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For the past three years, I have posted a list of messages that our track and field staff uses to get athletes of other sports to consider joining our program. My friend Tony Holler once told me, “Every high school has a good track team.” I think this is true, but coaches have various obstacles that may make it difficult to form the best track team possible. No matter what our situation is, WE need to be champions of promoting what our sport has to offer.

No matter what our situation is, as track and field staff we need to be champions of promoting what our sport has to offer, says @HFJumps. Share on X

My hope is this article gets shared with as many current non-track athletes as possible. Ideally, one or more points will resonate with them, and they will choose to give track and field a chance. I know athletes who choose to become part of the program at Homewood-Flossmoor High School will reap a lifetime of rewards for their choice, and I feel it would be the same at many programs throughout the world. Here are 11 ways that joining track and field will benefit athletes, no matter what their sport.

Track and field will help you improve the measurable that matters most—speed.

I played football for 11 years. I coached it for five. I never heard a coach say, “Great tackle, but next time, please get to the ball carrier slower.” In the world of high performance, speed is king. Smart track coaches realize the vast majority of events are speed-based (14 of 18 in Illinois) and design training to ensure speed is maximized. This means that, outside of competitions, training is designed around short (60 meters or less) but maximum sprint efforts followed by full recovery.

If your school’s track program has an electronic timing system to time short sprints in practice, there is a high probability the coaching staff values and cultivates speed. Furthermore, when you improve your maximum speed, your ability to accelerate will improve as well. Wouldn’t you like your first few steps in your primary sport to be faster? Get out on the track and fly!

Track and field also improves other important measurables, such as strength.

Are you worried that being on the track will not allow you to get stronger? You shouldn’t be. Knowledgeable track coaches recognize the importance of strength, and they devote time to addressing it both inside and outside of the weight room.

One of my favorite stories which addresses this deals with a former football player at our school. During his freshman and sophomore years, he trained with our football team in the weight room in the off-season. I was able to convince him to come out for track his junior year. About midway through our season, he told me, “Coach, I haven’t been squatting as often as I did during football lifting, but I am able to squat more weight.” I asked him what he was doing more of since he joined track. His one-word answer: “Sprinting.”

One of the most overlooked advantages of sprinting is that it is an incredible strength exercise, says @HFJumps. Share on X

One of the most overlooked advantages of sprinting is that it is an incredible strength exercise. Forces put into the ground when sprinting are between two and five times body weight, on one foot, in a tenth of a second. For a 200-pound athlete, that is between 400 and 1,000 pounds of force! Former NFL strength coach Buddy Morris may have said it best: “Sprinting drives up your weights. Weights don’t necessarily drive up your sprinting.”¹

The reality for most athletes at the high school level is the best strength and speed improvements will come from a program that includes sprinting, jumping, throwing, and resistance training. This will make you a more explosive athlete, which transfers to all sports. Your high school track team has all of this, at a low cost, in a competitive atmosphere!

Your track coaches are the best people in the school to help you improve the most important measurable (speed).

Track coaches have the luxury of not having to worry about game-play strategy, in comparison with a field or court sport coach. Because of this, we get to focus our professional development time on researching how to get people to run faster, jump farther and higher, and throw farther. This not only includes training system design, but also the study of the technique, which allows for better performance in these general athletic movements. Joining track and field will give you the opportunity to become a better-moving human, which you can apply to all land-based sports.

In an effort to keep things real, I will say something that may ruffle some feathers. There are coaches of field and court sports who have every right to discourage athletes from going out for their school’s track team. If I coached football, and I knew the track coach had every athlete start and finish every practice with a 2-mile jog, it would be hard for me to endorse that program.

Joining track and field will give you the opportunity to become a better-moving human, which you can apply to all land-based sports, says @HFJumps. Share on X

Unfortunately, like any other sport at the high school level, there are track coaches with questionable methods. The reasons for this vary, but some items to look for and avoid can be found at the end of Tony Holler’s “Can Your Kid Sprint?” article. I’m proud to say I am part of a program that coaches of other sports should endorse, and I feel that, through the educational efforts of many, fewer and fewer track programs fall in the “discouraged” category.

We don’t just get people faster. Everything we do is tied to enhancing overall athleticism. Higher athleticism leads to greater adaptability.

Yes, you will get faster by joining track and field, and that alone will make you a better athlete. However, another part of this journey involves challenging your coordination. Every. Single. Day. The coordination challenge you will face will be different than in field and court sports. The environment may be less dynamic, but the demand for precision is higher. This will cause you to develop an awareness of your body that you’ve never had before.

In field/court sports, your teammate(s) can bail you out. This doesn’t exist in track and field, and because of that, you will become a better competitor.

You can’t just pass the basketball to your best player and get out of the way. Touchdowns still occur even when a block is missed. Relays are seldom won in track and field if a baton is dropped. When you step up to the starting line, you control your destiny. When your name is called at the long jump runway or shot put ring, you control your destiny. No one else can step in and compete for you. It is you against the world, and this is a big challenge. However, it can bring out the competitor within. Your inner warrior. Not your Instagram persona or your video game avatar—your real-world inner beast mode.

Digging a little deeper into this, the inability to be bailed out either terrifies or excites you. If it excites you, it only makes sense to feed your desire to compete. If this scenario terrifies you, you need track and field to learn how to execute under pressure. It is, without a question, a skill you can develop with practice.

Most track & field events are solo, so when you step up to the starting line, you control your destiny. If this terrifies you, you need track & field to learn how to execute under pressure. Share on X

I know this because I am a person who falls on the terrified end of the spectrum. My genetic make-up lends me to getting overstimulated in high-pressure situations. Growing up, I played whichever sport was in season. There is no question that exposure to situations that demanded execution on the field of play transferred to my ability to execute in the real world.

