Usain Bolt Sprinting Technique Analysis – Videos and Notes

Following is my analysis of Usain Bolt’s 100m sprinting technique. You can see 2 videos and my attached notes, one video analyzes his legs and the other analyzes his arms. By comparing a video of yourself with the video of Usain and comparing against each of my notes, you will likely find several areas that you need to improve on.

Usain Bolt Feet Analysis

In the above video you saw:

1. 2.44m average stride
2. 4.28 strides per second (41 in 100 meters)
3. The feet landing directly below the chest and face
4. The feet passing by the gluteus, not because of mental effort, but because of elastic reflex.
5. Landing on the toes
6. Staying on the toes the whole time, never letting the heels touch the ground.
7. Leaning forward slightly (chest forward).
8. The head is stable, not bouncing (because you want our power propelling you forward, not up and down and forward).

Usain Bolt Hands Analysis

In the above video you saw:

1. Half clenched fists.
2. Pumping the arm to head height.
3. Swinging the arm backwards almost fully extended at the elbow.
4. Swinging forward with ~90 degrees at the elbow.
5. The shoulders rotate a little due to the high force from the arms.

How can you compare yourself to Usain Bolt?

Since he is 6′ 5″, if you are shorter than that, you may have to accept that you won’t achieve an average 2.44m stride at 4.26 strides per second. If you are not 6′ 5″ you may target a 2.25m average stride at 4.3 strides per second (7.5% slower than Usain, because of the reduced stride length).

To measure these 2 metrics, have somebody take a video of you running the 100m. Re-watch the video and count the steps you took in 100m. Also check the timer on the video to see how quick your 100m was. To calculate average stride, calculate 100m divided by the number of strides taken (100m / 41 = 2.44m for Usain Bolt). To calculate stride frequency, calculate the number of strides divided by the 100m time (41 / 9.63s = 4.26/s for Usain Bolt).

By calculating those 2 numbers, you will know whether to focus your training on stride length or frequency.

Even if you’re shorter than Usain, you can still use the rest of my notes to improve your technique, they apply to everybody equally.