|
|
BASIC
TECHNIQUE - STRIDE
1. The position and length of a racewalker's stride is very
important. Most of the stride should be behind an imaginary, vertical line
drawn through the center of the walker's torso, and the length should be
no more than the skill of the walker allows. Both position and length
are defined by the locations of the heel plant and the toe off.
2. The heel should be planted at, or in front of, the torso's
centerline but at a distance no more than about 1/8 of the walker's height.
For example, a 6-foot (72-inch) walker should plant the heels no more than
about 9 inches in front of that centerline; for a 5 footer, it's about 7
1/2 inches. Planting the heel too far in front of the body makes it
much more difficult to have a straight knee, requires more energy to vault
over the angled leg, and tends to cause a braking action upon heel plant
(which slows the walker down).
3. Toe off (the last point of toe contact) should be further
behind the torso's centerline than the heel plant is in front of it --
considerably more. Most new racewalkers, however, will find it difficult
to extend toe off very far behind the body until they have racewalked a while.
The ability to effectively and legally do it requires learning how
to rotate the hips, strengthen the calf and foot muscles, and effectively
stretch the quads and muscles in the groin area.
4. New racewalkers should initially focus on keeping heel plant
close to the centerline of the torso, use the longest stride they can while
confortably remaining legal, and use an increased step rate to achieve higher
speeds. They can then use part of their training sessions to work on delaying
toe off -- realizing that, like everything else, such a skill has to be learned
gradually. As they develop their hip rotation skills, strengthen the
required muscles, and increase flexibility, they will find they can comfortably
extend toe off further behind the torso's centerline for prolonged periods
of time.
| Some top-flight racewalkers
use very short strides while others use very long strides. Most, however,
use strides of a moderate length. As noted elsewhere, when you get good,
you too can do whatever you want. |
|
|
Most new racewalkers tend to plant their heels too far in front of their
bodies, and most use too long a stride.
- - - - - - - -
Icabod (above) is using a stride more typical of newer racewalkers. The
world-class racewalker below, however, uses a VERY long stride.
 |
|
marks the page your are currently viewing.