So, we have had a couple of practices, the Ulster University Elks Club basketball team, but this has by far been the most fun in my opinion. I believe we get better each practice of course, but this practice, this past Thursday, we had the joy of welcoming the presence of Adam from Ulster’s strength and conditioning. Adam in Coach Pat’s words, was present at today’s practice to take on the first hour, and, “Teach us the correct way to run.” So obviously there is a wrong and right way to run indeed, but I had never actually had a lecture or in this case a full out, instructional practice dedicated to running the right way. So we started off with a couple of warming up exercises and stretches which had some or all of us a little sore in different parts of the body because we had not stretched them before, but it was definitely good for the body. We also did some exercises against the wall, which made us look like we were actual track stars but we were really working on our balance, driving into the ground and stances. So fast forward a wee bit, and we have learned a couple main points to think about and master when running and trying to increase your speed most importantly. First off, put your strongest foot forward in your beginning stance. (Insider- How do you know which is your strongest foot?- was one of the questions asked actually-answer: usually the stronger foot is the one you jump off of first in a stride or the one you feel most comfortable when balancing on) Second key is while you are in your beginner stance with your strong foot out forward, have your opposite hand up, so when running you maintain- the opposite hand opposite foot combination.Third key is to start in a low stance and maintain that for as long as you can, don’t come up too early or too late. Next key is to maintain your balance and drive into the ground pushing your feet down into the opposite direction you are running too. We managed to get the hang of this after a couple of tries. Our main focus was not starting backwards when running, as many people occasionally do, that one second that you glide backwards to go forward can make a huge difference in your acceleration. Bravo to Adam for sharing his knowledge, and teaching us some main components that could definitely help us out when running the basketball court. We finished off practice with some up and down pick-up and you could see we tried in the beginning to incorporate what Adam had just taught us but at times, it seemed to just go a wee but yonder for all of us. But Practice makes perfect and we will definitely keep pushing and trying as a team and individually! Who ever knew I would be learning how to run the correct way to run in Northern Ireland haha! Life is full of surprises indeed!
