Improve Sprinting Technique

By Glenn Vergie

If you want to get quicker – you need to have smooth and efficient running mechanics?

Simply put – if your child or athlete – looks awkward and stiff while sprinting – shuffling – jumping...they will struggle to develop their sport specific skills.

Movement awareness is critical for all athletes to develop specific tasks or motor skills. A major goal of movement training is to incorporate movements that are part of sport skill movements – so that they become automatic to the athlete.

All successful athletes possess ‘Body Awareness’ – which consists of the relationships between body parts. Almost 30% - of all the athletes that we have coached since 2000 – lack the ability to run with opposite arm and leg movements. This is usually what is limiting them from further developing as athletes. These simple movements are not something that they should be taught at age 15 or 16 – it is something that they should have already mastered.

Coordination exercises and drills - need to be an integral part an athlete’s training regime...as early as 8 years old. Learning to attain certain motor skills – then learning to perfect those motor skills – is the first process for mastering movement skills. Athletes that develop less than optimal motor programs – will need substantial time and effort to suppress the existing motor programs...and rebuild new and effective ones.

Another component of movement awareness is – ‘Directional Awareness’. The ability to move in all directions is a prerequisite for effective skill development...agility or change of direction training.

For athletes that lack the ability to perform simple coordination exercises / drills – they will suffer immensely when agility training is introduced.

Agility and coordination are the building blocks that make up sport and the tools that athletes use to express their game.

Agility permits the athlete to react to a stimulus – start quickly – move in the correct direction – and be ready to change direction or stop quickly to make a play in a fast, smooth, efficient...and repeated manner.

The most important foundational components of agility and coordination are...

• Balance – or dynamic balance as it pertains to sport – is being able to maintain body mass over the bass of support while the body is in motion
• Posture – is critical to athletic performance. It is mainly the result of good ‘Core Stability’
• Foot Interaction with the Ground – improving foot-ground interaction – can offer increased performance rewards than by simply working on technical skills. How an athlete’s foot interacts with the ground is as important as... how a pitcher’s hand interacts with a baseball or how a golfer’s grip interacts with the golf club. (Verstegen and Marcello, 2001)

In summary – basic coordination drills are important for athletic development. All complex skills are a succession of combinations of fundamental movements. Mastery of fundamental movements is critical for athletic success...and injury prevention.

Each workout / training session - should include basic components of movement preparation – including...

• Biomechanical work
• Neural innervation
• Coordinated movement drills

Coordination and agility drills should be practiced properly every day. Remember that quality – proper execution and intensity – is far more important than quantity – or just doing it.

If you would like more information on how we can improve your athlete’s ability to move quicker and more explosively...contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

We offer the following services to help your players improve running technique...

• 1 on 1 personal fitness training

• Groups of - 2-4 athletes

• Small Groups – 5-9 athletes

• Team Training - 10-20 athletes

Since 1999, Glenn Vergie and his fitness coaches have been providing Calgary’s soccer players with leading edge soccer specific fitness training.

“We have been at the forefront with drills that teach your players how to sprint faster and more importantly, how to move quicker. Our training has set the standard for all others to follow”.