Skidding

Don't think "skidding", think "powersliding"... Fred Flinstone style!

Seriously though, if you've ever tried to run barefoot on wet slippy tiles you will have either a) slipped and cracked your head open or b) very quickly figured out that you need to accelerate/decelerate more slowly and land your foot with very little lateral (parallel to the ground) momentum, ie the peak loading of weight on each foot happens when it is directly underneath your centre of gravity. In other words you want to be primarily relying on the vertical reaction force from the ground to keep you moving, with a reduced role for the lateral force of friction (which is weaker in slippy conditions).

Interestingly the technique that stops you slipping and cracking your head open on smooth surfaces is the same technique that helps prevent sore feet/blisters from abrasion when you run on coarser surfaces (or for prolonged distance or higher speed on moderate surfaces), ie less shear stress on the sole of the foot. Master it and you'll realise you don't need feet like a Hobbit to run longer/faster on coarser surfaces than you thought possible.
 

Support Your Club

Natural Running Center

Forum statistics

Threads
19,122
Messages
183,505
Members
8,693
Latest member
kmeiners11