how Dwain’s immense power production becomes “his enemy”. He can run with Bolt up to 60 meters, but when he starts to press to stay with the leaders (maintenance phase), he ends up pushing too long on the ground which means a longer ground contact time. And that is bad.
I covered ground contact in the 400 meters where we saw a huge increase in ground contact as fatigue increases and speed decreases.
Jimson Lee
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Jimson…
Is this a function of elastic energy storage in the hip flexors (through the “resistance” provided by the friction in the toe scratch technique), allowing for more powerful hip drive? Am I seeing/analysing/understanding this correctly?
@Eric, actually, it’s the shortest path between 2 points. The “clothesline” is faster than the “arc”.
Right!!! But, I question some times if “shortest distance between 2 points” should ALWAYS be the goal. In pure physics, yes, possibly. But, when it comes to biomechanics, and once we understand that the body moves in spirals (refer back to PNF), I sometimes question that approach… “Shortest distance between 2 points” might not always be the body’s most efficient way of moving is what I’m getting at, in spite of appearances (measurement of distances and/or displacement).
True, there is an optimal time and distance factor here (and energy). The fastest time to have the maximum distance, with the least amount of energy. I personally do NOT use the toe-drag feature, then again, I never broke 7.00 seconds for 60m!
This technique is a great advance, and for a tail sprinter to get the long legs kicking off the ground gives more control ( less wobble out of the blocks) better overall running position.
The Arc of long legs adds time out of the blocks .I enjoyed watching Carl Lewis pop up out of the blocks in good running form .
At 6’4 I spent so much time fighting against myself in the first 20 meters not getting good sprint form until 50 meters.
I have run 4.19 sec 40 yards, 5.1sec 50 yds & 5..9 sec 60yds where i physically stumbled and kept a good arm rate/ turnover through the dash. I would do extreme down hill running which many think is great for leg turn over but for me it was to increase balance and cheat the fear of falling
@Steve, I wish we had some good video footage of yourself running, as you ran in the 1972-84 era.
exactly a stright line ……not a time wasting arch
Hi this is my interpretation of the movement. I would have thought momentum is generated from the initial action moving the hands backwards then the pushing off the block by the foot generates the force which then permits the ankle to extend, (I think the elastic energy is stored in the ankle) the extension of the ankle releases the elastic energy which then in turn permits the knee and hip to fully extend, the foot scrape then generates friction which creates more energy to be created permitting a slightly longer stride for the secont stride thus the athlete is covering more distance, and will run a faster time.
Just a thought anyway…. You should have timed both start techniques then it would have been easier to see which start is the most effective.
@Michelle, that a good idea. I can overlay the files side by side in future videos. As Eric mentioned above, Dwain may show more distance, but if it’s at the expense of TIME, then the whole idea goes down the drain!
Do you have videos of Dwaine start in 2009? Did he use the toe drag then? I think you should compare the start technique when Dwain ran 6.42 to his current technique and then we can analyse pros and cons for both.
It’s always so interesting how, doing things that appear counterintuitive at first, might prove to be beneficial (akin to the argument of taking a step back for the start in the 40-yard dash)…
@Eric, I can see the “step back” be beneficial with the stretch reflex and lower shin angle :)
Well if Bolt is in great shape at 60m he has a good advantage with Chambers or another runner hehe.
Chambers is very good starter without doubt, although Asafa Powell is a lot of better in my opinion.
My personal view on the toe drag as apose a higher lift, is down to levers!
For instance by leaving the leg long and pulling through a longer lever allows a greater amount of strength to be expressed by the opposite leg!! Akin to using the arms in a very similar fashion during the first few steps I.e. long and sweeping.
I remember a discussion with Seagrave in which he was referring to the arm sweep, my opinion is the effectiveness of the toe sweep is the same!
Based on a sprints clinic I went to put on by Coach Curtis Frye which featured Ralph Mann and numerous other coaches the foot drag is a result of using proper push mechanics the first three steps. The mechanics used are a precursor to proper sprint mechanics. The first three steps are like three high knees (to put it simple) except they are focused on pushing rather than high kneeing. If you look at the angle of the shin (from the knee to the foot) you will notice it wont fold up. It allows a taller sprinter to go thru a smaller range of motion and go straight into sprint mechanics. Below is an example, if you notice the much taller Bolt is able to get his feet down with Gay and still generate just as much power to keep himself in the race. As we know if you don’t beat bolt on the front end you wont win.
