Sled Push · Hip Extension at Push-Off

Why this matters

Knee extension tells you the drive leg finished its stroke. Hip extension tells you which muscles finished it. If the thigh sweeps behind the trunk line at toe-off, the glutes and posterior chain are driving. If the thigh stays directly under or in front of the trunk line, the push is pure quad.

Quad-dominant pushes burn out the legs — and the run segments come right after the sled.

This is the durability measurement. An athlete with good hip extension shares the load across the posterior chain and arrives at the next run with legs left. A quad-dominant athlete cooks their legs on the sled and pays for it on the run.

What good looks like

• Back thigh trailing 5–15° behind the trunk line at toe-off.
• A visible glute contraction finishing the stroke.
• Posterior chain sharing the load with the quads.

Common faults

Quad-Dominant (< 4°)

Effectively zero hip extension. The thigh never sweeps behind the body, so the glutes never fire — the quads carry the entire push and fatigue rapidly.

Causes: under-active glutes, never being cued to finish with the hip, or a forward-biased posture that blocks hip extension.

Effect: rapid quad fatigue and notably slower run splits immediately after the sled.

Over-Reach (> 18°)

The thigh sweeps too far behind. Often a sign of overstriding — it costs stability and lengthens the recovery swing.

Coaching cues

• "Squeeze the glute to finish" — recruits the posterior chain at toe-off.
• "Finish the hip, not just the knee" — distinguishes this from pure knee drive.
• Accessory work — hip thrusts and RDLs build the pattern off the track.

How to draw

1. Pause on the same back-foot-off frame as the Knee Extension.
2. First line: acromion → greater trochanter (trunk bisector).
3. Second line: greater trochanter → lateral femoral condyle (back thigh).
4. The angle the thigh trails the trunk line is the reading.

Related measurements

• Knee Extension at Push-Off — same frame; stroke length, where this measures which muscles drove it.
• Trunk Angle at Brace — the postural reference the hip extension is measured against.