Running on the balls of your feet (Read 4555 times)

I'mma fairly decent ball striker, particularly with my mid-irons. My problem comes in the short game. Me no likey chippy-chippy. Also, I can't run well when I'm ball striking. Nearly impossible to drive the cart. And hold my beer.

Easy POD nominee.

I was doing mile repeats this morning and it seemed like a good opportunity to check if I really did have a discernible difference between running slow and running fast. For a lot of it, it was hard to tell, partly because I was busy gasping for air late in each repeat. However, I did have more exaggerated motion (circular I think, as Nobby described it) during the repeats, and as long as I kept good form my foot was landing slightly more underneath me than during the recovery jogs. I think I'll have to see what I'm doing on a easy run, since the recovery jogs are probably too extremely removed from the intervals to really tell.

. But I think that working to develop a mindset of relaxing, rolling and maintaining faster paces rather than fighting, reaching, striding, and pushing at faster paces can be beneficial for developing efficient ways of running.

I really like this imagery. Occasionaly when I'm running faster all of my muscles seem "synchronized" for lack of a better word, it feels free and natural and efficient- Too bad this never seems to last long enough before everything gets out of snyc again!

Is there agreement that forefoot striking is less jarring than heel striking, I think forefoot striking is much smoother. I saw the one site where some guy had the runners switch over a twoo week period. Ha Ha!! I agree with what everyone here has said in that it would be a long change over process. I'm going to try and switch over by just starting some of my training runs running on the forefoot and over many months gradually increasing the time spent on the forefoot until eventually I phase the heel striking out. I may be wrong but I think heel striking is learned and not natural for running. I think back when I started running, all of a year ago. I think I started off as a forefoot striker but when I kept trying to run further, I'd get tired and resorted to heel striking. If I would have been more patient and waited until my fitness improved to where I could run the distance using the forefoot it would have been the natural way to run. Heel striking is more natural to walking I think. As a side note, I may be able to reuse some shoes, the soles on the forefoot are in great shape

Is there agreement that forefoot striking is less jarring than heel striking, I think forefoot striking is much smoother. I saw the one site where some guy had the runners switch over a twoo week period. Ha Ha!! I agree with what everyone here has said in that it would be a long change over process. I'm going to try and switch over by just starting some of my training runs running on the forefoot and over many months gradually increasing the time spent on the forefoot until eventually I phase the heel striking out. I may be wrong but I think heel striking is learned and not natural for running. I think back when I started running, all of a year ago. I think I started off as a forefoot striker but when I kept trying to run further, I'd get tired and resorted to heel striking. If I would have been more patient and waited until my fitness improved to where I could run the distance using the forefoot it would have been the natural way to run. Heel striking is more natural to walking I think. As a side note, I may be able to reuse some shoes, the soles on the forefoot are in great shape

Backstretch: One thing you'd have to be careful of, though, is that any action within running is a result of some other action and also cause of other action. If you just take out "landing" and try to settle with a certain "form", you will most likely put other action, or other part of the body (calf), a great deal of stress. Apart from the reality that it would take some time to master any form change, it also could possibly creat a new form of stress and increase the possibility of new issue(s). I started running "tip-toe" because I started running when I saw Frank Shorter winning Fukuoka marathon and that was the way Shorter was running (;o)). I was 12 and it was quite easy for me to settle with that sort of change. Sure, I've had some share of Achilles problem but I actually don't really think it's due to my "tip-toe" running. I'd been doing that for over 20 years; I can still remember when I first had the pain in my Achilles... I can remember what shoes I was wearing at that time and sereval years prior to that as well... Anyways, my suggestion is; try to acquire a running technique (and I'm not too familiar with Pose or some other barefoot runnning technique--it could be the same, could be different...) to bring your knees and then just drop the lower leg/foot from the highest point of your knee lift. In other words, if you try to land on the ball of your foot while swinging the lower leg out in the front, the friction is too great and would most likely cause some issue. Landing on the ball of the foot, or mid-foot landing, can be acquired relatively easily if you get this image of "bring your knee up; then drop your leg..." This way, even while you're running at slower pace, you can still land "mid-foot". Now, in regards to elite runners who land on their heel... I have another picture, I took this one at Grandma's half marathon in 2004 (or was it the year before Athens...), of Deena at right before landing. She's a typical heel-striker. I wouldn't suggest her to change her running style any more than her coach would. Now, however, her sprinting ability is another matter... I actually had a talk with Coach Vigil in regards to Deena's sprinting ability before Athens. She runs like a marathon runner; I don't think she can sprint. It then becomes a matter of priority; is it more benefitial for her to try to work on her sprinting form, or should she remain a marathon runner... What gor her the bronze medal in Athens was not her sprinting ability; but her marathoner's strength...and her dogged determination. So my Achilles has been hurting for quite some time. But I would still not change my form. For one, I can feel my "coil effect" of my Achilles. This is what your tendons have; they act like a spring. If I land on my heel, all I do is that I'd have to push the ground, which is important also, but there's no spring in my strides. Some people run very well landing on their heel (Deena). I guess "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

