Hi Steve,

I've been thinking about this some. Here are my thoughts on the purpose
of the hip drop: The hip drop is on the side opposite the straightened
leg, but first let's think about the hip on the side of the body where
the leg is straightened at the time of heel strike. As the body moves
over the straightened leg, the hip on that side of the body necessarily
rises. Imagine that the straightened leg is a board. Visualize placing
one end of the board on the ground and holding the board so it is not
quite vertical (just as your leg is not quite vertical at heel strike).
Then visualize moving the board into a vertical position (just as your
leg moves to vertical as your body moves forward over the leg). As you
move the board into a vertical position, the top end of the board will
move farther from the ground until the board is vertical, and then will
move closer to the ground as the board moves past vertical. This is
exactly what the hip does on the straightened leg side of the body.

Now let's think about the other side of the body, where the leg is
advancing from behind the body. Let's assume that you don't have any hip
drop and that side of the hip stays parallel with the hip on
straightened-leg side of the body. If you do that, then your whole body
will rise as your straightened-leg hip rises. You will be spending
energy moving your center of gravity up. This is wasted energy.

But, if you allow your hip to drop on the advancing-leg side of the body
by exactly the same amount that your hip rises on the straightened-leg
side of the body, the point in the middle of your body between the two
hips will not rise. Consequently, your center of gravity will remain the
same distance from the ground all through the stride. You won't waste
energy moving your center of gravity up and down (and your head will
move parallel to the ground, not bounce up and down like a runner or
jogger), and you can focus your energy on moving your body forward. Thus
the proper hip drop makes you a more efficient racewalker.

Brent Bohlen - Author of BoomerWalk




--- In racewalking@yahoogroups.com, "Steve Patat" <spatat@...> wrote:
>
> I am still trying to understand hip drop. When I make my stride I do
get a
> feel that I am getting hip rotation(back and forward movement). I am
not
> sure my stride is longer in the rear. I get no feel for the hips
moving up
> and down.(Sometimes I get a feeling they move out. I try to keep that
at a
> minimum.) So I do not think I have any hip drop. I am reading Jeff's
new
> book which has a very detailed description of how the hips should
move. I am
> just not sure why the hip drops. Could someone take a shot and explain
why
> the hip should drop? Should it be a noticeable movement and is it
something
> that should come as a natural movement or should I try to create the
drop?
> Also, is it something I should be concerned about? Again, I thank all
for
> your help. Steve
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>