OCR PE Unit 6.2

Atheletics - 100m Sprint/Dash

Skills & Techniques

Track and field athletes who run the 100-meter dash/sprint are often thought to be among the most natural athletes in sports. That might be true in many cases, but runners don't become great sprinters because of their athletic ability. In order to run the 100-meter dash in a competitive way, you must use the proper skills and techniques and work on practising those skills/techniques on a regular basis; and it might help to be watched by your friend or coach who can critisise these.

Step 1

Push hard with your bent leg on the starting blocks. When the race starts, the position in the starting block is to have one leg extended and one leg bent. At the sound of the gun, the first movement is to push hard with the bent leg to begin your 100-meter sprint.

 

Step 2

Pump your arms hard as you run your race. When your right leg is coming up in the running process, your left arm is pumping down. When your left leg is coming up, your right arm is coming down. Keep pumping at full speed throughout the sprint and do not slow down until you get through the finish line.

Many ameteur athlets slow down as they get closer to the finish line and they end up coming second or third because they get overtaken. Don't let this happen, make sure the finish line is behind you when you start to slow down.

Step 3

Run with your body upright. To get as much extension on your stride as possible, do not lean forward as you run. An upright profile as you run will give you more length and explosion that you'll need.

Step 4

Lift your knee to a position where it is about even with your hip when you are sprinting. The toes should be just in front of your knee when your thigh is parallel to the ground. Keep your foot flexed when you are sprinting. This means your foot also should be in the parallel position. If you point your toes, you actually are slowing down with the start of each stride.

Step 5

Keep your eyes focused on the finish line. Do not look down as you run. You want your head to be upright and to know exactly where the finish line is. Keeping your head up will give you the best chance of running with balance and speed from start to finish.

Strategies
A good strategy to use when sprinting is to pace yourself.
Many ameteur sprinters get faster and then get slower as they sprint.
This causes them to lose their breath very easily.
Keep your speed at the same level.


Make sure that your arms don't go too far back as you're sprinting, as this can cause a swinging motion, not pumping.
This also wastes energy as you'll be trying harder to push against air-resistance.


Try to be flexible because the longer your strides,
the faster you will go. This includes things like stretching regularly before and after the race,
Doing dynamic stretches and warm-ups to increase flexibility.


Make sure that you have a forward movement.
Most people have a side-to-side motion in their running, try to avoid this... you need to stay in your lane!


Try to go exactly when you hear the starting pistol.
One second too late or one second too early could decide the whole race already.


Relax your muscles during the race and also during warm-ups, as this helps to keep them in that pumping motion that you need.
By tensing them, you are retartdening them (technically).



Tactics
There are three main components of the 100m sprint that are useful tactics-wise:

Reaction time: The athlete is required to make a fast physical response to the sound of the starting pistol which allows a smooth clearance off the starting blocks. Reaction time is measured by the time taken between the introduction of the stimulus and the first muscular reaction or movement performed by the athlete.


Acceleration: The athlete must accelerate from the starting blocks to maximum speed in as short a time as possible. A low body position should be maintained in the first 20m. There should be a sense of driving the track behind the body as the athlete gradually rises to an upright position. The athlete must then try to increase speed over as great a distance as she/he is able to.


Overcoming deceleration: The athlete must stay relaxed but try to resist slowing down in the final stages of the sprint performance.