How many reps of the Straight-Leg Skip should you do when you are new to the exercise?

Do 3 sets of about 15 to 20 meters, resetting to a walk between sets so the claw-back action stays sharp rather than sloppy. As the hamstring strike gets crisper and more automatic, extend the distance to 25 to 30 meters before you add a fourth set.

How do you make the Straight-Leg Skip easier or harder?

Make it easier by drilling the claw-back strike standing in place on one leg before you add the traveling skip, or by shortening each rep to a handful of strides. Make it harder by adding distance, picking up the pace slightly, or working on a slight decline so the hamstrings have to catch the leg faster.

What is the Straight-Leg Skip good for?

It grooves the fast hamstring strike and front-side reach that sprinting relies on, so sprinters and field-sport athletes use it as technical drill work. Anyone with current hamstring tightness or a recent strain should leave it out, since the fast eccentric loading it trains is exactly what an unready hamstring reacts badly to.

Intermediate

Straight-Leg Skip

The straight-leg skip keeps the knees almost fully extended so the work shifts to the hamstrings and calves as they paw the ground back under the hips. It grooves the front-side reach and back-side pull that sprinting demands and builds tolerance to fast eccentric hamstring loading. Program it in warm-ups or on plyometric-technique days.

Equipment: Body Weight
Body part: Calves, Hamstring
Type: Plyometric
Browse by muscle: Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus, Gastrocnemius Lateral Head, Gastrocnemius Medial Head
Browse by movement: Gait Drill

How to do it

1
Stand tall and lift one straight leg out in front to about hip height.
2
Actively strike the ground down and back under your hips with the ball of the foot.
3
As that leg pulls under you, skip lightly and reach the other straight leg forward.
4
Keep the knees long but not rigidly locked, and dorsiflex the toes toward the shin.
5
Swing the arms in opposition and keep a tall, stacked posture.
6
Continue the alternating rhythm for the prescribed distance.

Tips

Think about clawing the ground back, not reaching forward and stomping down.
Keep the toes pulled up so you strike through the ball of the foot.
Stay tall; folding at the hips turns it into a toe-touch instead of a paw.

Variations

Common mistakes

The knee locks out hard at full extension instead of staying long and soft, jarring the joint on every strike.
Some lifters let the reaching leg drop below hip height before the strike, shortening the lever the hamstring is supposed to load.
Once the tempo speeds up, the alternating rhythm turns choppy and the stride shortens into a fast walk instead of a skip.
Swinging the arms straight forward and back instead of in opposition leaves the trunk rotating uncontrolled with each strike.
The support leg's hip drifts backward on each strike instead of staying stacked under the trunk, which turns the paw into a shove that loses balance.

Frequently asked

How many reps of the Straight-Leg Skip should you do when you are new to the exercise?: Do 3 sets of about 15 to 20 meters, resetting to a walk between sets so the claw-back action stays sharp rather than sloppy. As the hamstring strike gets crisper and more automatic, extend the distance to 25 to 30 meters before you add a fourth set.
How do you make the Straight-Leg Skip easier or harder?: Make it easier by drilling the claw-back strike standing in place on one leg before you add the traveling skip, or by shortening each rep to a handful of strides. Make it harder by adding distance, picking up the pace slightly, or working on a slight decline so the hamstrings have to catch the leg faster.
What is the Straight-Leg Skip good for?: It grooves the fast hamstring strike and front-side reach that sprinting relies on, so sprinters and field-sport athletes use it as technical drill work. Anyone with current hamstring tightness or a recent strain should leave it out, since the fast eccentric loading it trains is exactly what an unready hamstring reacts badly to.

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