The key is to watch the angle of the shin the first three steps, it shouldn’t fold up. The toe slide is a result of holding the push position and not leeting that shin fold up.
Hope this helps, also Ralph manns newest edition of The Sprinting and Hurdling Book goes into depth about the mechanics and why it’s smart to use them.
@frank….Dwaine will be full of confidence after just winning UK indoors – 6.58…shows he is in good form. I look forward to seeing him beat Asafa !!!
6.58 is good time but he will have get sub 6.5 if he want to have options for defeat to Asafa.
If Asafa is in good shape and without injuries he will get sub 6.5 easily ;)
It will be very interesting to see the competition Between Dwaine and Asafa while Asafa is in good shape I question weather the jet lag will affect Asafa’s performance. Furthermore I am unsure if Dwaine will be competing in Birmigham so he will have to wait until World champs to run against him. Anything could happen in the 60m if you are able to make the World Champs final .
UPDATE: Just a quick clarification here. Stu McMillan does NOT teach nor endorse the toe drag. When you see Dwain do it, it is a “fault”, and not coached. It is possible he is copying Asafa subconsciously… Stu also mentions you need to have thigh rotational velocity abilities to recover in time for an effective ground strike.
The moral of the story is just because Usain is doing it, it doesn’t mean YOU should unless you have the same speed and power and training history… just like Ben Johnson’s “swimming” 2 feet launch out of the blocks. When you can sqaut 2 sets of 6 reps with 600lb that is sub max effort, then we’ll talk!
So getting that second step for proper block clearance is important in setting you up for the entire race. Just not at the expense of bad mechanics… and risk of injury.
Can you explain the coaching situation here, so McMillan coaches Chambers, what is Pfaff’s role? Is all the video on that channel from McMillan’s group?
But they work together don’t they …Dan Pfaff and McMillian? If you follow athletics on the BBC they always declare that Dwain is self coached!! I suppose its the best way though.
I think Pfaff is in some sort of advisory role, but I don’t really understand the set up they have over there.
They basically get coaches & assistant coaches and physios and strength and conditioning experts to all work together to meet the athletes needs which helps them to perform well. I suppose it is better for the athletes that way!!
The better results in the first video are due in part that his heel recovery on ALL of his drive step being lower as compared to the second video. The actual scraping of the toe has nothing to do with it, and “low heel recovery” technique has been around much longer than that of todays Jamaican sprint dominance.
“he ends up pushing too long on the ground which means a longer ground contact time”
Jimson, what does Dwain need to do to stop him pushing too long on the gorund? Or what does he need to do to decrease his ground contact time??
Thank you.
@Ben, he can decrease his ground contact time, but never at the expense of reduced power. Most beginners overstride (i.e. “reaching”) at the latter stages of a race as that is just a natural instinct.
As “old school” as this may sound , the way to decrease foot strike time with no lost of power is …jumping rope …extreme jump rope , my jump rope work outs were to create “Springs & Shocks , generate the “,pop off of the track” I would jump 50 reps on one foot ,at a time… my all time record 300 reps !! I also would jump rope in a 20Lb weight vest (preseason) Jump rope is the “original Plyometric”
I coached pro athletes (Mets, Jets ,49er’s .LA Dodgers) to create a “new relationship” with the ground.
I lived on the beach for many years , would sprint barefoot on soft sand.. sprint 60-80 yards -walk to recover , -sprint 60-80yds & repeat for as long as 2 miles …jog back on the hard sand with the mental image “my feet are like the “paws & claws of a Cheetah”…..the sand strengthens each toe separately
The only reason that he made it further on the toe drag is because he didn’t stand straight up out of the blocks unlike the other video. The initial ground contact one applies can push them upwards(especially when you’re as strong as Chambers is) which is probably why he prefers the toe drag style more. Neither is superior, it is all a matter of preference.
The toe drag from Usain and Asafa sprint start is the results of a skip action out of the blocks. It is very easy to mimic. The end results is greater top end speed.
Nothing complicated at all.
I would say Dwain is not doing a very good job of mimicking Usain. He is literally dragging his toe as Usain drag is a result of his hip action.
If done properly no injury will occur.
The straight line with less arc means faster ground strike
We have wrote a similar article. By the way great videos.
http://pinoyathletics.com/2012/09/23/olympic-sprinters-why-should-i-drag-my-toe/
A continuation of this article
http://pinoyathletics.com/2012/09/23/olympic-sprinters-why-should-i-drag-my-toe/