By David G on Jun 24, 2009 | Reply

The difference is speed and control. When you run on the balls of your feet, you are faster and you should do this when you are in the open field running straight. On you heels gives you more control and should be used when you need to cut. But never on the back of your heels.

By STAT on Jun 24, 2009 | Reply

When you run on your heels it looks really weird, but it is really good for you shins. If you run of the balls of your feet it makes your calfs stronger and is better for acceleration and speed.

By schmidtee on Jun 25, 2009 | Reply

Long distance verses sprints. Every event in trak will start you out on your toes/balls of your feet. You’re digging into the track and pumping your arms; you’re leaning forward so naturally you’re running on the front part of your foot. If it’s a long distance race you’ll end up running on your heels because you won’t be sprinting the entire race. You’ll also be at a more upright position. I’d say that the 400/ 800 would be the shortest race that you’d want to really be running on your heels. The 400 is even questionable.

Hope that helps!

By David D on Jun 28, 2009 | Reply

No, you should never be running on your heels. Heel-striking is inefficient no matter what the distance. If you watch a video of any elite distance runner they will be landing on the balls of their feet– that way they don’t waste energy by having to transition from their heel to their midfoot to their toes. It takes a lot of practice to run this way though and you have to build up strong calves.

In the 400/800 you have to be on your toes the entire race.

By valleyfederal on Jul 1, 2009 | Reply

When you run on your balls, the stress is being placed on your calves and hamstrings. When you run on your heels, the stress is on the shins and the knees.

Its better to run on your balls in sprints because you have more power and strength. In any distance event from the 800 to the marathon, its better to run either slightly front-footed (on your balls) or exactly parallel.

Running on your heels is bad because it gives you shin splints, and it doesn’t exercise your calf muscles, making them weaker. Running on your heels can injure your knees because it can only absorb the stress directly, unlike muscles which can flex to absorb the stress.

Never run on your heels, no matter the distance. Adjust the exaggeration depending on the distance. Slightly on the balls for 5K’s + to completely on the balls for a sprint.

By Asja G on Jul 4, 2009 | Reply

The difference is speed and distance. When you run on your heels you don’t gain as much speed and distance as you do on your toes because running on your toes gives you more of a push. If you have 2 people, person A and person B and person A runs on their heels and person B runs on their toes. Lets say you have them doing the 200m dash. Person B is more likely to win because they have that push which will make their time faster. Person A will have a slower time because their also using time running from heel to toe instead of just using their toes. When running you want to hit the ground fast as possible and not waste time. Plus running flat footed gives you shin splints!