Part X · Running drills
Power Skips
Skip with a hard push off one foot, driving the other knee and the opposite arm up for as much height as you can, then land back on the ball of the foot you pushed off and repeat on the other side. It is the A-skip made as big as you can: the same rhythm, a much bigger push.
The one cue
Push hard, rise tall
The lesson
- 01
Find the skip
On grass or a flat path, do a few easy skips to find the rhythm: step, hop, step, hop. Each hop takes off and lands on the same foot while the other knee comes up. The power skip is that hop, made as big as you can.
- 02
Push the ground away
Push off the ball of your foot and straighten the ankle, knee and hip all the way, so you rise tall. Aim for height, not distance: you should travel forward a little, but mostly go up.
- 03
Knee and arm together
As you push, drive the other knee up to hip height and swing the opposite arm up hard, elbow bent, hand to about face height. Knee and arm lift together, the same cross pattern as running.
- 04
Land quiet, go again
Land on the ball of the same foot, under your hip, knee a little bent, and step straight into the next skip on the other side. Quiet landings mean you are in control. Loud, flat landings mean slow down.
- 05
Tall and loose
Chest up, eyes forward, shoulders and face relaxed even as you push hard. Leaning back to get the knee higher, or tensing the neck, costs height.
- 06
The test
Every skip as high as the first, the same on both legs. When the height drops or the landings get heavy, the bout is over, even if the clock is not.
Watch for
- Skipping for distance. You reach forward, land with the foot out in front and lose height. Go up, not out.
- Landing flat or heavy. The heel slams, the spring is gone and each landing jars instead of bouncing.
- Arms hanging. Without the arm swing you lose some of the lift and the rhythm falls apart.
- Rushing through the skips. Quick little skips become an A-skip again. Each one is a full push.
What are power skips good for? They train a hard, fast push off the ground and a stiff, springy ankle, with the knee and opposite arm working together as they do in running. They are short and explosive, so they wake the legs up rather than tire them.
Are power skips for height or distance? Both versions exist. Here they are for height: push straight up and let the forward travel be small. Skipping for distance is close to bounding, a separate drill.
What is the difference between power skips and A-skips? The A-skip is a small, quick hop with the foot brought straight down under you. The power skip uses the same rhythm with a full push, so you spend longer in the air and each landing carries more force. That is why soft, even ground matters more here.
How many, and when? 2 × 10 seconds, with 35 seconds of walking between, on grass or a flat path. They come fourth in the drills at the start of a run, after marching, high knees and B-skips, so the drills themselves are your warm-up. If they are new to you, skip at about three-quarters height for the first few weeks, then go higher once every landing is quiet, and leave them out on a day a calf or Achilles is sore.
Next drill
Straight-Leg Bounds→Lower and quicker: legs almost straight, the leg pulling down and back from the hip, and the ankle springing you from one foot to the other.
From the book
14Strong feet. Strong everything.→