Relay runners must learn to work together.
Increase your relay times by working on the individual form of each relay runner, perfecting the team's handoffs and timing the relay runners' acceleration. The team should run through each drill until they can perform it without thinking. You'll know that your team is improving when you notice the rhythm of the drill resembles the beat of a song.
Instructions
Improving Individual Runners' Form
1. Check for proper running posture. Proper posture allows for maximum body performance and decreases the chance of injury. A runner's head and body should be directly over the hips, and she should keep her jaw muscles and arms loose. Tell your runners to focus on their breathing as they run.
2. Tell each runner to lean forward from the ankles, land on the balls of his feet and pump his arms while running. An athlete's knees should come up high enough so that the thighs become parallel with the track.
3. Instruct your runners to lean into the center of the track to cut wind resistance when taking curves. Their feet should always be parallel to the lines on the track regardless of what their body is doing.
Perfecting the Handoffs
4. Stand the runners in a row in the reverse order that they will be running the race, far enough apart that they can both reach their arms out and barely clasp hands. Runners pass the baton up the line, working on smooth handoffs from one to the other without dropping the baton or needing to look to see where it is.
5. After the runners can pass the baton fluidly from a stand still, increase the pace to a walk. Once they can perform the drill walking around the track, increase the pace to a run. If they stumble or drop the baton, stop the drill and begin again from the standing position and work back up to a run.
6. Move the runners to the exchange zone on the track, located at the four corners in between the arrows in each lane. Repeat the passing drill without exiting the exchange zone. The runners should be able to do the drill at a walk, a jog and then a run. If they break the rhythm, start over until the drill rhythm and timing are perfect several times in a row.
Timing the Acceleration
7. Position runners in reverse order on a football field 20 yards apart. The first runner sprints 20 yards to the second runner, and together they sprint 20 yards to the third runner. The first runner rests and the second and third runner sprint together 20 yards to the fourth runner. The second runner rests and the third and fourth runner sprint 20 yards together. The runners need to focus on accelerating together and running side by side with the same rhythm and pace for the entire 20 yards. Their legs should move at the same time.
8. Decrease the yards from 20 to 10 and repeat the drill until your runners can match their accelerations and paces perfectly for 10 yards.
9. Move your runners to the track and place them in their proper exchange zones. Practice running the relay with perfect handoffs on the actual track.
Tags: your runners, drill until, exchange zone, first runner, fourth runner, increase pace, pass baton