Do Drills Pay The Bills?
If we accept that the body is a machine, we have to accept that sometimes our machine needs fine-tuning. Perhaps the tyres need balancing and the tracking needs attention. And this is where running mechanics can fix bad form if applied correctly.
Every effective runner, from a weekend parkrunner to an Olympic finalist, uses structured running drills to align their running technique. But what are running mechanics and do they actually work for everyone?
A drill is a decomposed segment of running. Drills, if done correctly, can reinforce posture, coordination, foot-strike, rhythm and force production. The theory is that they enable runners to move more economically. Drills are thought, by some experts, to develop good running mechanics to enable an athlete to transfer a force effectively and waste less energy, enabling the athlete to perform consistently well. Doctor Chris Branah, GB physio, explains, ‘we need to train well, but we also need to move well.’[1]
Listening to the podcast, from Science of Running 262, however, makes the debate a little less binary. Steve Magness and Jonathan Marcus, two prolific running scholars in the field of athletics, have produced numerous books about improving running technique and have debated the role of drills in depth. Marcus questions whether decomposed movement from the mechanics of running can actually transfer into running form.
Drills can be used for different purposes: as a warm up to increase range of motion and avoid injury and utilised to refine mechanics and technique.
And for me, having honed my craft as a member of an athletics club, I always just accepted that drills were something you did, especially if you were a track runner. Norman, the coach at Hyndburn Athletics Club, drilled it into us that drills improved running form. And I never really questioned the science of this statement, until I went to Kenya. A-skips, B-skips, C-skips, mini hurdles, trigger action bum kicks, ankling, bounding. I did them all and still do. It’s ingrained in me.
But we should question whether the athlete is physiologically and neurologically able to enact the movement patterns. In many cases, there’s no point doing one of these drills badly. Too often I see running groups around parks attempting these drills with little coordination, and worse still, no correction. It’s the equivalent of seeing your child survive a length across a pool, resembling a person drowning, and mistakenly thinking that your child can swim.
No drills are better than bad drills.
But the role of effective drills is far more complex that simply increasing speed or performance. Magness and Marcus posit the view that drills can improve physical literacy. Marcus argues that physical lifestyles in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s were hugely different. Most children spent time outside developing movement organically. But now many children spend more time indoors glued to a screen and this means ‘our strength component and athleticism component is different’.[2] A physically literate person would have the movement skills required for running, jumping and competing in sport. However, it seems more sedentary lifestyles have impeded this ability.
So, this is where the drills come in. Having spent 6 weeks in Africa, drills become a discernible element of running. Everybody completes drills, from 4-year-old children to 70-year-old men. And these children are outdoor children; I’m not exaggerating when I say they play with sticks and tyres.
For the Africans, drills are about rhythm and coordination. Marcus argues an ‘indirect benefit of those [drills] is making sure that things are working, especially in the hip, through a range of motion’. For the Kenyans, drills aren’t about the direct mechanisms, they’re about avoiding limitations of muscle movement. And the great thing about the Kenyans is consistency. They build these sessions into their routines; it’s not about doing it once or twice; it’s about creating a productive habit.
Marcus explains, ‘if they [the drills] are done with regularity, they allow for a range of motion, the tissues, the connective tissues, the muscle tissues, the tendon tissues, everything to go through that and then give you that length when you need length […]’.
On the other hand, drills can be used to create more effective movement for young people. Perhaps the strongest case for running drills is their role in reducing the risk of injury, something runners will be very familiar with. Many of the most common overuse injuries stem from poor movement patterns that place unnecessary stress on muscles, tendons and joints. Doctor Chris Bramah argues that ‘the limiting factor to long-term running success is not always the training that's being set, but the training that's being missed’. His research points to a link between running biomechanics and common injuries, concluding that improving movement quality can help runners remain healthy enough to train regularly. Whilst drills are not a guarantee against injury, they provide an opportunity to reinforce efficient mechanics before poor habits become ingrained.
Moreover, Marcus alludes to research conducted by Verne Gambetta who argues that ladder drills can be utilised to build speed, something runners are always looking for in their drive for their next PB. Ladder drills develop agility and coordination, but they do not explicitly develop the linear acceleration or maximal velocity associated with sprinting. However, these drills involve rapid, multi-directional movements that challenge neuromuscular coordination and movement control. They may have value as part of a neurological warm-up, enhancing motor pattern activation, coordination, and readiness for subsequent sport-specific movement demands.
Conclusively, the whole debate surrounding drills really isn’t clear cut, and what suits one person, doesn’t necessarily work for someone else. But the takeaway message from Magness and Marcus’ discussion is don’t trust the click-bait.
‘These five drills will make you faster’. No, they won’t. It’s your training routine, diet, sleep pattern, shoes and a whole host of other things.
Consistency is key. Be more like the Kenyans. Pole, pole (Swahili for slowly, slowly). Gradually build some drills into your routine to fire your glutes, improve your mobility and support your movement patterns.
If you stay mobile, engage your glutes, avoid the injuries and feel a little less stiff, you’re already a winner.
[1] Bramah, C. (2018) Could Running Mechanics be the Key to Long-Term Success? TrainingPeaks. Available at: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach-blog/could-running-mechanics-be-the-key-to-long-term-success/ (Accessed: 05/07/26).
[2] Magness, S. and Marcus, J. (2025) ‘262: Do drills work? The case for and against’, Science of Running podcast, 6 January. Available at: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/262-do-drills-work-the-case-for-and-against/id961516002?i=1000682859411&r=1367.68 (Accessed: 05/07/26).
