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BASIC
TECHNIQUE - HIPS
1. Hip rotation and hip drop are two technical elements that
require a bit more time for new racewalkers to learn properly. They
are, however, important for achieving significant speed.
2. Hip drop can be illustrated by standing tall on two legs,
then bending one knee and putting most of the weight on the other foot.
The hip tends to drop on the side of the bend knee -- and remain high
on the side with the straight leg. Such a drop is used to compensate
for the normal rise in the body as one pivots over the support leg with a
straight knee. For advanced racewalkers, it is also a mechanism by
which the walker can further extend the trailing (driving) leg and delay
toe off. Hip drop can best be learned by working with an instructor
or experienced racewalker.
3. Hip rotation refers to a rotation about the spine. Hip
rotation is simply the action used when doing the "twist" (familiar to those
of you with some age). Such rotation is extremely important in bring
the muscles of the torso into play in helping to generate power for forward
propulsion, and is very helpful in allowing the walker to extend the supporting
leg behind the body (i.e., delaying toe off).
4. Hip drop and/or hip rotation does not include swaying the
hips from side to side. Such action wastes energy as it does not provide
any help in moving forward. It should be noted that side-to-side hip
motion often accompanies movement of the arms too far across the centerline
of the body, and can often be corrected by restricting arm motion to the
arc from waistband to sternum (without crossing the centerline of the
body).
| Some top-flight racewalkers
use heavy hip rotation while others rotate them only a moderate amount. Very
few, if any, fail to rotate their hips. |
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If you look closely, you will see that Icabod's hips have been drawn to
illustrate both hip drop and hip rotation.
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