running technique question

[fieldguy]

what is "back kick'' as it relates to stride pattern, i guess? i heard someone say recently that he was "getting too much back kick'' when working on a vault approach. i had never heard the expression, other than in martial arts. but i remain confident enlightenment will come soon on this board.

[ChuiTai]

Perhaps, backside mechanics didn't impress. Could this be where the free swinging leg is backside-dominate prior to eccentric contraction loading?

[Kevin Richardson]

I think Chutai is onto something. The vaulter was probably carrying his leg through to actually hit his rear end with his heel. That is the result of drawing the foot closer to the torso, shortening the torque arm (or leg, as the case may be). I will leave it to the more skilled coaches in the area of vaulting to say whether that is a good thing or not.

[Bruce Kritzler]

Dominant back side mechanics are usually associated with poor front side mechanics (lack of knee lift, short stride, braking). Sometimes caused by carrying a heavy pole, and trying to counter-balance it.

[cladthin]

Re: running technique question

what is "back kick'' as it relates to stride pattern, i guess? i heard someone say recently that he was "getting too much back kick'' when working on a vault approach. i had never heard the expression, other than in martial arts. but i remain confident enlightenment will come soon on this board.

Not a vault coach but as a general statement, often, when you improve an individual's posture(so many could use such work) excessive back kick or heel recovery is often eliminated or at least reduced.

Work to develop very upright posture when nearing your top speeds on the runway and this might help to alleviate such problems if that was an accurate assessment by the person observing your run-up.