Why Drills Are the Foundation of Sprint Training
Before you can run fast, you need to teach your body how to run fast. Sprint drills are deliberate, isolated movements that reinforce proper mechanics, activate the right muscle groups, and build the neuromuscular patterns your body relies on when racing at full speed. Done consistently, they translate directly into better times on the track.
Whether you're brand new to sprinting or returning after a break, these seven drills form the core of any effective speed-development programme.
The 7 Essential Sprint Drills
1. High Knees
Drive your knees up to hip height in a rapid, alternating motion while staying on the balls of your feet. Focus on an upright torso and quick ground contact.
- Distance: 20–30 metres
- Reps: 3–4
- Purpose: Hip flexor activation, stride frequency, posture
2. Butt Kicks
Kick your heels rapidly toward your glutes with each step. Keep your thighs relatively vertical and your upper body relaxed. This drill targets hamstring recruitment and cycling mechanics.
- Distance: 20–30 metres
- Reps: 3–4
- Purpose: Hamstring activation, leg cycle speed
3. A-Skip
The A-Skip is one of the most foundational sprint drills. Skip forward while driving one knee up to 90 degrees with each alternating step. The toe should be dorsiflexed (pulled up) and the foot should strike the ground beneath your hip.
- Distance: 20–30 metres
- Reps: 3–4
- Purpose: Proper foot strike, hip drive, rhythm
4. B-Skip
An extension of the A-Skip, the B-Skip adds a leg extension at the top of the knee drive before the foot sweeps back down to the ground. It's more complex but excellent for training the pawing action used in full-speed sprinting.
- Distance: 20 metres
- Reps: 3
- Purpose: Hamstring engagement, sprint-specific leg mechanics
5. Ankling
Ankling is a low-amplitude drill where you stay on the balls of your feet and roll through each step with minimal knee lift. It trains the elastic stiffness of the ankle — a key component of fast, efficient ground contact.
- Distance: 20 metres
- Reps: 3
- Purpose: Ankle stiffness, ground contact time reduction
6. Straight-Leg Bounds
Walk or jog with straight legs, striking the ground with a flat, stiff foot directly under your hips. Engage your glutes and core with each rep. This builds the fast, powerful contact pattern needed in sprinting.
- Distance: 20 metres
- Reps: 3
- Purpose: Hip extension, stiffness, body position awareness
7. Wall Drives
Lean against a wall at roughly 45 degrees and drive your knees up alternately in a fast, piston-like action. This isolates the hip flexion pattern used in acceleration and teaches proper body lean.
- Duration: 5–10 seconds per set
- Reps: 4–5
- Purpose: Acceleration mechanics, hip drive, lean angle
How to Integrate Drills Into Your Training
Run these drills as part of your warm-up before any speed or track session. They should be performed after a light jog and dynamic stretching, but before your main workout. The whole drill sequence takes around 15–20 minutes and primes your nervous system for fast running.
- Light jog: 5–10 min
- Dynamic stretching: leg swings, hip circles, walking lunges
- Drills (as above): 15–20 min
- Strides or accelerations: 3–4 × 60 m at 80–90%
- Main session
Consistency is everything. Athletes who drill regularly develop better movement patterns, suffer fewer injuries, and respond faster to speed training. Start with the basics, focus on quality over speed, and build from there.