During the first speech I gave in my freshman year of high school, I shook so badly the audience may have thought I was having a seizure. Now I speak in front of people every day as a teacher and have presented numerous times in front of my peers. I would not have had the courage to do this without the experiences I had in athletics. These types of experiences do not happen in an off-season weight room program—they happen in competition.

There is no substitute for competition, and every event of every meet you compete in is similar to a game-winning drive/possession.

High school football games average 150 plays (including special teams). While there is pressure to perform on every play, there are situations that are more pressure-packed than others. If an offense runs 60 plays during a game, my guess is about 30% carry more weight than others (3rd downs, drives at the end of half/regulation, etc.). However, if the score is not close, the pressure in some of these situations will decrease.

In track and field, every event in which you compete is pressure-packed (event competition opportunities range from 50–200, depending on event participation). Part of this is because you are responsible for your results, as mentioned in the previous point. The other is that your main competition is not an opponent—it’s the stopwatch or tape measure. While you may win some battles against them along the way, you can always make improvements, so your competitor will always win the war. This can be frustrating and humbling, but it’s also an incredible opportunity because it can get you to achieve results you didn’t think were possible!

Many college coaches prefer multisport athletes.

I don’t make it through more than a couple of days without seeing a piece of information that promotes youth athlete participation in multiple sports. This does not mean playing multiple sports at once, but playing different sports throughout the course of the year (think soccer season, basketball season, track season). Creating a broad range of coordinative abilities, which comes from playing different sports, allows for athletes to reach a higher athletic ceiling—a clear desire of college coaches.

Possessing a broad range of coordinative abilities, which comes from playing different sports, allows for athletes to reach a higher athletic ceiling—a clear desire of college coaches. Share on X

Services such as Tracking Football are at the forefront of using data to define athleticism. They put out graphics on a regular basis, such as the one below that shows their athleticism metric (PAI) along with the amount of multisport participation each team has.

Athleticism is important to college coaches, but the intangible it seems most coaches like about multisport athletes is their exposure to competition. College coaches want to know if they are recruiting elite competitors. Playing more than one sport creates more opportunity to compete. An individual sport with a team component like track is a great place for this exposure. Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell summed this up wonderfully at a press conference in 2019:

“You can’t compete in a weight room. You can’t go and compete with a trainer, even though everybody is telling you to go do that. But you can’t. When you’re competing is when you’re winning and losing, and you’re figuring out a way to win. That’s what track teaches. It’s what wrestling teaches you. It’s what basketball teaches you. It’s what baseball teaches you. So, to me, that is a huge piece to our recruiting process because it gives us at least one answer to the intangible that’s really important: How do you compete? How do you act when things don’t go well? How do you respond to adversity? We get to see it live and in color, and those things are really, really important to our staff, at least in our evaluation of a young person coming here.”

By playing another sport, you will have more people in your corner helping you achieve your goals. In this world, there is always room for more support.

Most coaches love interacting with athletes, and when a solid coach-athlete bond is created, it is special. I’ve cried countless tears of joy and happiness with the athletes I’ve had the privilege of coaching. Coaches will do anything to help their athletes in the game of life. Heck, I recently spent a sizable chunk of change on a set of knives I didn’t need to support a former athlete.

Coaches will hold you accountable for your effort on the field/classroom, will provide you with emotional support when you need it, and can be a lifelong resource after you graduate. Don’t we all need another person like this in our life?

You will be coached by the same people during the time of your participation.

Track and field is one of a handful of high school sports that allows you to be coached by the same people each year. Most field and court sports are split into different levels with different coaches. Track tends to be divided by event area. For instance, I work with all of our long/triple/high jumpers, freshmen through seniors.

Track and field is one of the few high school sports where your coach is often the same each year. This creates consistency in your athletic development, says @HFJumps. Share on X

Because of the additional time you will spend with your coach, there is a better chance of a stronger relationship developing. It also creates consistency in your athletic development. The first year is a learning experience for both coach and athlete, but after that, the track coach knows your strengths and weaknesses and can identify the best route to take for you to reach your potential.

You get to practice with freshmen through seniors. This provides numerous opportunities to learn and lead!

One consistent occurrence each year is the current crop of seniors talking about “These freshmen _____.”

• “These freshmen don’t pay attention.”
• “These freshmen are immature.”
• “These freshmen disappear during tough workouts.”

This is always an entertaining situation because it gives our coaches an opportunity to take a stroll down memory lane when the current seniors were “These freshmen.” After a few stories, the importance of being quality role models (the way former upperclassmen were for them) is reemphasized.

As a coaching staff, we constantly remind our young athletes to learn from our veterans. There is also an expectation for our veteran athletes to serve our underclassmen. The first step to this mentorship is treating the underclassmen like gold. Servant leadership is lifelong, and any chance to practice it is a great opportunity.

There is something special about wearing your school’s uniform.

I had the fortune of being able to participate in football (one year) and track and field (four years) at the collegiate level (NCAA Division 3). I really enjoyed the experience, but it just was not the same as the experience I had in high school.

Donning the high school uniform is a culmination of the 10 years of athletic competition you experienced in your community prior to high school. You know everyone on your team. You know a lot of the athletes you compete against. It is a sacred time. I am not saying the college experience won’t be great—it very well can be—but I can say with certainty that it will be different.

Take the Chance and Don’t Look Back

A quote often credited to both Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan is, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” When I was 16, my high school football coach told me, “I want you out on the track running 100s….FAST.” That was all he needed to say.

