[quote author="the_chosen_one" date="1353702589"]High Knee lift is a myth…knee lift in elites happen to be a bi-product of pushing/acclerating the thigh forward. Artificially focusing on knee lift is a total miss.
Since the knee is essentially the most distal part of the knee, how is it that ‘pushing / accelerating the thigh forward’ is not the same as knee lift other than semantics?
Both EMG studies on sprinters and the kinematic studies of Dr. Mann and others contradict you’re assertion that high knee recovery isn’t active and important.
Perhaps it (high knees messing things up as you say) is more a case that ‘high knees’ is not a cue that works for many in the context of the other cues or training that are being used.
I know you haven’t said this but since we’re on the topic, I wanted to dispel the idea that athletes get to their peak hip flexion based on a ‘rebound’ of the leg from the ground. This was a popular idea for a while but this is absolute nonsense refuted by EMG and observational studies as well as basic biomechanical estimations of what it would take to get the thigh to recover with significant hip flexion.
The best sprinters from yesterday, the best sprinters from today, men and women, all have big front side mechanics / high knee recovery.[/quote]
Mike, it is not the high knee recovery but rather a heel recovery….the knee position is the chicken after the laid egg. I’m sure you’ve even heard Loren speak and teach thigh pop/acceleration and not high knee recovery.