why do gymnasts have such unorthodox styles of sprinting?

I come from running based sport and I was quite proficient at sprinting (I still retain some of it) but since I've enrolled a gymnastic class I haven't seen a single one gymnast, even advanced ones, sprinting efficiently.

They all keep straight, still, low arms, don't pull their knees up, they don't even attempt to keep composure in a straight line, stride and frequency rate are far from optimal, feet are turned outward and so on. I mean isn't the running phase of the vault event suppose to make you go as fast as possible? the faster you go the higher you'll jump? is there something I'm missing in the picture?

Guys please enlight me as every time I see someone sprinting at the gym I'm always tempted to say something.

I looked around for the meters/second of pole vaulters vs gymnasts and pole vaulters win.

One of my coaches said on his approach he was thinking about being tight off the board and horse and so therefore just like the run into tumbling, you end up with straight arms and an altered form.

He also thought that gymnasts can swing their arms while straight much faster than other athletes due to how strong their shoulders are as well.

And many, many, coaches probably don't have a clue about sprinting form. Even amongst sprinting coaches, philosophy differs. I was a sprinter before I was a gymnast so I see where you are coming from. Not all, but many.

This is very interesting....I too have often wondered this when looking at how gymnasts sprint. I have no gymnastic background but needed to sprint OK from playing rugby when (a lot) younger. I also did a little long jumping (but not well) and in my ignorance I assumed there should be some cross-over in the run-up between vaulting and long jump. On the vault run, does running with straight arms make the armswing in the vault easier than it would be with the approx 90 degrees bent arms in the normal sprint arm action? Sorry I'm not sure of the correct technical nomenclature but you know what I'm getting at?

Also noticed that some gymnasts are not trying to sprint as fast as they can on the 25m run.... .....not just kids, I mean even competitors in Mens Artistic World championships! I've forgotten the name of a brilliant German gymnast who particularly exemplified this to me when I watched him.

Speaking to some of the coaches at my sons gym, some seem to worry about sprint biomechanics to improve speed and others don't at all. People often assume running correctly is easy, but most people (even most sportsmen/sportswomen) don't sprint with a sprinter's biomechanics. I would be interested to know if the reason gymnasts don't run like sprinters is because a) "they have not been taught how properly" or b) they choose to run in the way they do for a technical reason or c) the way gymnastics training develops the body somehow favors the gymnasts straight arm style of running?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-wlnGH0YuM

OK, here is a link to Matthias Farig (the German gymnast) I mentioned. His unorthodox (for sprinter not for a gymnast) style of running and ambling start doesn't stop him being a sensational gymmast, and as I recall he is one of the best German vaulters too.

it would be interesting to see elite gymnasts actually do a 100m sprint to see how they run without a vault or tumbling at the end.

thanks bob,

glad to know that I'm not that much off the mark. thanks for taking the time. Hope coach himself will do it as well.

do you think trying to advice them on sprinting form will be a waste of time as such patterns are so ingrained? also it seems they don't care at all about the running phase, should they? is my assumption: "the faster the higher" correct? I mean do they need to go as high as they can or once they reach a certain speed and height it would be just as much as they need?

cool gymdaduk,

I come from rugby as well, best team sport around even if I'm drifting to sevens lately as union is getting closer, year by year, to league in the way of play and to soccer in the way of professional infringments tactics.

Yeah, we probably arise the same questions...

Thanks swarovski

Wow, a 11.71s 100m electronically timed is blazingly fast at 36 for non-track and field guy. I suggest that many people would have a lot to learn from you about sprinting if they cared to listen. My compliments

I too would be very interested to hear about the optimum sprint technique for vault from Coach Sommer

If I were sprinting as fast as I could, I coudln't do a vault jump, because my arms was to slow to follow.

thanks gymdad,

to be honest I was pretty astonished in hearing my time and I asked it twice to make sure I didn't get it wrong.

thanks gregor I can understand better now.

I don't have a clue but thinking about it , I Imagine that if you run in a sprinter style once you have to take the right position to rebound and jump it will be quite difficult to stabilize properly. Just a guess, I'll like to learn the facts about this!

yeah, we're all curious to hear coach himself.

still, from what an accomplished gymnast like gregor said, I guess one doesn't have to run as fast as possible, but just to reach his ideal speed.

I was never a good vaulter I've just told my experience with vaulting...

I was a 100m sprinter in high school right before I started gym, and I catch myself running with bad form to the vault all the time. There's just so much to think about as I'm vaulting, and the last thing on my mind is running form. Our warmup for vault is all running form drills though. So it is important, and we spend a good amount of time on it.

The other thing is most gymnasts start as little kids, and they never really learn how to run with proper form. So they don't really know how to run in the first place, then they have to run at a springboard, use correct hurdle technique, and then do the right things in the air. Long story short they start running in the weirdest ways during vault. For me it's been one of the hardest things to teach little kids.

My eight year old son is a good gymnast for his age in the UK, but vaulting remains his achilles heel as a 6 piece gymnast so I'm interested in advice / better understanding here. His handspring off a table vault is OK now but not much flight, and his running form looks horrible on the run-up. When videoing his sprinting in a field his biomechanics are not textbook but over say 200-400m he can cover the ground pretty quickly. His coach thinks he just may not have as many fast twitch fibres so finds it hard to accelerate to his maximum speed over 25m. What should he be aiming to do?.... run with proper sprint form on the vault run-up or with the gymnast style straighter arms?

gregor, I'm sure your vaulting will look olympic gold medal to my eyes!!

thanks dillon, I think that you can surely speak for coach.

So, if I don't get it wrong, running form is something advisable to attain, still not so vital as is just the preliminary phase in the event, it doesn't count in the final score after all. More like it should come natural and not distracting, just to accelerate on some extent, actually to the speed which will let you confident and in control, not like feeling of running down a hill at full pace I suppose. Is this correct?

I'm impressed dillon, I read wonders of your strength, I now get to know that you were in track and field, I bet you can also perform oly lifts proficiently, you must be the epitome of an outstanding specimen. Speed, strength, power... you can become a team sport pro at will! Congrats man!

I find this thread hilarious because I'm a pole vaulter.

What I've noticed is that gymnasts don't care at all about correct running, as long as they build momentum. That's all fine and dandy, but pole vaulting has taught me that the run up is literally as important as the actual vault. I have a hard time running correctly... I've been told to tilt my hips forward, stay upright, bring my knees up (not butt kicking), and throw the hell out of your arms. My coach told my I have so much wasted potential because my run sucks, and I believe him.

I've never noticed that... until this thread... intriguing!

Sprinting during a pole vault is a bit different due to the fact that you have alter your running technique a bit because of that pole.

What's important is on the take-off you're at max speed. Especially during polevault because of the pole.

In sprinting, we'd like to get those knees up with a fast recovery of the heel to butt and knee through.