Little did I know track would end up being the sport I competed in through college, and the sport that I am now about to begin my 17th year coaching. I find it hard to imagine a life where I am not coaching track and field. If I hadn’t been willing to give it a shot in high school, I strongly doubt it would still be a huge part of my life today.

However, this is not about me. It is about you. YOU are the person in charge of defining YOUR high school experience. The best piece of advice I can offer you is to maximize your experience because you do not want to look back and think, “What if?”

Please share this article with anyone who is not involved in track and field. Hopefully, it will get them to consider participating!

Special thanks to Nate Beebe and John Hunter for their assistance in constructing this list and the content within. The same goes to Keith Whitman for his dialogue via social media and specifically point #11.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

Morris, Buddy (via @StuartMcMillan1). “Sprinting drives up your weights. Weights don’t necessarily drive up your sprinting.” 3:54 p.m.; 11 Nov. 2016.

Campbell, Matt. “The importance of multi-sport athletes.” Iowa State University. 9 Oct. 2019.

Back when I was in college and studying physical education, I learned a lot about the various forms of locomotion and movement patterns and how to use these patterns to develop movement coordination and capacity. One of the movement patterns was backpedaling. Recently, there has been more discussion about backpedaling, but a lot is getting left on the table, so I want to show you where the gold in backpedaling really lies.

There are three areas I would like to cover in this article. The first is how to train backpedaling in the sagittal plane, or in a straight linear process. The second area consists of adding a transverse or rotational component to going and coming out of the backpedal. The third and final area is how we can redirect or change directions from a backpedal into a forward propulsive or acceleration gait.

Sagittal Backpedal Techniques

I’d like to start off by listing many of the areas that backpedaling improves through its unique biomechanical qualities. While doing so, let me share with you the different strategies of using backpedaling. The first two techniques fall under the sagittal, or linear, backpedal methods.

Compact Backpedal

The compact backpedal is most used in the sport of American football, especially by defensive backs. I call these compact backpedals because the athlete compresses the body downward to lower their center of mass and shorten and quicken their stride pattern in order to redirect the body in an instant.

When an athlete uses a compact-style backpedal, where the hips are low and hinged back, the spine pitches forward so the shoulders and head are over the feet, and the knees and ankles are in a very flexed state, the loading for motion is quite different than forward propulsion.

Video 1. A simple way to see efficient backpedaling is by looking at the feet. Observe how the heel cycles behind the athlete.

This position creates a unique communication of the quadriceps with the Achilles-ankle joint complex. You see, as the knees flex, they force themselves to travel sagittal over the toes, and this requires the ankle to also flex a considerable amount. Okay, stay with me here. Because the athlete is moving backward, the uniqueness of how the backpedal gait organizes itself requires the quads to push the front leg knee into extension (not so different from forward acceleration yet), therefore moving the athlete’s body backward.

The difference in forward propulsion and backward propulsion is in the design of the human leg. When moving forward, the shin angle can push down and back while the knee stays in front of the shin based on the direction of travel. Not so in the backpedal…

When the athlete pushes off with the front leg, because the shin points backward at the start, there is actually more of a pulling action until the shin becomes vertical and all the way through the knee extension as the foot travels in front of the body to finish the push off. It is the quads that are highly active in this pull-to-push action during the compact backpedal.

Video 2. Looking from straight on the torso and head give clues to coaches. Focus on how the athlete is able to balance their body as they travel backward.

So why do I say the quads communicate so well with the ankle and Achilles complex? Well, when the back leg—the one moving behind the body in the direction of travel—goes behind the hips, the ball of the foot touches down, forcing a high degree of ankle dorsiflexion as the body rolls over that foot. The quads are very active in eccentrically and somewhat isometrically controlling the flexion of the knee, so the athlete doesn’t collapse their weight down onto the back foot. This interplay of the ankle being so dorsiflexed and the knee being very flexed creates a big support system of the quads and ankle complex working together. The Achilles senses all of this stress and gives valuable feedback to the CNS on how to stabilize this action.

There is a different communication between the muscle and joint complexes with the other style of backpedal. Let me explain.

Extended Backpedal

The second style of backpedal is what I call the extended backpedal. Its name comes from the fact the athlete stands in a tall posture and, therefore, has more extended joints. Although rarely practiced by coaches other than in backward sprinting, the extended backpedal deserves respect for what it can offer the athlete in critical sporting moments.

Although rarely practiced by coaches other than in backward sprinting, the extended backpedal deserves respect for what it can offer the athlete in critical sporting moments, says @leetaft. Share on X

First, let’s review the mechanics of the extended backpedal.

The athlete starts in a much taller posture, therefore using much longer strides in the gait cycle. Coaches mostly only train this technique as a way to improve posterior chain loading for sprinting, as the action of the hip extension loads the lumbar, glutes, and hamstrings in a unique way. But in reality, athletes often use this tall extended backpedal as a strategy in sporting events.

When an athlete transitions from offense to defense, they immediately change ends of the court or field. If they are one of the first defenders back, they typically take a couple forward acceleration steps to get their momentum started and be in good defensive positioning so the opponent’s fast break doesn’t beat them. Once they know they do not have to sprint to chase the opponent down, they typically perform a 180 and continue moving backward with a tall extended pedal. This strategy allows them to gain valuable information on what their opponents are doing and where they may need to shift their position in order to defend more effectively. Staying tall allows for more speed and keeps their eyesight focused much higher to read the opponent.

Regarding the technique of this tall extended backpedal, there is one very important aspect that athletes must honor to be safe and effective during this backpedal. It is what I call “staying in front of the vertical axis.” So, what does this mean?

