The drive phase is the acceleration out of your start: low, pushing steps that get a little taller and longer every step until you are running upright. In a study of trained male sprinters the trunk kept rising until about the 16th step, so this is a long, smooth climb, not a few hard steps and then standing up. What matters most is pointing your push backward into the track, not just pushing hard.
Push the ground back
Land your first steps under or just behind your hips, not out in front. A foot that lands further forward cuts your forward push. Don't over-correct by reaching far back either: in a simulation of an international sprinter, landing slightly further back helped by under 1%, and further than that hurt again.
each foot lands under you and you push straight away from it.
Push the track back behind you, not up. Where your force points matters more than how much force you make: in a treadmill and 100 m study, the ability to keep force aimed horizontally as speed rose was linked to 100 m speed, while total and vertical force were not.
pushing the ground away behind you, driving you forward rather than upward.
Keep the first few steps low and quick, and keep the ankle firm. Use the cue "trim the grass with your toes" to keep flight time short in the very first steps. Stay on the ball of the foot and don't let the heel sink far on contact; less ankle give in early stance produced more forward power in simulation.
toes skimming the track, quick firm contacts.
Rise gradually
Let your shins and trunk get more upright with every step. In five national-level sprinters, the shin angle at touchdown rose by about 9° per step and the trunk by about 4° per step over the first three steps. Coaching guidance puts the shin reaching roughly vertical at touchdown around steps 5 to 7.
each step a little taller than the last.
Keep rising smoothly through the middle of the run, with no single moment where you stand up. In 12 male sprinters over 60 m, the body's center of mass rose sharply over the first 4 steps, then gradually to about step 14, and the trunk kept getting more upright until about step 16.
a long, patient climb to tall running.
Don't force a flatter lean than your push supports. In a study of the first four steps, elite sprinters held a more upright trunk than sub-elite sprinters. The lean comes from pushing back, not from folding at the waist or dropping your chest.
a long line from ankle to head, with the lean coming from the push.
Let strides lengthen
Find your rhythm early, then let each step get longer. In the 60 m study, step rate climbed over the first 4 steps and then stayed about the same, while step length kept growing to about step 24. Don't force long steps early; the extra length comes from the push.
quick rhythm from the start, steps stretching out on their own.
Expect the landing point to move as you speed up. In the same study the foot landed behind the center of mass for about the first 4 steps and slightly in front after that. That shift is normal; reaching out in front to grab ground is not.
foot still landing close under you, never stretching for the track.
Feel it
Low, quick, pushing first steps with your toes skimming the track, then each step a little taller and a little longer. There is no moment where you snap upright. You feel the track going away behind you, not yourself bouncing up off it. Warm up fully first, and stop the set when your times drop or your form breaks down.
Fix-its
- You stand up in the first 2 to 3 steps Your push is pointing up instead of back. Cue "push the track back" and "trim the grass", and film from the side: your trunk should rise a few degrees per step, not jump upright.
- You reach out in front on the first steps Land under or just behind your hips. A foot out in front cuts forward power from the very first step.
- You bend at the waist to look low A deeper fold isn't the goal; elite sprinters ran with a more upright trunk than sub-elite ones in the first steps. Keep a long line from ankle to head and let the push set the angle.
- Your first steps bound high into the air Big flights early waste time. Keep the first steps low and quick, toes skimming the track, and let flight grow as you speed up.
- Your steps stay short and choppy Step rate settles after the first few steps; after that, speed comes from longer steps. Keep pushing back hard through every contact so length can build.
Drill
- Short accelerations: 10 to 50 m at full effort from a crouched or 3-point start, 2 to 7 minutes rest, 100 to 300 m in total per session. Newer athletes might run 20 m with 2 minutes rest. End the session when speed or technique drops.
- "Trim the grass" starts: 10 to 20 m runs focused only on low, quick first steps with short flight.
- Resisted sprints (sled or hill): 10 to 30 m, 3 to 6 minutes rest, 50 to 200 m in total, with a load that keeps you pushing back in good shape. Evidence that resisted work carries over to normal sprinting is mixed, so keep plenty of normal sprints too.
- Film from the side with slow motion (120 fps or more): check that your shin and trunk get a little more upright each step and that early steps land under you, not in front.
- Leave about 48 hours between hard acceleration sessions.
Sources
- Nagahara, Matsubayashi, Matsuo & Zushi — Kinematics of transition during human accelerated sprinting, Biology Open (2014)
- von Lieres und Wilkau et al. — Phase analysis in maximal sprinting, Sports Biomechanics (2018 online; 2020 print)
- Donaldson, Bayne & Bezodis — A comparison of trunk and shank angles between elite and sub-elite sprinters during sprint acceleration, ISBS Proceedings (2020)
- Morin, Edouard & Samozino — Technical ability of force application as a determinant factor of sprint performance, Med Sci Sports Exerc (2011)
- Bezodis, Trewartha & Salo — Understanding the effect of touchdown distance and ankle joint kinematics on sprint acceleration performance through computer simulation, Sports Biomechanics (2015)
- Haugen, Seiler, Sandbakk & Tønnessen — The Training and Development of Elite Sprint Performance, Sports Medicine – Open (2019)
Last checked 2026-10-26.