The Curious Case of Andre De Grasse: What Really Makes Sprinters Faster

The Sprinting Paradox

Sprinting looks simple.
One foot in front of the other—just faster.

And yet, despite decades of research, technological innovations, new training systems, and an endless stream of “breakthrough” methods, we still face the same stubborn question:

Why is it so difficult to consistently help sprinters run faster?

We see performance plateaus, recurring injuries, and a constant search for the next explanation.
It’s worth asking: What are we repeatedly misunderstanding about how sprinting actually works?

Andre De Grasse: A Case That Doesn’t Fit the Story

Andre De Grasse offers a revealing example.

At age 20, he ran world-class times—9.75 (wind-assisted) in the 100m and 19.58 in the 200m—while barely squatting 60kg. By elite standards, his strength levels were far below typical expectations.

Years later, with significantly greater strength and the full weight of high-performance support, his sprint times did not improve in proportion. They remained near his early marks.

This contradicts two popular explanations for sprint performance:

1. “Get stronger → get faster.”
2. “Increase fascial stiffness → get faster.”

De Grasse is not the exception—he is the pattern that exposes a deeper misunderstanding.

The Cycle of Training Fads

Every few years, a new “missing piece” emerges:

• First, pure strength training.
• Then plyometrics.
• Recently, fascia and connective-tissue stiffness.
• Soon, something else will take their place.

These trends grow because performances plateau, and coaches search for the next lever to pull.

But they all share the same flawed assumption:

That one isolated physical quality—strength, stiffness, mobility, force—drives speed.

It doesn’t.
These qualities support movement, but they do not organize it.

The Overlooked Variable: Technique as the Organizing Mechanism

Modern coaching treats technique as personal—shaped by genetics, style, experience, or preference.
Because of this, sprinting (and the entire sport of running for that matter) lacks a universally accepted concept of correct technique.

As a result, the most fundamental determinant of speed is routinely ignored:

The spatial–temporal organization of the running cycle.

Technique is not choreography.
Technique is the organization of how the runner interacts with gravity, ground, and time.

When technique deteriorates—even slightly—the entire system loses efficiency, regardless of strength or fascia.

This is the missing variable in the De Grasse story.

Running Is a Physical Mechanism, Not a Human Invention

To understand sprinting, we must begin with physics, not trends.

Every movement requires a structure that organizes how energy is used.
Running is no different.

The primary energy available to us on Earth is gravity.

A runner does not “produce” movement; a runner uses gravitational energy through a specific structure and timing. This structure is not invented by coaches—it is dictated by natural law.

Correct technique is not a matter of style.
It is a matter of physics.

Pose: The Structure That Allows Gravity to Act

The Running Pose is the fundamental position of the running cycle. In this configuration:

• the center of mass aligns over support,
• joints stack vertically,
• muscular tension is minimized,
• and the body is prepared to fall.

Pose is not simply balance.
Pose is the structure that allows gravity to act efficiently.

Errors—hip deviation, foot misplacement, torso tilt, timing—immediately reduce how effectively gravity drives the movement.

Fall: The True Driver of Forward Motion

The runner moves forward not by “pushing the ground,” but by falling.

The fall converts gravitational potential energy into forward motion.
The steeper and better timed the fall, the greater the speed.

No strength level or fascial stiffness can replace this gravitational contribution.

Break the timing of the fall—too early, too late, too shallow—and the runner must compensate with muscular effort, increasing braking forces and slowing down.

Pull: Reducing Braking and Reproducing Pose

After the fall, the essential action is the pull:

• removing the foot from support at the proper moment,
• continuing the cycle of running,
• and placing the foot under the hips for the next Pose.

Pull is not propulsive.
It does not push the body forward—gravity has already done that.

Pull restores the structure that allows gravity to act again.

This is why “push the ground” is mechanically misleading.
Pushing prolongs ground contact, increases braking, and distorts timing.

Elasticity: A Consequence of Correct Technique

Elastic loading and unloading—the tendon–muscle spring—occur only when Pose, Fall, and Pull are correctly timed.

Elasticity cannot be “trained into” the body in isolation.
It appears naturally when mechanics are correct and that includes correct cadence to support it.

Fascial stiffness without correct technique contributes very little to actual speed.

Why Common Coaching Cues Fail (Physics Behind It)

Many popular cues conflict with biomechanics:

“Put force into the ground.”
Force is not an object you apply; it is a measurement of interaction.
As Poincaré observed more than a century ago, force does not exist independently.

“Push harder.”
Pushing intent increases ground contact time, raises braking forces, and disrupts fall timing.

“Use more power.”
Power is not produced by intention—it emerges from the mechanics of the running cycle.

Ground Reaction Force (GRF) is a reaction to the center-of-mass movement, not the cause of it.
Trying to create force actively reverses the direction of causation.

Correct technique produces optimal force naturally.

De Grasse Revisited: Technique Explains the Plateau

Returning to De Grasse:

• His early performance emerged from natural, efficient use of the running cycle.
• Increased strength did not improve efficiency because his technique contained subtle distortions.
• These distortions limited how effectively gravity could be used, regardless of strength.
• Fascia training could not overcome inefficiencies in Pose, Fall, and Pull.

His plateau reflects the same pattern seen across elite sprinting:

Isolated qualities cannot compensate for incorrect mechanics.

Conclusion: Technique Is the Master Variable

Strength matters.
Fascia matters.
Elasticity matters.

But they are conditions of movement—not its cause.

The driver of sprinting performance is the organization of the running cycle:

• Pose structures the body to use gravity.
• Fall converts potential energy into forward motion.
• Pull restores Pose and continues the cycle.
• Elasticity emerges from correct timing.

If technique is incorrect, no amount of strength or fascia work will fill the gap.
If technique is correct, those qualities naturally express themselves in the most efficient form.

To run faster, we must return to what Nature already designed—a mechanism waiting to be understood and applied.