Video 3. A natural head is one that looks like it’s part of the entire body and is in concert with the hips. Good mechanics look clean and coordinated, with nothing forced or robotic.

When we backpedal, we do more than just move backward. We rely on our ability to modify our normal running gait mechanics, which is a challenge in and of itself. We create an environment where body awareness and spatial awareness are heightened. And we put our vestibular system on check to keep us oriented in a functional position because we can’t see what’s behind us.

In order to maintain balance while moving, and while possibly accelerating backward, we need to keep our head and shoulders in front of the vertical axis running from the ground up through our body and out to the sky. If we allow our upper body to tilt backward behind this vertical axis line in the direction of the backpedal, we have a difficult time orienting our balance. But if we can keep our head and shoulders slightly in front of the this vertical axis and lead more with our hips—kind of like the compact backpedal does but just not quite as much—we can avoid the feeling of falling backward and maintain our focus on the play in front of us. Also, by keeping our head and shoulders slightly oriented in front of the vertical axis line, we can have better lower body mechanics while striding backward.

When I talk about how the quads and Achilles ankle complex communicate during the compact backpedal, well, the anterior hip and gastrocnemius like to communicate during the taller extended style of backpedal.

If you understand how the knee joint angles affect the activity level of the gastroc’s involvement, you can start to see how the gastroc becomes much more involved in this extended leg style backpedal. On the other end of the leg, and much more proximal, we notice that the anterior hip, or should we say hip flexors, gets placed on a great stretch as the leg moves into hip extension while striding backward. If the hip flexor is being placed on a fairly high stretch because the leg is fairly straight, and there is a fair amount of knee extension upon ground contact, this tells us the gastroc is being stressed to support the stability of the knee along with the hip-quad complex.

From a bottom-up approach, if we have a gastroc muscle lacking flexibility (unable to create adequate dorsiflexion) during foot contact, then the range of motion of the stride will decrease. Additionally, the hip flexors and quads will have not been placed on much stretch, reducing their stability of the knee joint during the ground contact phase.

Regardless of whether the athlete performs a compact or extended-style backpedal, there are always joints and muscle structures that communicate with one another to execute proper mobility and stability.

Training athletes with both compact and extended backpedal styles develops general human movement qualities that will benefit the athlete regardless of sport, says @leetaft. Share on X

I guess we could say that training athletes with both styles of backpedal (compact and extended) develops general human movement qualities that will benefit the athlete regardless of sport.

180 Series – Backpedaling with a Rotation

The second approach to backpedal training I like to employ is my “180 Series.” This consists of the transverse or rotational style of challenging body awareness and spatial awareness.

Although I have many exercises based on goals and specific application to the athlete and/or sport, I will share the two cornerstone patterns in the 180 Series.

Forward to Backward

In this first strategy, the athlete begins by slowly running forward (I train these patterns in a submaximal effort to establish efficiency of patterns) for anywhere between 5 and 10 yards. Once they hit this mark, they quickly perform a 180-degree turn in order to continue moving in the same direction, but now with an extended backpedal technique. So, run straight, hit appropriate distance, perform 180, continue backpedaling…

Video 4. A delayed head turn is part of athletic development for all levels. Delaying the head turn isn’t an excuse to move slowly, it’s more about patient timing.

In order to perform this sequence properly and safely, the athlete needs to keep their head and shoulders slightly in front of the vertical axis upon the turn and into the backpedal. I mention this early as a protective strategy against falling backward or losing control. The athlete also needs to be able to quickly rotate the hips and legs so the heel of the contact leg points as close to backward as possible.

I do not want my athletes contacting with the heel pointing 45 degrees away from the backward direction, for example, as this places torque at the Achilles/ankle, knee, and hip. Certainly, I understand this won’t happen perfectly all the time. I just aim for perfection knowing imperfection will have to suffice much of the time.

Video 5. A full 180 is needed in sports, so it’s important to rehearse a rapid change of direction that is fluid and natural. Athletes need to be able to change their body position while moving in the same direction as well.

Another important mechanical factor to consider is the “clearing out” of the front arm to aid in quickly rotating the body. If the arm delays or “blocks,” the thorax isn’t able to rotate effectively, and this then delays the rest of the chain from the hips down to the legs. To clarify: If I run forward and begin my 180-degree turn to the right, my right arm must “swing back” to open my body to the right, and the left arm follows closely behind to push the thorax around. As this occurs, I now have stability via a stretch/tension of the core musculature to quickly turn the hips and lower body around.

In a moment, I will write about how I use early and delayed head turns to manipulate the turning capacity of the body.

Video 6. A quick head turn is vital in situations that demand a play on the ball or on an opponent. An early head turn is not natural for everyone, but many athletes are able to do it with great mechanics.

Backward to Forward

For the second technique of the 180 Series, we begin the athletes with a submaximal backpedal. At the designated distance—again, 5–10 yards usually starts the turning—the athlete quickly turns and begins moving forward with a slow run.

Moving backward and then rotating or turning to transition into forward moving has different possibilities in the sequencing of upper and lower body turning. It has a lot to do with how the head and eyes are positioned and focused. If the athlete quickly turns their head to locate a ball or opponent that has passed them, it is common to see the upper body rotate slightly quicker than the lower body. Conversely, if the athlete’s head and eyes stay focused behind them—let’s say in the case of a softball outfielder or tennis player moving backward yet focusing on a ball that is still in front of them—the lower body tends to open up first, while the upper body lags behind to help keep athletes focused on the ball. Seeing that I’ve opened this can of worms about head and eye position, let’s continue down the rabbit hole.

