Relaxing at speed means sprinting hard without extra tension in the muscles that aren't doing the work: steady shoulders, loose hands, a loose face. Coaching manuals list it as a basic sprint checkpoint, but be clear on what the research shows: on average your all-out effort is still your fastest, and "relax" is a cue that helps some sprinters stop forcing, not a trick that adds speed. Tension is mostly felt, not seen, so this one is coaching only; the camera doesn't grade it.
What relaxed means
Push hard into the ground, but carry no extra tension anywhere else. Relaxed is not soft or slow: your legs still work at full effort. The goal is a tall, relaxed run with no undue tension in the body.
hard work in the legs, quiet everywhere else.
Loosen the tension points
Keep your shoulders steady and relaxed, sitting down rather than lifting toward your ears. Let the arms swing from the shoulder joint without the shoulders twisting.
a long neck; shoulders that don't bounce or turn.
Hold your hands loosely, with no clenching pressure. A loosely closed hand is fine; a tight fist is the thing to avoid.
fingers lightly touching, wrists loose.
Let your face and jaw go loose; a light smile is fine. Be honest about what this does: in a lab study of distance runners at a steady pace, smiling made running slightly more economical than frowning and frowning felt harder. Sprint speed wasn't tested, so treat it as a way to stop grimacing, not a speed boost.
jaw hanging slightly open, no frown.
Max effort, not max strain
Sprint at full effort, but don't force your stride rate. On average, sprinters run fastest at 100% effort; 90% effort comes out at about 98% of top speed. Some sprinters do run faster just under max, because forcing turnover cuts their step length. The only way to know which you are is to time both.
fast and smooth, not choppy and frantic.
Hold the same loose shape as you tire and through the finish line. When form starts to break down or speed drops, end the rep instead of grinding through it.
the last 10 m look like the first 10 m at top speed.
Feel it
Fast but smooth and rhythmic. The legs work hard; the shoulders, hands and face stay quiet. If your shoulders creep up, your fists clench, or your face grimaces, let them go without slowing the legs. If trying harder makes your steps short and choppy, you're straining, not sprinting faster.
Fix-its
- Your shoulders ride up toward your ears or twist Drop them and keep them square; swing the arms from the shoulder joint, not the whole shoulder. Practise at stride speed first, then build up.
- You clench your fists Hold the hands loosely with no squeezing; check them at the start of each rep.
- You grimace or frown at full speed Loosen the jaw or use a light smile. It won't make you faster on its own, but it removes a sign you are straining.
- You get choppy when you try harder Time a 100% run and a 90% run over the same distance with full rest. If the 90% run is close or faster, you're forcing turnover at max; aim for full effort with a smooth, long-enough stride.
- Your form falls apart late in the rep Shorten the rep or rest longer. Stop the set when speed drops or technique breaks down.
Drill
- Relaxed tempo runs (about 60-70% of top speed, 100-300 m): check shoulders, hands and jaw each rep while the pace is low enough to think.
- Ins and outs: accelerate for a short stretch, relax and hold the speed without pushing harder, then accelerate again. Repeat a few times within one run.
- Flying sprints: build up gradually, then sprint 10-30 m at top speed, staying loose. Rest fully (several minutes) between reps and stop the set when speed drops.
- Effort check: on a fresh day, time the same short sprint at 100% and at 90% effort, with full rest between. Compare the times, not how hard it felt.
Sources
- Surf Life Saving SA — Beach Sprinting Coaching Manual, 5th Edition
- Kakehata, Kobayashi, Matsuo, Kanosue & Iso — Relationship between subjective effort and kinematics/kinetics in the 50 m sprint, Journal of Human Sport and Exercise (2020)
- Tokutake & Ueta — Intra- and inter-individual variability of subjective effort in submaximal sprint running in collegiate male sprinters, Asian Journal of Sports Medicine (2024)
- Brick, McElhinney & Metcalfe — The effects of facial expression and relaxation cues on movement economy, physiological, and perceptual responses during running, Psychology of Sport and Exercise (2018)
- Haugen, Seiler, Sandbakk & Tønnessen — The Training and Development of Elite Sprint Performance, Sports Medicine – Open (2019)
Last checked 2026-10-26.