PE 603 Skill Development Plan

Techniques & Mechanics

A – 20 meters
1. Walking march
2. A-skips
3. High knees
The purpose of “Section A” is to progress the athlete’s way into running form. Running form

is basically a type of high knees. Walking marches is progression one than a-skips is progression

two and high knees is the final progression. While working with these drills, an athlete wants to

have his/her chin at 90º, a vertical trunk, pushing the hips forward, driving the knee to 90º,

dorsiflexion of the foot, and landing/pushing off the ball of the foot. We are looking for reps in

this drill, not getting it done as fast as possible. The more reps, the better.

B – 20 meters
1. Bunny hops
The purpose of “Section B” is to work on heel recovery. Heel recovery during running

reduces the amount of time runners spend on the ground which allows runners to cycle faster.

We are looking for reps in this drill, not getting it done as fast as possible. Again, the more reps

the better.

C – 5m, 5m, 5m, 5m, 5m,

1. Bunny hops
2. Ankle bobbles
3. Shin bobbles
4. High knees
5. Fast high knees
The purpose of “Section C” is to progress the athlete’s way through the leg cycle. The first

5meteres the athlete will do bunny hops. Next, the athlete will do ankle bobbles from 5m-10m.

After ankle bobbles, the athlete will do shin bobbles from 10m-15m than go into high knees from

15m-20m. Finally, the athlete will do high knees as fast as possible from 20m-25m keeping their
form. This drill is start to finish. The athlete starts with 1 than goes straight into 2, 3, 4, and 5

without stopping. While working with these drills, an athlete wants to have his/her chin at 90º, a

vertical trunk, pushing the hips forward, driving the knee to 90º, dorsiflexion of the foot, and

landing/pushing off the ball of the foot. We are looking for reps in this drill, not getting it done

as fast as possible. Try to aim for at least 20 reps every 5meters. Again, the more reps the better.

D – 30 secs
1. High knees in place
E – 40 meters
1. High knee transition
The purpose of “Section E” is getting the athlete to start thinking about taking the running
form and applying it into actually sprinting.
*Water breaks are on athletes own time
References
Jones, M. The biomechanics of sprinting. [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from
https://www.englandathletics.org/shared/get-file.ashx?id=4521&itemtype=document