Video 7. Many cornerbacks or defensive backs are excellent transition athletes. Those that can move backward into a forward run are excellent defenders in other sports as well, including soccer and basketball.

We know athletes’ movements are driven by task and by the environment they are in. When a player must catch a ball, the footwork is simply the vehicle that allows them to accomplish this task. A small out-of-bounds area near the stadium is the environment they must negotiate to accomplish the task. When training the backpedal via these 180 Series exercises, it’s important we change the stimuli, thereby changing the environment and challenging the task differently.

I use a progression to help athletes learn the difference in how the body gets driven to turn more quickly or slowly based on the position of the head and eyes, says @leetaft. Share on X

To do this, I use a progression to allow the athlete to learn the difference in how the body gets driven to turn more quickly or slowly based on the position of the head and eyes. Here is a simple chart with progression ideas.

In this table there are four different possibilities for turning. The first two are what I described earlier: forward to backward and backward to forward running. The second two teach the athlete to negotiate the “unwinding” of the pattern first performed. So, if the athlete performed a forward run to a turn into backpedal, after a few strides they would turn back the same way (this way they undo the 180 rather than complete a 360) and finish the submaximal run with a forward run. Conversely, they could do the backward to forward and then backward again.

The table has four column headings. The first is “Exercise,” which is self-explanatory. The second is “Natural Action,” which means the athlete should perform the exercise without consciously thinking about how to move the head and eyes—just let it happen. We typically see an athlete turn the head and eyes naturally to orient the eyes so they see where they are going.

Video 8. Timing the head motion while backpedaling is sometimes a matter of trial and error. Allow athletes to experiment when necessary.

The third column title, “Delayed Head Turn,” is often called “Delayed Action.” This is when the athlete performs the exercise but keeps the head and eyes focused on the initial direction of travel until they perform a couple steps once the rotation has occurred. For example, the athlete performs a forward run to a backward turn. As the athlete begins to turn the body into the backward run, the head and eyes stay focused where they started, which is straight ahead. Or the athlete could move backward and rotate to a forward run, but they delay turning the head and eyes until they take a couple steps forward—this is common for outfielders, tennis players, and cornerbacks.

The fourth header, “Early Head Turn,” is pretty much what it says—turn the head early in the rotating process of the body, going from forward to backward or vice versa. This typically occurs when an athlete is beat and trying to recover and close on the opponent or ball.

Video 9. The head is the rudder to the body, and fast turns usually encourage a fast motion later. Use early head turns to drive a change of positioning.

The delayed and early head turn methods force a different reaction in the body. The delayed action puts more stress on the cervical and thoracic spine as the lower body attempts to pull the head and spine around. I find athletes with a limited range of motion in the cervical and thoracic spine struggle to disassociate the upper and lower body with this delayed head action, so it’s a great way to assess an athlete.

The early head turn action feels awesome for the athlete, as it virtually “whips” the athlete’s upper and lower body around quickly. As the saying goes, “the body follows the head.” The discovery of balance resulting from staying on a straight path gets challenged during this early head turn strategy. Once again, it’s a great assessment of an athlete’s needs.

Going back to the table above, I randomly placed a check in the boxes. In the early stages, the athlete should allow the natural head turn to take place while performing all the exercises. This builds the patterning of the rotation. But, once comfortable, they can implement the delayed and early head turns to challenge the general development of these head turn patterns with the body rotating. These head turns also be used specifically to help the athlete attain coordination for a sport.

Backpedal Change of Direction

The third approach when teaching backpedal strategies is to challenge mass and momentum control via change of direction. This is an interesting topic, and it tends to light some coaches’ hair on fire. Let’s get after it!

Regardless of whether the athlete performs a compact or extended backpedal technique, they often read the play breakdown in front of them and must quickly get out of the backpedal and begin to accelerate forward. Some examples of change of direction during a backpedal are a pop fly being shorter than originally perceived or a quarterback scrambling and deciding to run instead of pass, which makes the cornerback break out of his backpedal.

The question that always come up—and let me tell you, there are coaches who dig their feet in on why they feel their strategy is best—is should the athlete perform a “vertical heel” plant or a “T-step” plant. The coaches who dig their feet in for one strategy or the other are both wrong.

Video 10. The T-step is, literally, a pivotal movement strategy for athletes. Here from the side, you can see a great view of the back hip in action.

Let’s go back to a statement I made earlier on how athletes make movements based on the task and the environment. They use both perception of what they see and predictability to recall stored patterns that they have used before in similar situations—this is why experienced athletes move more efficiently in certain situations. Okay, hear me out. The athletes are not consciously thinking of the way they want to position their feet during the change of direction from backpedal to forward or angular acceleration. It just occurs based on perception of speed, angles, task, and ability….

An athlete typically uses a vertical heel position, which means they are strictly on the ball of the foot and the heel is straight up, more in a short, quick backpedal distance where there isn’t much mass and momentum to manage. When an athlete has built up higher speeds, and the momentum is great, it is common to see the athlete use a T-step, which is far more stable and safer due to full foot contact and loading of the hip and core to aid in the stability. I always say that the ankle and hip bones turn together to safely load during the T-step.

Video 11. Viewing from the front, the T-step is a clear movement strategy to generate power with the rear leg. A combination of movement work and weight room strength is needed to redirect speed.

The funny thing is that some athletes use a T-step all the time, while others, but not nearly as many, use the vertical heel nearly all the time. My point is that athletes load and unload the moving human system based on their innate control of their own biomechanical system. We can’t put athletes into a box and say; “You can only do this.” It is a mistake to take this approach.