I hear ya Nobby and "It ain't broke" . However I hear of so many runners that stop running because of leg injury. Why are they getting injured, we must be doing something wrong? With the great shoes available, still many leg injuries to runners. I'm thinking preventative maintenance. I'm going with all the shock absorption I can get from my legs and it appears that is running on your forefoot. I'll remember to not stride too long. Actually as I said earlier I found that my stride shortened when I tried the forefoot running. Not as short as when running uphill but it did shorten. I'll remember to try and drop the foot under the highest knee point. Hopefully that will happen just automatically. Anyway you know a bit about me I'm stubborn, I know it all . I'm going to try it!!

All due respect, Backstretch, I think (and this is just my opinion...) you're going the opposite direction. You actually said it; "...I hear of so many runners that stop running because of leg injury...with the great shoes available, still many leg injuries to runners..." Now, it's hard to just pin-point only ONE factor; today, there are far too many people who probably shouldn't be running running our there. But still, back when we DIDN'T have all those great shoes available, even those who started running to lose weight (Arthur talked about a guy who weighed 250 pounds and in his 70s who started "jogging"...). First off, I don't think "cushion" is an answer. I think the biggest problem with "cushion" is the thickness and softness. It gets so soft that it eventually requires some "stability", hense some sort of plastic material or, in the extreme case, metal pieces. It makes shoes heavy, bulky and, worst of all, inflexible. Further more, softer and more cushiony the shoe, the easier it breaks down. So what would this cause? Extreme pronation (have you seen some person wearing shoes that's broken down so badly that their heel is literally hanging over the shoe?). So why would this happen? Because the higher off you're from the ground (=thickness), the less stable you'll get. Now, I hope you haven't had an experience to walk around in high heel shoes (;o)) but it's almost like that. Once again, most shoe manufacturers would add some sort of hard plastic or metal piece to counter this instability to make your shoes "stability shoes". Now the shoe would hardly bend. That would cause what Lydiard used to call "American shoe disease"; Plantar Fasciitis. Basically your legs need to take landing shock away; not shoe. It'll take some time to develop such form, such landing technique. Just for your info; I wear ASICS Hyper Speed II quite a bit. I love these guys. The day after I first got them, I ran a 5k race. Two days later, I went for a 2-hour run in them. Brand new shoes; and I had NO problem with them. Now, these guys have very low profile in a sense that the difference between the heel thickness and forefoot thickness is not as great. Yet, they do have plenty of cushion (for me) that it's rather nice for someone like me, a forefoot striker. I'd have to admit; sometimes wearing Sortie can get a bit tough...! ;o) I also like Hyper Speed's low and round Achilles tab. Quite often, with "normal" Achilles tab dig into my Achilles so much that I actually need to just chop it off and saw it back up...

I'll make no claims as to what gait is better, worse, or faster. But as far as what is possible? I weigh 200lbs and am a midfoot to forefoot striker. I've finished a handful of 100Ks, one hundred, and a bunch of 50 milers. Lest anyone accuse me of being misleading, by the end of 100K I'm usually just trying to find a place on each foot to land that is less bruised/blistered than the rest of my feet. That may not exactly resemble normal midfoot striking.

If running on the balls of your feet made you faster I would be a better run than I am, since this is one of my bad habbits.