This week, I’m going to continue from where I left off in my last article, and write about how I apply the “knees behind butt” concept in practice—specifically, how does this pattern impact my coaching?
First, let’s look at how I structure each session.
I organize it into six components: theme, objective, pattern, strategies, details, and any additional notes or tertiary work.
THEME:
The primary skill or ability we’re focusing on for the day—for example, “initial acceleration,” which covers the first 4-6 steps of the run.
OBJECTIVE:
The practical goal or “destination” for the session. For initial acceleration, the objective is to project the center of mass as far and as fast as possible in a horizontal direction.
PATTERN:
The key movement pattern that drives the objective. Here, it’s the hip extension pattern, or the “knee behind butt” position.
STRATEGIES:
The main approaches the athlete will use to execute this pattern effectively. Two primary strategies are 1] “drive the thighs forward” [or, sometimes, “push the feet back”] and 2] “stay on top” [maintain a forward torso lean]. These two technical strategies encompass a majority of what we are interested in—though, we occasionally also talk about head position, ankle and foot stiffness, arm swing, etc.
DETAILS:
The specific task performed during the session. An example might be a complex set: 4-step resisted acceleration x 4, followed by 4-step unresisted acceleration x 4. Repeat for 2-3 sets. [this is the actual session we ran last Monday].
TERTIARY:
Any secondary or tertiary objectives and-or tasks. For example, in the above session, we added spinal engine pattern work within the warm-up and post-primary session.
As I’ve written previously, the hip extension pattern is the key pattern for locomotion. You cannot walk, jog, run, stride, or sprint well if you do not have an effective hip extension pattern.
As I mentioned previously, we judge the effectiveness of a pattern by asking if it’s executed with the force, velocity, range, control, and repeatability required by the task.
So, if you have athletes who struggle with an effective hip extension pattern, what exactly is missing? We typically default to focusing on range—but often, range isn’t the issue at all. In my experience, athletes frequently lack the specific force and velocity capacities required in this particular pattern.
This may be because we spend so much time building strength in patterns that don’t actually lead to a “knee behind butt” position. Yes, squats and deadlifts extend the hip, but not in a way that directly supports the demands of the hip extension pattern we’re looking for.
So I’ll leave you with this: look for ways to extend the hip—fast, far, and often.
Incorporate this into different tasks, exercises, and drills across all your work—whether on the track, field, weight room, or therapy table.
I guarantee: improve the “knee behind butt” pattern, and you’ll have a faster athlete.
Until next time,
Stu
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