When we get right down to it, managing a backpedal is about controlling angles, says @leetaft. Share on X

When we get right down to it, managing a backpedal is about controlling angles. We have angles of force application into the ground of the back plant leg. We have angles of the spine and shoulders to control the orientation of posture going in and coming out of the plant. And we have angles of acceleration once we come out of the backpedal break.

The footwork we use is not always a teachable skill, but rather a reaction to the body’s kinesthetic reaction to the moment. This is very important to understand so we don’t train something that isn’t trainable. I don’t mean that we can’t train some of this. I have seen football coaches train cornerbacks by only allowing them to use the vertical heel concept in their controlled drills during practice, yet on game day these same cornerbacks instantly use a T-step to break out of the backpedal to make a play.

Video 12. The final video shows the differences between stepping back and planting a T-step. Notice the difference between a quick backward step and opening up the hip for power.

When coaches don’t understand the interplay of task, biomechanics, range of motion restrictions, strength and elastic capacities of an athlete, and a host of other variables, it forces them to dig their heels into the ground with unfounded information.

What we can teach and emphasize to our athletes during the backpedal is setup, posture, position, and the mechanics of the arm and leg, based on the style of backpedal being used. The backpedal isn’t a skill that most athletes use for long intervals during a single play, but it might mean the difference for being successful throughout the competition.

The backpedal isn’t a skill that most athletes use for long intervals during a single play, but it might mean the difference for being successful throughout the competition, says @leetaft. Share on X

A Strategy for Training and Competing

It’s important to realize that the development of the backpedal isn’t so linear. There are many factors we must consider when building a stable backpedal pattern through various postures and drivers. An example of a driver is the rotational patterns just described in the 180 Series, along with delayed and early head turns. Backpedaling is a strategy to help athletes compete better in their sport, but also a training strategy to bring about various levels of coordination, mobility, stability, and general movement qualities.

I hope this article and the backpedal strategies within it give you a different view on utilizing backpedal training to improve the performance of your athletes.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Sprinting is arguably the most central-nervous-system-intensive exercise that the human body can perform. As a consequence, there are many elements that go into performing a sprint with efficient form. So, I believe that coaches must take the time to seek out and try to learn from the best sprint coaches in the world if they are to properly understand how to program, diagnose, and alleviate issues associated with slow speeds, improper technique, or injury prevalence.

Where do strength and conditioning professionals learn to teach the basic barbell lifts like a squat, bench press, or deadlift? The smart ones draw from powerlifting, because no other discipline pays more attention these lifts. This is also true of incorporating Olympic weightlifting movements. Strength coaches will learn from Olympic weightlifting coaches, many of whom also hold certifications from organizations like USA Weightlifting.

In the weight room, it’s very dangerous to expose a player to high resistance loads with inefficient form, and the same holds true when exposing a player to high speeds on the field. In fact, many coaches are reluctant to have their players sprint beyond 10–15 meters for fear of hamstring injury. However, with proper programming and an understanding of sprint biomechanics, you will find that you can greatly reduce athlete risk and they will be able to attain the rewards of more speed, better elastic ability, and greater robustness.

One major issue I believe is sort of epidemic in team sports, leading players down the fast track to hamstring and hip problems, is “butt-kicking” or “kicking out the back.” Share on X

In this article, I want to talk about one major issue that I believe is a sort of epidemic in team sports—one leading players down the fast track to hamstring and hip problems. I call it the “butt-kicking epidemic,” also known as “kicking out the back.” This butt-kicking issue almost always occurs when athletes enter phases of maximum speed (where the body position becomes more upright). Upright sprinting mechanics have been written about extensively, yet still seem to elude many coaches working with team sport players.

My goals with this article are to:

• Present and discuss the butt-kicking problem.
• Show examples of athletes I’ve trained who have displayed this issue in differing forms and degrees.
• Discuss what I did to help alleviate the issue.

Breaking Down the Butt-Kicking Problem

As a starting point for understanding the butt-kicking issue, we can briefly discuss the gait of upright sprinting, which involves five major landmarks:

1. Touch-Down: When the foot first touches the ground.
2. Stance Phase: When the foot fully supports the player’s body weight, ending when the foot starts to leave the ground again.
3. Toe-Off: When the foot is last in contact with the ground before swinging back to start another sprint cycle.
4. Swing Phase: When the foot is no longer in contact with the ground and moves forward to prepare for another touch-down.
5. Flight Phase: When neither foot is in contact with the ground, including the swing phase.

The butt-kicking problem occurs when a player exhibits one or more of the following:

• An overextended lower back (excessive arching) and/or an emphasized anterior pelvic tilt (duck butt position) heading into touch-down.
• Too much forward leaning throughout the entire sprint cycle.
• The heel striking far in front of the center of mass during the stance phase.
• The heel colliding into the buttocks far behind the center of mass during the swing phase.

Video 1. This is one of my athletes exhibiting what I call the “classic butt-kicker issue,” where all these problems are on display.

You can easily bring one or more of these issues to light by using the ALTIS Kinogram Method, which simply relies on photographs to determine technical issues in sprint performance. The Kinogram Method can help coaches see different points of the sprint cycle to determine where certain problematic areas may or may not exist for each individual player. The kinogram typically observes five key landmarks for this purpose, each existing within the gait of a sprint cycle. For consistency, I will use ALTIS’ definitions of each landmark:

1. Toe-Off: The last frame before the athlete’s support-leg foot is in contact with the ground.
2. Maximum Vertical Projection (MVP): The maximal height of vertical projection, as defined by the position where both feet are parallel to the ground.
3. Strike: Because of the relative difficulty in defining this position, ALTIS has determined that using the opposite leg is more efficient. They define the “strike” position as when the opposite thigh is perpendicular to the ground.
4. Touch-Down: The first frame where the swing-leg foot strikes the ground.
5. Full-Support: The frame where the foot is directly under the pelvis—the toe of the foot should be plumb vertical with the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) of the pelvis.

