Running Form - how do I get more “air time”

[GrandPrismatic]

Just got photos back from last race…must have had 20 official photos from the 10k course and every single one of them, I have 2 feet firming on the ground or one foot with the other just a little way off the ground. Every one of my husbands photos have him gracefully flying through mid air not touching the ground! I looked back at all my previous race photos…I have loads over the years and not a single one of me with both feet off the floor….which leads me to think either that is a mad coincidence or more likely I have poor running form!

Race pace for me is 5 min kms - my husband is more like 3.5 min kms - couldn’t be I am just not fast enough to get both feet airborne?

Any tips on how to get more “airtime”?

Fewer, longer strides rather than lots of short ones? Could it be that your trainers give you less ‘bounce’/lift off?
How high is your knee lift on the photos? Or are your legs quite straight for both feet to be on the floor?

It’s called ‘flying feet’ in the running world and it’s not that easy to get. Your husband must be lucky, I can only think of one race, and I’ve done hundreds, where I’ve had a flying feet photo.

Maybe try lifting your knees up higher when you see a photographer and just exaggerating your stride that point?

My race pace is similar to yours, just looked at the pics from my last race and there’s one where just me heel is just about touching the ground and the rest one foot is on the ground at all times. Some of the men around me have flying feet, but looking at where my feet are positioned I think it was just luck how they were caught. They look as high comparative to my height as the men’s do. But lower over all because I’m shorter than they are.

maybe it was just luck. I guess if you’re shorter though your feet may not go as high and so be harder to catch on a photo. That’s what I’m going with anyway!

I have seen flying feet photos on people who I know are slower than me.

Like you, I don't have much luck with race photos, but I'm not sure what my reason is. Perhaps it is the length of stride, as I am quite short, as even when I do have the rare flying feet photo, it's barely off the ground and length is short.

You get "air time" if the strongest part of the push from the foot just behind you happens before the front foot starts descending to the ground. If your front foot is poised and reading to hit the ground at the same time as you back foot is pushing off you don't get air time. Raising your knees higher can help but it's also about muscle strength so weight training would help. Don't compare yourself too closely to DH though, male and female physiology have different balances of fast- and slow- twitch muscle fibres and that's not something you can change by effort or training.

Flying feet! Good name…that’s exactly what it is. It’s not even that I want a nice running photo (believe me my bright red sweaty face and wobbly bits will pretty much guarantee a horrendous photo regardless of what my feet are doing!) It’s more I feel like I could be running more efficiently or with better form. I also looked at my daughters’ race pictures and they have inherited their dads flying feet 😂
I definitely don’t raise my knees very high and have been contemplating weight training so a couple of things to think about for my next run. thanks all!

I'm the same as you OP but I've always wondered if it's worth changing gait. I'm not convinced it's more efficient to run with more air time. If you can run at the same pace with or without raising your knees higher....which is going to use more energy? I don't know, but I've never seen evidence that persuaded me it's worth my while changing.

I also changed my gait shortly after starting running, to reduce my stride and land more on the middle/ ball of my foot than on my heel, to protect my knees. Which I think reduces flying feet but for a sensible reason.

Is it poor form not have 'flying feet'? I'm genuinely interested to know. I thought small strides/high cadence were better?

Apparently it is a thing….im off to practice my a-skips and b-skips!
https://www.womensrunning.com/training/road/theyre-flying-faster-runners-catch-more-air-and-you-can-too/

My DD does a lot of running and her coach has her skipping as part of her warm up to increase bounce and "air time"

It's mainly speed, in my experience. When I was slower - or now when I'm running a marathon, as obviously that's slower than shorter races - my race photos are ploddy.

But over 5k or 10k now, I can "fly." That's like 6:30 to 6:45 pace.