Want to improve your running form and become a more efficient, less injury-prone runner? It’ s time to get to work on some running drills!

WORDS: JENNIFER BOZON

You may have seen a fellow runner dancing on their tip toes in the local park and wondered what on earth they’re doing. Or perhaps you’ve come across the term ‘running drills’ before but glossed over it, thinking it’s something only advanced runners hold in their vocabulary – or indeed their weekly training plan.

Well, that lady you caught in the park hasn’t just had one too many energy gels – and it’s unlikely she’s an elite, either – she’s simply performing a few clever drills to improve her running form.

Running form means your posture, stride length, cadence, arm drive and overall alignment – and running drills are a fantastic way to become more mindful of each of these components. “Drills reflect a specific part of the movement pattern you go through while running, and so repeating drills helps your body learn the correct movement patterns you undertake while running,” says Vanda Caulfield, a UK Athletics coach in running fitness and We Run coach for Surrey. “Drills are therefore a fantastic way to target specific areas you want to improve in your running form.”