Given these definitions, let’s first observe a kinogram of one of my athletes. This athlete is a professional rugby forward who I believe shows safe, efficient sprinting technique:

The technical points I’ll discuss in this article are largely based on the work of Dr. Ken Clark, as well as educational principles from ALTIS. In the above kinogram, the rugby forward shows facets of good technique including:

• A nice upright torso, with a neutral pelvis.
• Good frontside lift of the lead leg, shown by how the knee punches toward the hip during toe-off.
• Not overextending with the trail leg at toe-off. As the kinogram sequence continues, we can thus observe that he drives the lower limb of the trail leg forward toward the lead leg in good sequence.

The Importance of Proper Frontside Lift

Good frontside lift allows the player to attack down into the ground from a greater range of motion, effectively applying greater force into the ground on initial contact. Ken Clark has presented research showing that efficient sprinters who attack from above are able to apply greater vertical force in the first half of ground contact, as opposed to sprinters with poor frontside lift. Image 2 below exemplifies this. While both sprinters will have similar force application in the second half of ground contact, the green box highlights how the initial impulse is much higher for the one who attacks from above.

Attacking from above tends to coincide with a powerful hip drive and stiff ankle contact, resulting in efficient elastic recoil with minimal strain on the hamstrings. Keeping the force application elastic at higher speeds helps spread the stress across more connective tissue, incorporating better use of the tendons and fascia with less localized trauma to the posterior chain. When performed properly, athletes look like they are bouncing down the runway rather than forcing their way.

Video 2. This is a clip of some of my athletes performing sprints with good frontside lift. (Yes, some other issues may be on display here, but for the purposes of this article, I am focusing on the butt-kicking problem).

In contrast, poor frontside lift reduces the available range of motion at the hip upon entering ground contact, so force will be lower. Additionally, the body posture will feature a pelvis rotated toward the ground (excessive anterior tilt) rather than a neutral position. This posture effectively puts greater eccentric strain on the hamstrings, causing them to absorb more force directly into the muscle, resulting in greater tissue trauma. Heel striking too far in front of the body as a result of this posture forces the hamstrings to operate first as a braking system and then as a propulsive system. Essentially, the hamstrings are being forced to help prevent the athlete from falling on their face, which means double the responsibility and a greater risk of damage.

Essentially, poor frontside lift forces the hamstrings to help prevent the athlete from falling on their face, which means double the responsibility and a greater risk of damage. Share on X

Image 3 below shows two pictures of the same athlete performing upright sprinting—one picture in which he has poor frontside lift and another where he attains better posture to attack from above. The sequence associated with poor frontside lift represents the “butt-kicking” problem. To prevent confusion, it’s worth explaining that it’s not that the heel of the trail leg should never come near the buttocks. Rather, the problem occurs when the heel approaches the buttocks too far behind the center of mass, thus exemplifying an anteriorly rotated pelvis, reduced frontside lift, and excessive eccentric strain on the hamstrings.

It’s not that the heel of the trail leg should NEVER come near the buttocks. Rather, the problem occurs when the heel approaches the buttocks too far behind the center of mass. Share on X

Over the rest of this article, I’ll highlight three athletes who came to me with different archetypes of the butt-kicking issue, and I’ll discuss the strategies I used to help reinforce better technique. All three had long histories of hamstring tweak/strain problems. Upon enforcing some technical improvements, we were able to train consistently for several months in the off-season periods at very high speeds without any hamstring issues. I am certainly grateful for the mentors whose works I have studied to help educate me on this easily fixable technical issue.

1. The Classic Butt-Kicker

The Classic Butt-Kicker has all the problems associated with the butt-kicking epidemic. Their hips point toward the ground, they have excessive arching at their spine, their trail leg swings all over the place behind the body, and they do all they can to stay on their feet and not fall on their face. When coaches see this happening, they can pretty much guarantee that the player will eventually strain their hamstring.

With this player (an NFL linebacker), I realized I had to come up with a way to get him to understand good frontside lift. What I came up with is an exercise that I call the Medicine Ball Knee Punch Run. In this exercise, the player holds a light medicine ball (5–10 lbs.) in front of his torso, slightly above the navel. I then ask him to try and sprint forward while attempting to punch his knee toward the medicine ball so that the thigh contacts the ball.

As a quick side note, even if the thigh does not fully contact the medicine ball, the intent of the exercise can help the player understand what a good frontside lift feels like. Also, having the weighted ball in the front of the body allowed for him to automatically adopt a neutral pelvic position and activate his core.

Video 3. The first part of the clip shows the athlete performing the Medicine Ball Knee Punch Run exercise. The second part then shows him sprinting without the medicine ball. Notice how the player was able to maintain an upright torso, neutral pelvis, and good frontside lift in the subsequent sprint after being primed with the medicine ball drill.

2. The Forward-Leaner Butt-Kicker

The Forward-Leaner Butt-Kicker is able to maintain a neutral posture in terms of the alignment between the spine and the pelvis but simply tilts too far forward, so the hips still point toward the ground at toe-off. This typically results in a player who tries too hard and leans their body weight toward the finish line rather than keep true to the technique of the maximum speed phase.

