Bizzarri reaches new heights with NCAA title

[Andrew A.]

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090616/SPT01/906170334/Bizzarri+reaches+new+heights

Interesting notes on form improvement.

[Ed]

The form improvement seems a bit odd to me but then I'm not that gifted or that well trained to be in a place like her.  I just do not see landing straight legged - maybe I do that but do not know it. 

I am not going to try it - I am afraid I'll lock the knee (accidentally) and hit the ground that way and blow something out.

[Ryan]

That landing straight legged thing also caught my eye. I am actually thinking of trying to find some video or more pictures of her running. I'm curious about her form. I know the "run tall" philosophy and not bending your knees too significantly but I can't imagine at least a little bend to help absorb some of the impact of the foot plant.

Fascinating article, though. She's definitely a runner to watch as she continues to progress.

[r-at-work]

I would also love to see video... I wonder if she just 'feels' as if she is landing straight-legged... what caught my ey was this bit... 

  "It helped me get off the ground quicker," Bizzarri said. "Sometimes when I'd run, my foot would stay on the ground a long time and there would be more opportunity for my knee to torque in different ways"

shortening the stride would help lots of kids I've seen in track meets that lope along with huge strides and slow turn-over, but they seem to be landing with a straight leg as they are over reaching (over striding) instead of pushing themselves along...

[Andrew A.]

Straight-legged is how I was taught to land.  Do not confuse that with stiff-legged, however, that is not to say that the leg will not bend after planting.  If you are suspended in the air, your legs can hang straight down without being locked stiff.  Landing with a bent leg (which reminds me of Groucho Marx's walk to a degree) would seem to limit the amount of loading the muscles could take on as a result of vertical displacement.  Springing along may not be the answer but neither is running with zero vertical displacement from the waist up.  If the foot plants directly under one's center of mass and one does not make a point of locking one's knee then there should be no realistic danger.  However, rather than trying to enable this form by thinking about it while running and believing to be replicating it, it is far better to set the neuromuscular patterns via form drills, ideally with a knowledgeable assistant to observe and correct.

[Andrew A.]

Here is a good still of her:

Which reminds me quite a bit of this one:

There is also a good still of her at about the :10 mark in this video:

[Ryan]

As for those still pictures, I saw that one of her and that's not landing straight legged, that's taking off straight legged, which I would agree with. Full extension on take-off just makes sense.

As for the video, I have it paused at about the 8 second mark right now and, while her leg is much more straight than some runners, I wouldn't call that a straight legged landing. Actually, I'd call that pretty good. Just a slight bend in the knee, which will allow for some shock absorption as her weight becomes supported by that leg.

I don't see the straight legged landing anywhere there, though. Nor have I been able to find a picture or video of her landing straight legged.

[Andrew A.]

You might be thinking of the support phase (bent leg) as opposed to the plant phase?

[Ryan]

I don't know, maybe I'm misreading the image in the video but it looks to me like that is taken just before plant and her knee is slightly bent. Or maybe I'm just reading into all of this too much.

Either way, back to the original topic of discussion, between the time this topic was first posted and now she continues to reach new levels by finishing in the top 3 at the USA Championships and (I don't know off the top of my head) depending on qualifying times, earning a spot onto the World Championships roster.

[Andrew A.]

I don't know, maybe I'm misreading the image in the video but it looks to me like that is taken just before plant and her knee is slightly bent.

Which does not mean much, in and of itself, as it relates to the plant phase.  It is simply exemplary of good form at that point in the gait cycle.

[Ryan]

Which does not mean much, in and of itself, as it relates to the plant phase.  It is simply exemplary of good form at that point in the gait cycle.

Precisely, which still leaves open the question of her form at the plant phase. Maybe I was mistaken but I thought you were pointing to that image as evidence of her form at plant, which it doesn't. That's where the confusion seems to have set in.

[Andrew A.]

Nope -- notice also that I pointed to her push-off form right above that in the very same post.  Just part of the overall picture.

[Andrew A.]

Lagat exemplifies this here: http://www.advantageathletics.com/distance/lagat.htm

[Ed]

Doesn't planting and therefore starting your push off with a leg that is nearly straight take some muscle power out of the equation?

It seems (I am not sure) that a bent knee allows for more pull and push by the upper leg muscles than is the case with a straight knee.

I would think that a straight leg would rely more on the calf muscle - a smaller muscle than quads, glutes and thigh.

[Andrew A.]

Doesn't planting and therefore starting your push off with a leg that is nearly straight take some muscle power out of the equation?

That is not automatic, not at all -- it bends and loads during the support phase.  Look at the sequence of Lagat linked above.