Where should your foot land when running?
Your foot should land close under your hip, with a bent knee and the shin close to vertical, whichever part of the foot touches the ground first.
Under the hip, not in front of it
Picture a line dropped straight down from your hip at the moment your foot hits the ground. A good landing puts the ankle close to that line. A short distance in front is normal. Everyone lands a little ahead of the hip at running speed.
The problem starts when the foot reaches well past that line. The knee locks out. The shin angles back toward you. The heel jams into the ground and the whole leg acts as a brake. That is overstriding. See what is overstriding.
Heel or toes? The wrong question
Runners often ask which part of the foot should hit first. Heel, midfoot or forefoot is less important than where the foot lands. A heel that lands close under the body is fine. A midfoot that lands far out in front is not.
So do not chase a strike pattern. Chase the landing position. When the foot comes back under you, the strike usually settles on its own. The full comparison is at midfoot vs heel strike.
Three things to look for on the landing frame
Film from the side and pause on the frame where the foot first touches. Check:
- Ankle to hip. The ankle should sit a little ahead of the hip, not a long way ahead.
- Knee. Soft and slightly bent, not straight.
- Shin. Close to vertical. A shin that leans back toward you means the foot is reaching.
If two of those are off, the fix is the same in almost every case. Shorter, quicker steps.
Quick, quiet feet under your body.
Raising cadence a little at the same pace pulls the foot back under you. It is the easiest change to make and the easiest to check. See how to stop overstriding.
What a phone video cannot tell you
A side view shows landing position, knee bend and shin angle well. It cannot see how the foot rolls, how much force goes through it, or what your other leg is doing behind the near one. For those you need a lab. For the landing position, a phone is enough.
How to check it with Caden
- Tap Run a new analysis and set up a side-on shot. Film 10 to 20 seconds at your easy pace, with the phone at hip height.
- Read the Where your foot lands dial. It scores landing reach as a fraction of your leg length. A low score with "Reaching too far ahead" means the foot lands too far ahead.
- Open Breakpoints and tap Foot strike. The landing ankle is circled. Look at where it sits relative to the hip and how straight the knee is.
- If landing is your weakest metric, the Exercises tab builds a 4 or 8 week plan with quick-feet strides and A-skips. Re-film after two weeks and compare in Before and after.
FAQ
Are your heels supposed to hit the ground when you run?
They can. Most runners at easy pace touch heel first and that is normal. The heel is only a problem when it lands far in front of the hip with a straight knee.
Should your foot land under your knee or under your hip?
Under the knee, with the knee close to under the hip. In practice the ankle sits a little ahead of the hip. A long way ahead is a reach.
Does landing on the balls of your feet make you faster?
Not on its own. Fast runners often land on the forefoot because of the speed, not the other way round. Foot landing under the body is what removes the braking.