Sprint techniques, advice

[NomadVW]

I'm cross posting this from another forum because the advice there on actual technique is going to be like pulling teeth.

I'm without the luxury of a race club nearby me in Japan, and the closest racing group doesn't speak my language.

I've started working with my power meter and am just mixing up some routines to get a feel for "what hurts" and pacing and playing with what I can do before I drop into Hunter's training plan at the beginning of December.

I'm primarily a distance cyclist that is turning this year to race specific planning. The last year has been about 13,000km and averaging 11-12 hours per week of riding with spikes of 15+.

Some of the things in my repertoire are 5, 15, 30 second sprints. Because I don't have much experience at this, I'm pretty much shooting in the dark and I hate to be doing that. Here's two things that have occurred to me that I'm pretty certain shouldn't be occurring but want to know if someone can tell me why it's occurring so I can make it stop.

First: 30 second all out sprints yesterday, and I was feeling the back tire come up off the pavement. Is this simply leaning too far forward?

Second: 1 minute intervals, out of the saddle. Not often, but often enough that I notice it. I feel the foot taking up "slack" in the spin. It's that same kind of slack that exists when you start. I've never done intervals of very short length which is very apparent in my abyssmal 5 second/1 minute w/kg.

 

[frenchyge]

First: 30 second all out sprints yesterday, and I was feeling the back tire come up off the pavement. Is this simply leaning too far forward?

Most likely. Your hands should be in the drops with elbows bent and head low-ish (ie, fairly aero), which will push your hips back over the cranks. It feels kinda funny at first, but you'll get used to it. Arms alternately pull up and back on the bars as each opposing leg comes over the top of the cranks.

Second: 1 minute intervals, out of the saddle. Not often, but often enough that I notice it. I feel the foot taking up "slack" in the spin. It's that same kind of slack that exists when you start. I've never done intervals of very short length which is very apparent in my abyssmal 5 second/1 minute w/kg.

Not sure what you're describing here, although when my legs are really tired they very rarely lose coordination and want to momentarily backpedal instead of coming smoothly over the top of the stroke. That's just good old fatigue. Keep going.

 

[rayhuang]

Like in golf where you never lift your head-its like that in sprinting too. If you go for a big jump to get massive 0.2 and 2 sec power numbers, its easy to lift your body up after your first down stroke and bascially pull your rear wheel off the ground. I do it too, but when I concentrate on good form Before I do a sprint, like frenchgye said-your low, arms bent, head very low (My face is really close to the stem) I dont have the wheel lifting problem.

 

[PolishPostal]

Here is a previous thread that I started on the subject. http://www.cyclingforums.com/t359674.html

I had the same problem with wheel skip (side to side). Also here is a picture of good sprinting form.

 

[PSUcycling]

I'm cross posting this from another forum because the advice there on actual technique is going to be like pulling teeth.

I'm without the luxury of a race club nearby me in Japan, and the closest racing group doesn't speak my language.

I've started working with my power meter and am just mixing up some routines to get a feel for "what hurts" and pacing and playing with what I can do before I drop into Hunter's training plan at the beginning of December.

I'm primarily a distance cyclist that is turning this year to race specific planning. The last year has been about 13,000km and averaging 11-12 hours per week of riding with spikes of 15+.

Some of the things in my repertoire are 5, 15, 30 second sprints. Because I don't have much experience at this, I'm pretty much shooting in the dark and I hate to be doing that. Here's two things that have occurred to me that I'm pretty certain shouldn't be occurring but want to know if someone can tell me why it's occurring so I can make it stop.

First: 30 second all out sprints yesterday, and I was feeling the back tire come up off the pavement. Is this simply leaning too far forward?

Second: 1 minute intervals, out of the saddle. Not often, but often enough that I notice it. I feel the foot taking up "slack" in the spin. It's that same kind of slack that exists when you start. I've never done intervals of very short length which is very apparent in my abyssmal 5 second/1 minute w/kg.

somthing that is very important is pedaling technique. You need to make sure that you are focusing on making perfect circles with your feet. not just yanking up and down on the pedals. This is very common with new racers. Try to keep the up and down motion of your body to a min. and focus on circles and trying to apply torque to the pedals at all 360deg of the rotation. This means pushing forward over the top and pulling back across the bottom as well.

Doing some overgear training/fixed gear might help you work on your form.

 

[JIM WV]

Second: 1 minute intervals, out of the saddle. Not often, but often enough that I notice it. I feel the foot taking up "slack" in the spin. It's that same kind of slack that exists when you start. I've never done intervals of very short length which is very apparent in my abyssmal 5 second/1 minute w/kg.

I think PSU hit the nail on the head as to the cause of this. A drill that I find helpful is one-legged pedaling drills, either on the trainer or road. Just clip out and spin with one leg for a minute, alternate the other leg. Concentrate on "feeling" the pedal all the way around.

As to your hop issues, when starting a sprint, I always tell myself a few things: breathe, relax and stay centered on the bike. I try to come up out of the saddle in a smooth, controlled effort. When I don't consciously think of these things I tend to jump up, lean way too far forward, death grip the drops and not breathe at all!