Whether you're chasing a new 5K PR or building speed for marathon race day, what you do between your runs matters just as much as the miles themselves. Running drills are one of the most underused tools in a runner's toolkit – these are our top five!
Why Practice Running Drills?
Running drills are targeted, repeatable movements that isolate specific parts of your running gait. Done consistently, they build three things that every faster runner needs:
Speed – Drills train your nervous system to fire muscles faster, improving your stride rate and your ability to generate power quickly off the ground.
Efficiency – They reinforce the mechanical habits that make running feel easier at pace like better arm drive, higher knee lift and faster foot turnover.
Power – Many drills develop the strength and elastic energy in your muscles and tendons that translate directly into a more powerful, propulsive stride.
When Should I Include Running Drills?
The best news? You don't need to carve out a dedicated session for these. Simply show up to your next speed workout with 10 minutes to spare and run through the sequence before you start.
This is ideal timing because by the time you hit your first interval, your body will already be encouraged to move with the right mechanics.
1. A-Skips
What they do: Reinforce proper running mechanics and develop hip flexor strength.
A-Skips are the foundation of any drill routine. They teach your body the correct movement pattern for the "drive phase" of your stride – the moment your knee drives upward before your foot strikes the ground.
How to do them:
Stand tall with good posture
Skip forward, driving one knee up to hip height while staying on the ball of your opposite foot
Aim for a light, quick, bouncy skip
Key focus: Height of the knee drive and speed of the foot down to the ground.
2. B-Skips
What they do: Extend the A-Skip pattern to develop hamstring strength and improve leg recovery mechanics.
B-Skips build directly on A-Skips by adding the sweeping action of the lower leg that mimics how your foot should strike the ground when running at speed.
How to do them:
Begin the same way as an A-Skip — knee drive up to hip height
Before the foot lands, extend the lower leg out in front of you
Then sweep the entire leg back and down in a clawing motion, landing on the ball of your foot beneath your hips
Distance: 20–30 metres
Key focus: Your foot should land underneath your centre of mass with power. The emphasis here is on the 'down' part of your stride.
3. C-Skips
What they do: Build hip mobility, coordination, and lateral hip strength.
C-Skips are the most technically demanding of the skip trio: they add a circular, rotational element to the movement, training the hip to move through a fuller range of motion. Greater hip mobility means a longer, more powerful stride.
How to do them:
Drive your knee up as in the A-Skip
Instead of driving straight down, rotate the knee outward in a circular arc before landing
Land softly on the ball of your foot and immediately cycle into the next rep
Distance: 2 × 20 metres
Key focus: Build rhythm and control and work range of motion through the hips.
4. Wall Runners (Wall Marches)
What they do: Isolate and strengthen the hip flexor drive.
Wall Runners remove the complexity of moving through space so you can focus entirely on the power and speed of your knee drive. They're one of the best drills for developing the neuromuscular speed needed to turn your legs over faster.
How to do them:
Place both hands flat on a wall or rail at roughly chest height, arms straight, body at a 45-degree lean
Drive one knee up explosively to hip height, while staying on the ball of your opposite foot
You can start of more controlled, and gradually make the movement more explosive before switching legs in a fast, alternating motion – like running on the spot against the wall
Variations:
Slow (3-position hold): Drive up, hold, lower. This builds strength and control.
Fast (higher cadence): Rapid alternating drives. This builds neuromuscular speed and turnover.
5. Pogos
What they do: Develop elastic energy return and reactive strength. Pogos target one of the most important but least trained qualities in running: ground contact time. Elite runners spend as little time on the ground as possible. Pogos train your ankles and calves to act like stiff springs – absorbing and releasing energy rapidly with every stride. The aim is to feel like you're floating in the air, popping off the ground.
How to do them:
Stand tall with a slight forward lean and arms by your sides
Jump straight up using only your ankles and calves – your knees stay almost completely straight
Land on the balls of both feet and immediately bounce back up
Think of your legs as pogo sticks: stiff, springy, and fast
Variations:
Double-leg pogos: Both feet together (start with these)
Single-leg pogos: Advanced – builds unilateral strength and balance
Forward pogos: Bounce forward across a set distance to build power
Key focus: Keep contact time minimal – the moment you feel the ground, you should be back in the air
The Takeaway
Speed isn't just built in speed sessions, it's built in the details! The way your foot hits the ground, how fast your knee drives up, how quickly your ankle springs back. These five drills target all of it – start with just 10 minutes before your next workout.
Done consistently, the results will speak for themselves.