Thanks for you comments. You are right in implying that the swing drill is a complex drill. It should be acquired in a series of stages. Maybe I should describe those stages in more detail.

I also agree that the drill does not involve elastic recovery. It was intended to help develop a sense of the direction of movement at each stage of the gait cycle, but makes no attempt to recreate all of the sensations associated with running. In particular, it entirely omits the experience of eccentric contraction of muscles at foot fall. This eccentric contraction is required both to cushion the landing and to store energy for re-use during the subsequent lift-off from stance. A ‘hopping’ drill would in principle be better for developing efficient elastic recovery, though my present opinion is that hopping in place does not encourage correct direction of movement. At present I am inclined to think that hopping forwards, but with discrete steps separated by a short pause, is better than hopping in place. I am working on a drill for this.

With regard to the absence of recent posts, I have been very busy at work for the past two to three weeks. Today I logged onto the Fetch efficient running thread for the first time for several weeks and was intrigued by the continuing discussion on that thread. There are several ideas that I want to explore, but unfortunately, I will still be very busy at work for the next week or so, so I doubt that I will be posting much either on Fetch or here until next weekend. However I will certainly get back to it as soon as the demands of work allow it.

Canute

1. I like it – it’s a good exercise in co-ordination, relaxation and balance
2. As a drill it is a little advanced – it combines several movements; pull, swing/drop, paw back
3. The drill does not seem to allow for the elastic recovery of the leg. The Pose ‘hop in place’ drill is better for that

Canute, hope you will find time to return to your blog again.