The Best Running Drills to Improve Your Form

What are the best running drills for improving form?

A-skips, B-skips, and high knees are the three drills most coaches and physical therapists lean on to reinforce efficient running mechanics, because each isolates a piece of the leg cycle you want to happen automatically once you're moving at pace. Done consistently for 10-15 minutes, two to three times a week, they train quicker turnover, a taller trunk position, and a foot strike that lands closer under your hips instead of reaching out in front of you.

Drills don't replace running, and they won't rebuild your form in a single session. Think of them as rehearsal: you practice a movement pattern slowly and deliberately so your nervous system can recruit it without conscious effort mid-run. That's why they're usually done before an easy run or worked into a dynamic warm-up rather than treated as a standalone workout.

What does each drill actually train?

Drill Primary focus Typical volume What it reinforces
A-skip Hip flexion/extension timing, quick ground contact 2-3 sets of 20-30m Faster leg turnover, shorter ground contact
B-skip A-skip plus active leg extension ("pawback") 2-3 sets of 20-30m Hamstring engagement, less overstriding
High knees Rapid hip flexion with an upright torso 2-3 sets of 15-20m or 20-30 sec Cadence, arm-leg coordination, posture under fatigue
Butt kicks Fast knee flexion, hamstring cycling 2-3 sets of 20-30m Quicker foot recovery, reduced overstriding

The A-skip is the most fundamental: skip forward while driving one knee to roughly hip height, then snap the foot down under your hip rather than reaching it forward. This trains quick ground contact and discourages overstriding — landing with the foot well ahead of your center of mass, which is associated with higher braking forces at impact. If you want more on how landing position affects the load traveling up your leg, see how to reduce impact when running.

The B-skip builds on that by adding a brief leg extension before the foot returns to the ground, mimicking the "pawback" motion elite runners show on video. It reinforces hamstring engagement during the late swing phase, which helps the foot land closer to your body instead of out front.

High knees emphasize rapid hip flexion paired with quick arm drive, which is really a cadence drill in disguise. Cadence, or step rate, is measured in steps per minute (spm); most recreational runners land somewhere between 150 and 180 spm, and there's no single "correct" number — but practicing a faster turnover in short bursts can make a slightly quicker cadence feel more natural at easy pace.

How often should you do running drills?

Two to three sessions a week, 10-15 minutes each, is enough for most runners — these are neuromuscular skill drills, not conditioning work, so more volume doesn't mean faster results. Doing them while fatigued tends to reinforce sloppy patterns rather than clean ones.

A reasonable progression: in weeks 1-2, focus purely on movement quality at a walk or slow jog. In weeks 3-6, add the drills as part of your warm-up before easy runs or strides. Most runners notice the patterns starting to carry over into their regular stride somewhere around the four-to-six-week mark of consistent practice, though this varies by individual and prior running experience.

Can running drills actually improve running economy?

Sometimes, modestly — but the evidence is mixed, and drills are one input among several. Running economy refers to the amount of oxygen you use to sustain a given pace; better economy generally means you can hold that pace for less metabolic cost. Some studies on technique-focused drills and plyometric work have found small improvements in running economy over several months of consistent practice, but effect sizes vary a lot between studies and don't apply uniformly to every runner. Drills alone are unlikely to produce a meaningful economy gain without also addressing training volume, strength work, and overall fitness — for a broader look at what actually moves the needle, see how to run more efficiently.

How does arm swing fit into drill work?

High knees and skipping drills naturally pair leg turnover with arm drive, and that connection matters — your arms and legs move in a reciprocal rhythm, and a rushed or crossed-over arm swing can throw off the timing you're trying to build with your legs. If you're working on drills specifically to improve cadence or posture, it's worth checking your arm mechanics too; see how should arms move when running for the basics of elbow angle and swing path.

Should drills replace stretching in your warm-up?

No — they serve different purposes. Dynamic drills like A-skips and high knees raise tissue temperature and rehearse the movement patterns you'll use at running pace, which is why they belong in a pre-run warm-up. Static stretching, holding a stretch for 20-30 seconds without movement, is generally better suited to after a run when muscles are already warm, or on rest days. For a fuller breakdown of when each type helps, see stretching before or after running.

How do you measure whether your form is actually changing?

Cadence is the one metric you can track reliably without lab equipment. Count your steps for 15 seconds during a run and multiply by four, or use a metronome app, and log the number every couple of weeks. Because cadence is just a count of foot strikes over time, it holds up well even on a basic phone video or a simple stopwatch check — unlike ground contact time, vertical oscillation, or precise joint angles, which need high-speed or multi-camera capture to measure with any real confidence. A phone-based tool like StrideIQ can give you a quick cadence and general form check from a single video, which is useful for tracking whether drill work is nudging your turnover upward over a training block — but it's not a substitute for an in-person gait assessment if you're dealing with a specific mechanical concern.

What can drills and video analysis NOT tell you?

Drills train movement patterns, but they can't diagnose why a pattern is off in the first place. If overstriding, a collapsing knee, or an asymmetric stride is tied to a strength deficit, limited hip mobility, or an old injury, repeating a drill won't resolve the underlying cause and may not change your running form under fatigue at all. Phone video, including tools like StrideIQ, can flag cadence and give a general impression of posture and stride, but it can't deliver lab-grade measurements of ground contact time, joint angles, or loading forces — those require force plates or multi-camera motion capture.

Running form work is also not a guaranteed injury fix. The relationship between technique changes and injury reduction is genuinely mixed in the research, and no drill or video analysis should be treated as a diagnosis or a treatment plan. If you're doing drills because of pain, recurring injury, or a suspected mechanical issue rather than general performance, talk to a physical therapist or sports medicine physician, and consider an in-person gait lab if the issue persists after a few weeks of focused, careful practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long before I see changes in my form from running drills?

Most runners notice drill patterns starting to carry over into their regular stride after about four to six weeks of consistent practice, two to three sessions a week. This varies with running experience and how much you focus on quality over speed during the drills.

Can beginners do A-skips, B-skips, and high knees?

Yes, but start slower and shorter than an experienced runner would — a few sets of 10-15 meters focused on clean movement is plenty at first. Rushing the drills before the pattern feels natural tends to reinforce the same sloppy mechanics you're trying to fix.

Do running drills need special equipment?

No. A flat, uninterrupted stretch of 20-30 meters, like a track straightaway, quiet path, or grass field, is all you need. No hurdles, bands, or markers are required for A-skips, B-skips, high knees, or butt kicks.

Will running drills reduce my risk of injury?

Possibly, but the evidence linking form drills directly to lower injury rates is mixed and not conclusive. Drills can improve movement efficiency and coordination, but they don't address strength deficits or address every mechanical risk factor on their own.

Should I still do drills during race week?

Yes, but reduce the volume — a light set of each drill (one to two sets instead of two to three) as part of your warm-up is enough to keep the movement pattern activated without adding fatigue before a race.

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