To help alleviate this issue, I reviewed three primary principles of acceleration from ALTIS:

• Projection: The body angle and force application of each step during acceleration, resulting in the displacement of the athlete across the ground. During early acceleration phases, force application is more horizontal in nature. With each subsequent step, the force application becomes more vertical until reaching top speed. With the butt-kicking problem, athletes attempt to apply horizontal force into the ground for too long, negatively affecting the rhythm and rise.
• Rhythm: The stride rate, which gradually gets faster as speed increases. Every step should be a little bit faster than the one before it. Stuart McMillan refers to the rhythm of acceleration as a crescendo, where the sound of each step during early acceleration is further apart, and the gap between the sound of foot contacts will get narrower as speed increases.
• Rise: The projection angle of the body will gradually rise with each step until the athlete is fully upright when approaching top speed. I like to use the analogy of a plane taking off. There is a smooth, gradual change in the angle of the plane as it starts to leave the ground. Likewise, when athletes sprint. As the speed output increases, the body angle should get progressively more upright with each step in a way that matches the optimal angle of projection and the rhythm of acceleration.

For this athlete, I assumed that he was struggling with the principle of rise. He just could not grasp the concept of allowing himself to sprint in an upright position. So, I presented him with a simple focal point. I told him to imagine that he is climbing a set of stairs that leads gradually into the horizon. I have never seen anyone run up a set of stairs with an excessive backside-swinging butt kick. Therefore, my hope was that he would contemplate this image and realize that no one will naturally run up a set of stairs without proper frontside lift.

Frontside Lift Coaching Cue #1 – Imagine You’re Climbing a Set of Stairs Gradually Leading Into the Horizon

It took this player a bit of time working with this cue to see improvement. I also used the Med Ball Knee Punch Run drill with him.

3. The Over-Arching Butt-Kicker

The Over-Arching Butt-Kicker has a unique form of the butt-kicking issue because the athlete is usually able to show nice bounce on ground contact and put decent vertical force into the ground. However, as seen in the kinogram below, frontside lift is limited because the athlete is simply overextending the spine, forming an excessive arch position. Therefore, the hips continue to point toward the ground rather than straight ahead, negatively affecting the elastic recoil on ground contact. In addition, the hamstrings still have to take on a substantial damaging load with this issue.

This particular athlete is a very reactive, explosive player, so I had to try and find a cue that would speak to him and get him to understand what I was looking for. The previous cue of climbing a set of stairs into the horizon was not working with him, so I quickly thought of attacking the same problem from a different perspective.

I realized that his excessive arching was due to him trying to force his way down the field, unnecessarily prolonging his ground contact times by thinking he was really propelling himself forward. But at top speed, we want fast ground contact times, and we want the athlete to really float across the field with great vertical force application on each step. So, I gave him a different cue.

Every athlete has a different brain, so coaches need to constantly look at how to educate them from various vantage points to solve problems. Share on X

I told him to imagine he was sprinting over hot coals getting hotter and hotter; that he had to make it through to the finish but didn’t want to spend time on the ground because he’d burn his feet. This cue registered to him that it wasn’t just about fast feet; it was also about putting enough force into the ground to make it the whole way. 

Frontside Lift Coaching Cue #2 – Imagine You’re Running Over Hot Coals Getting Hotter with Every Step

Amazingly, this cue worked immediately with him and the kinogram below shows his very next repetition. The over-arching disappeared, as he was able to focus on the “pop” in each step rather than straining to get to the finish line. While the first cue did nothing for him, the next cue helped instantly. Every athlete has a different brain, so coaches need to constantly look at how to educate them from various vantage points to solve problems. This athlete reminded me of that important lesson.

Thigh Separation as an Important Indicator

One of the lessons I learned from Dr. Ken Clark is that the touch-down phase of a kinogram provides a very clear indication of poor posture when sprinting at high speed. Image 10 below reveals how an excessive thigh separation heading into touch-down is a result of the butt-kicking issue. Vertical force application is poor, so the athletes are unable to effectively cycle their legs around, resulting in heel striking further in front of the center of mass and mayhem for the hamstrings.

In contrast, minimal thigh separation upon entering the touch-down phase indicates decent vertical force production, where the athletes are able to spend more time in flight and cycle the legs around, as shown in Image 11. These athletes are able to remain more elastic at ground contact, taking strain off of the hamstrings and spreading it more effectively across various connective tissues. Once I see improvements in thigh position at touch-down, I feel much better about introducing longer distances and higher speeds in my programming because I know the risk of hamstring injury has drastically subsided.

Save the Hamstrings

My hope is that the butt-kicking problem becomes common knowledge for coaches of any sport involving sprinting. The more that coaches are aware of the high-risk positions and then equipped with potential solutions to alleviate them, the safer all our athletes will be. That said, the butt-kicking problem is just one station along the railroad line of keeping players safe, but it’s my first stop when introducing athletes to any form of sprint training. I believe it’s really the most common issue with poor sprinting. In my experience, it’s everywhere. The exception is typically an athlete that has been exposed to a well-structured track and field program.

The more that coaches are aware of the high-risk positions leading to butt-kicking, and then equipped with potential solutions to alleviate them, the safer athletes will be. Share on X

It’s our duty as coaches to help our athletes learn how to sprint fast in the fastest and safest way possible. If we ignore safety, a high number of injuries will inevitably ensue. I don’t have social media anymore, but if I did, I’d tag this article with the hashtag #savethehamstrings. Let’s work together to end the butt-kicking epidemic and save the hamstrings.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

Clark, K.P. Speed Science: “The Mechanics Underlying Linear Sprinting Performance.” PowerPoint Presentation.