Running Form Drills: High Knees, Butt Kicks, and Bounds

A set of track running form drills in 22-yard lanes: high knees, butt kicks, straight-leg runs, and bounding. It activates the foot, hip, and leg muscles and improves stride efficiency before any speed work.

How to play

1. Mark 5 lanes about 22 yards long with cones; 5 students per lane go one after another, about 10 feet apart. Each drill goes down the lane and students jog back.
2. Minutes 0-2: easy jog and low skips (A-skips) with quick contacts on the balls of the feet.
3. Minutes 2-5: high knees with coordinated arms, butt kicks, and straight-leg runs pawing the ground backward; two trips of each.
4. Minutes 5-8: bounding (long strides with air time) and gazelle leaps; two trips of each, landing with the foot under the hips.
5. Minutes 8-10: two build-up runs of 22 yards applying the drills; the student behind gives one technique comment.

Rules

• Start when the student ahead is about 10 feet away.
• Always jog back on the outside of the lane.
• Land on the balls of the feet, not the heels.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: do running arm-action drills seated and wheelchair pushes for the build-ups.
• Autism: show the list of drills on a card, always in the same order.
• Low fitness: shorten to about 11 yards and walk back.

Learning goals

• Perform basic running form drills with active foot contacts.
• Coordinate arms and legs during the stride.
• Identify which technical elements make running more efficient.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 10

Teacher tip

Many students lean back during high knees; cue them to run tall, as if a string pulls the head up. Demonstrate each drill once before the first trip.

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